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Yoshiko Himata(日俣 佳子)
Program Director おめでとうございます(Omedetou-gozaimasu) / Congratulations! I am excited to welcome all the participants to the Japanese Academy in Summer 2020. I am a native of Toyama prefecture and I am passionate about teaching the Japanese language. I love dogs, cooking Japanese food, watching Anime, Detective Dramas series(Have you watched Poirot? I love it!) and SF shows. Now, a little bit about my academic background. I taught English and Japanese at the Toyama University of International Studies (TUINS) High School, I studied Global and Intercultural Studies at Ferris University in Japan, and I earned a Teacher’s certificate at Nihon University. Presently, I teach elementary Japanese and advanced Japanese at Randolph-Macon College. During this program, I will be a bridge between the participants and Japan, with the sincere hope for students to cultivate an educational journey that will allow them to grow more well-rounded and discover a passion for Japanese studies. I am looking forward to meeting all of you on a live class and the videos! いっしょにたくさん思い出を作りましょう！Let's make a lots of memory together! |
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Kyle Maclauchlan
Lead Teacher Hello, everyone! I’m sure you are excited to join this year’s Japanese Academy, and we are all excited to meet you. My name is Kyle Maclauchlan. I lived in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan for 11 years. Now, I want to share my love of Japan with students here in Virginia. I hope that the academy will encourage and empower you as you experience Japan’s language and culture. While in Japan, I taught English at Miyagi Gakuin University, became a nationally recognized author, and was the first English speaking radio announcer for Japanese Professional Baseball. My hobbies were singing in a rock band, and eating as many kinds of ramen as I could find. Every day in Japan, I felt that speaking the language opened doors to wonderful opportunities for me – chances to try new things, go new places, learn fascinating information, and meet amazing people. There is a saying in Okinawan dialect: いちゃりばちょーでー！ It means, “Meet once, and we are family.” I hope that our time together in the academy will offer us all an opportunity to build bonds of friendship. After all, that is what language is all about – building bridges through communication and understanding. Once again, welcome to the academy! |
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Manami Awazu
Teacher Hello! Welcome to Virginia Governor’s Language Academy 2020! My name is Manami Awazu. I’m from Kyoto, Japan, where a lot of traditional Japanese culture has developed for over 1200 years. I studied Linguistics and Education in university and started my career as a language teacher in 2013. I have taught at high schools in Japan and the Japan-America Society of Washington DC. Language is very interesting and fascinating. Did you know that the very basic verb “run” has nearly 50 translations in an English-Japanese dictionary? Did you know the Japanese phrase “yoroshiku” can express all of the phrases “Nice to meet you,” “I look forward to it,” “Thank you in advance,” and “I’m counting on you”? Learning a different language means gaining another perspective for seeing the world. You will find some differences and similarities. Let’s enjoy exploring Japanese language and culture together! Yoroshiku! |
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Mami Ichikawa
Teacher みなさん！Welcome to Virginia Governor’s Language Academy‼ My name is Mami Ichikawa. The first thing I would like to say to you is, "Thank you so much for having interest in Japanese language and culture!” I am from Saitama Prefecture and have taught Japanese at the University of Macau, Latrobe University in Australia, Soka University in Japan and GWU. My hobbies are karaoke, volleyball, watching manzai and comedy, solving riddles such as escape games, and baking! Japan has a very interesting and unique culture, and a beautiful language. I would like more people to go to Japan, so I'd like to teach you the situations and expressions that one might come across when one actually goes to Japan. I am looking forward to meeting passionate students of Japanese language and culture! |
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Peighton Corley
Lead RA こんにちは皆さん！ My name is Peighton and I’m your lead RA for this year’s GJA. I am 21 years old and am from Virginia Beach. Next semester will be my last at James Madison University and I will be receiving my BA in Psychology. Last summer I attended Nanzan University in Nagoya to study Japanese and had a great time traveling and learning. My favorite places to visit in Japan are the Sanjusangendo Temple in Kyoto and Akihabara in Tokyo. My hobbies include drawing, gaming, and collecting figurines. I attended the GJA in 2016 and have found it to be one of my fondest Japanese learning experiences, so I hope we can work together to make this year great for you! よろしくおねがいします。 |
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Sana Vien
RA Hello everyone! My name is Sana Vien, and I’m going to be one of the academy’s RAs. I’m 19 and in the fall I will be a second-year at the University of Virginia. I’m currently undecided/undeclared, but I’m planning on majoring in Global Studies with a concentration in Public Health, and minoring in Japanese. I’ve been studying Japanese since high school and I attended the Virginia Governor’s Academy in 2018. My hobbies are sewing, knitting, reading manga, and watching anime. I look forward to sharing this experience with all of you! |
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Joey Upadhyay
RA Hello! はじめまして！My name is Joey Upadhyay, and I’m from Colonial Heights, Virginia. I have been studying Japanese for over 5 years, and I attended GJA in 2018. I am a rising sophomore at William & Mary studying Linguistics and minoring in Japanese (most likely). Apart from Japanese, I also speak Spanish and Portuguese - one of my hobbies is learning languages. I also like playing video games like Animal Crossing, Project Diva, Pokémon, and Legend of Zelda. I hope to be a translator in the future. I’m looking forward to working with everyone! よろしくお願いします。 |
