- be able to wield the language tools I have picked up throughout class effectively and demonstrate ways of aptly expressing wants and needs, illustrating conflicts, and coming to conclusions
- navigate some of the subtle cultural nuances of Japanese respect, politeness, and courtesy through the script to be able to better understand proper conduct in formal situations
- how to edit together several loosely connected scenes into a coherent narrative
- understand the potential conflicts that may arise between native Japanese speakers and those who have some linguistic capability but limited cultural finesse
- practice my ability to tell a story (i.e. a dialogue with a plot) in Japanese
- hone my skill in speaking (and acting) in Japanese
- come to understand business customs in Japan
Communication means more than rote memorization of vocab and trying to string sentences together using learned grammar. Humans are social animals. In my opinion, face-to-face speech is the purest form of communication there is-- every other way leaves something to be desired. Video calling removes you from the other person as a physical being, making them a mere talking head. You can't sense their body language, their presence towards you, etc. Writing is great for storing information and giving you a chance to plan out your words, but speaking "off the cuff" about something feels a lot more genuine, in my opinion, as beautiful as some peoples' prose may be. I would rather perform a play in front of the class than do a video presentation, as I feel that a live performance would give the class a better feel for how I "communicate," my physicality, the ability to hear my voice unobstructed, things that you might miss unless you have just the right camera angle and just the right cut. I don't want to just regurgitate a script on screen, I want to get inside these characters, as simple as they may be. I want people to recognize what it takes to really get what you mean across. In other words, I don't want anything to be lost in translation from the script to the screen.
