Japanese is One of the Hardest Graduate Programs

Being a student in the Master’s program for translation in Japanese is no easy task. The two-year Master of Arts program covers different areas in translation beyond day-to-day conversations such as computer software translated terminology and project management.

With more and more students studying abroad in Japan, the language is becoming increasingly popular. It’s been reported that many people have come to study Japanese for their love of popular media such as anime and manga. Jocelyn Boatner said that anime and video games were the first things that attracted her to learn the language as a result. This is Boatner’s first semester at Kent, but she’s been studying the language for 9 years.

When she first started learning, she said she had an easy time, because she had the desire to learn. It wasn’t until around her second year that it became difficult. “It wasn’t really until then, because that’s when you start getting into the more complex grammar structures.”

Her daily schedule is dedicated to learning the language. She gets up early to grade papers for the elementary Japanese class she teaches and heads to Kent State to teach around 11:00. After class, she can study or head to Japanese coffee hour on Tuesdays. Her grad classes start around 5:00, and then she heads home to do some more studying. Friday is the exception to her weekday schedule when she studies all day.

Justina Oland, another first year in the Master’s program, said she practices writing characters over the course of several days for it to stick. People learn the language by different methods. Both Boatner and Oland use flashcards as a way to practice. “Just physically making the flashcards helps, too.”

“For me, because I learn by doing,” Oland says, “I try to use my vocabulary in sentences, and I also check with a native speaker about how to use grammar and see if I’m doing it right or wrong.”

Boatner finds that the hardest part in learning is speaking. “Just because I get nervous, and then I don’t know what to say. I know what I want to say, but then I start thinking about it too much.”

Oland has made friends with some of the international students on campus by practicing speaking with them. “When you’re actually talking to people, you’re not being graded like you are in class. And they’re not going to judge you completely on your language ability” She heavily recommends speaking to native speakers for improvement.

Boatner has spent two years in Japan teaching English when she got accepted into the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. This program allows for graduating students to either work as an Assistant Language Teacher, but it also allows for people who are on an advanced level to translate or interpret. (Translators translate writing, and interpreters translate speaking.)

Going to Japan doesn’t necessarily guarantee an improvement in the language, though. Oland says “I know people who studied abroad who did not grow at all. Because they just stayed with their American friends. They didn’t go out and try to talk to people.”

With this degree, Boatner anticipates doing freelance translating right out of school, and an in-house translator is also a possibility for her. Her end goal is to become a project manager.

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