Nanzan visit brings cultural exchange

The University of North Georgia (UNG) welcomed almost 20 students from Nanzan University for two weeks during the spring semester. This visit came after weeks of online meetings through a Collaborative Online International Learning partnership with the university based in Nagoya, Japan.

Nanzan students worked with UNG students in a pair of courses. For one, they partnered with UNG students to help prepare them for the Japanese Speech Contest in Atlanta. The other class paired students from both schools to create videos about college life.

"This visit was the payoff of months of online collaboration. By the time our students and Nanzan students met in person, they had already built real relationships," said Dr. Tomoe Nishio, UNG associate professor of Japanese. "That foundation was what turned two weeks on a Georgia campus into the kind of experience our students carry with them long after graduation."

Students from both universities expressed appreciation for the perspective gained and the skills practiced during the visit.

Rhys Zile, a UNG freshman from Buford, Georgia, pursuing a degree in marketing with a minor in Japanese, enjoyed learning more about linguistics from his Japanese counterparts. He hopes to go abroad in the future through the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

"Now that I've had the unique chance to interact with students from abroad, I'm much more comfortable with talking to people abroad. Previously when traveling, I was horrified of using any foreign language skills to interact because I didn't want to mess up. Now, it doesn't feel impossible anymore," Zile said. "Considering that I'm definitely planning to study abroad in Japan, I've already made good friends that I can look forward to seeing when I go, and I'll be prepared to make more."

Emily Ricks, a UNG senior from Lawrenceville, Georgia, pursuing a degree in modern languages with a French language and literature concentration and a minor in Japanese, lived in Japan for three years during high school. That led to her interest in the language and made the Nanzan visit rewarding.

"We're able to see the work that we've put in for so long to speak with native Japanese speakers," Ricks said.

Yoshika Izumi, a Nanzan freshman pursuing a degree in English, has an interest in teaching languages. She was grateful to experience American culture and grow her skills along with UNG students.

"We were learning partners," Izumi said. "It really helped all of us learn each other's languages."