Today is officially the first day of June! Time has flown by and most students are now out of school or almost finishing up their school year. I want to congratulate all students and teachers for doing their best despite this difficult time.
Not only has the Coronavirus has changed the lives of many in terms of job and living situation but also, many issues are being visible and confronted on a daily basis.
Being an advocacy coordinator, I often think about what can I do? What are ways our organization can further help? But I realize that advocating languages and promoting the value of learning a language is already a step into changing things for the better.
As a person who learned Japanese not only through my home environment but through college, jobs, and studying on my own, it made me absorb different cultural values and perspectives I wouldn't have if I didn't expose myself in learning languages. Being respectful of different cultural values have greatly helped me understand and connect to those who are culturally different and value their opinions and ideas in a respectful manner.
We recently had a month long project on our Instagram page called ＃みんなでがんばりマスク. On our www.instagram.com/jflalc page, we received various submissions from photographs, drawing, messages, and videos from Japanese language learners. We were unable to share all of the received submissions but we really appreciate what we all received! This project reminded me that Japanese learning community can come together and support each other. That we are not alone. So I hope those submissions encourage teachers and students that they have a large community that share the same passion and love for the language and culture.
I hope everyone continues to be safe and have a great summer!
