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U.S. Marine Johnathan Vazquezcook, currently stationed in Okinawa Japan, can now hold a basic conversation in Japanese after attending our School of Japanese: Level 1. Our dedicated faculty and staff ensured he was never afraid to stumble and helped make every interaction feel meaningful.
Motoko Tabuse has been the Director of the School of Japanese since 2019. The School of Japanese includes our 8 week (12 credit) immersion program as well as two graduate programs: MAT with Teaching Licensure and Master of Arts in Japanese Language and Culture.
Our bilingual assistants are indispensable to the success of our programs. Each summer, they plan and execute co-curricular activities and support our students, faculty, and staff. In this article, three of our bilingual assistants share about what they love most about working at the School of Japanese.
PhD student Shahriar Akhavan Tafti’s summer at our German School “rewired his brain,” and “changed his very being.”
For Yale PhD student Michelle Keefe, who is typically very talkative, entering the German School at Level 1 was a daunting prospect. In the end, she was surprised to find that her impulse to communicate overrode her lack of language.
Thanks to our 24/7 immersion environment, returning School of Japanese immersion student Zachary Brothers was able to make incredible progress and gain a thorough understanding of Japanese that he had previously been unable to achieve in his prior study of the language.
Julia Driscoll, a dual-degree graduate student in International Human Rights and MSW at the University of Denver, uses the newfound confidence she gained at our School of Spanish to better connect with the refugees with whom she works.
Former Korean immersion and current Korean MA student Michael Ormsbee shares about how our faculty and staff’s dedication during his immersion summers led him to return to the School of Korean to earn his graduate degree with us.
Now the director of an International Relations & Management Consulting firm, Pako reflects on the dedication of the faculty and staff as well as the diversity of the community at our Portuguese School.
Chen Laoshi dedicated 25 consecutive summers to the Chinese School. A lead teacher at the school, he inspired the next generation of teachers and brought immeasurable energy, tradition, and joy to the community. Many of the traditions he began will live on as the Chinese School celebrates its 60th year in Summer 2025.
