I was born in Changchun, Jilin Province, and studied Japanese a s my major at the
local university. I heard my aunt, who had worked in Japan, talking about how Japan
is “a fantastic place”. This stirred my interest. The reason wh y I came to Kyoto is
because a graduate from the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies was teaching at the
Japanese school there.

At the G raduate School of Foreign Studies, I have been stud ying to b ecome a
Japanese instructor. During the first year, my goal was to work hard at using the
Japanese grammar I had learned up until then, and build enough conversational skills
to properly express myself. This year, I’m preparing for my master’s thesis, under the
guidance of an advisory instructor. The theme for my thesis is “Incorrect Usage of
Possible Expressions by Native Chinese Speakers”. While referri ng to my previous
research, I’d like to complete this thesis by the end of the year.
 

During my first year, I had no confidence, and I was practically unable to speak
Japanese. It was around that time that a fellow student that wa s older than me said,
“Come on, HaoRan, youll do just fine.” She took the time to listen to what I had to
say, and gave me encouragement. I’m really grateful that she said that, because that
gave me the motivation to improve my Japanese. I also felt move d by the view of
Arashiyama from the window of the research laboratory. I realiz ed that Kyoto is a
city that’s abundant with nature, where both traditional and modern things coexist.
 

My dream is to return to China and to become a Japanese instructor. If I can, I’d like
to teach at my alma mater, the College of Humanities & Sciences of Northeast
Normal University. I’m studying to take the test in order to ac quire my doctor’s
degree in Japan. I want to be a Japanese instructor that offers Japanese language
training with a good balance between grammar and conversational skills. There is a
high level of interest in Japan amongst the younger people in C hina, so I’d like to
build bridges between the two countries by helping them to continue to develop their
communication skills.