Plan C – Japanese students hold get-together

Students in the Plan C – Japanese (Plan C-J) track of the Department’s undergraduate program held a get-together last 13 May (Monday) to meet and talk with their fellow Japanese language majors, and to practice their target language skills through different activities like games and an open forum. 

The event was hosted by fourth-year standing Japanese majors, who had already finished the prescribed Japanese courses with some having already been to Japan for short- and long-term exchange programs. It started with students from all year levels playing a game called shiritori to help them introduce themselves (jikoshoukai). 

Next, a question and answer session was done, where students got to ask their teachers about the different aspects of Japanese study. The questions focused on a) the reason behind Plan C-J having the highest number of units among BA Linguistics tracks, b) teachers’ and upperclassmen (senpai)’s experience during exchange programs, c) the prescribed level of foreign language skills based on the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), and d) motivations behind choosing Plan C-J. 

After a lunch break featuring Japanese food like sushi, students proceeded to play two games: a category activity which made them recite examples from a specific group like Japanese loanwords and linguistic sound changes, and charades which covered terms related to Japanese, linguistics, and the UP life in general. 

At the end of the event, Asst. Prof. Ria Rafael, head of the Japanese language cluster, gave updates on existing and upcoming scholarships and exchange programs, and on future events like more get-togethers and cultural presentations. Watch out for more updates from the Japanese cluster, especially as we celebrate the first 100 years of Japanese language education in the University!