Global Engagement, and the Importance of Foreign Languages

As the world reaches a critical juncture in policy and global exchange, I am thankful that I am facing it prepared with the education I got at UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy.  I am glad for the focus on quantitative data, and for the in-depth background I have on the Asian theater. But I am especially grateful for the advanced language classes tailored for economic and political policy that I took -  a scarce commodity in the US.

Simon Kupor wrote in the Financial Times[1] that primarily monolingual English speakers in the US and UK are at a fundamental disadvantage precisely because English is the language of international exchange. He likens living in an English speaking country to “living in a glass house… foreigners know us much better than we know them.”  He speculates that this imbalanced communication made the US elections an easy target for Russian hackers, and give the UK a much weaker hand in negotiating Brexit. 

The implication is clear. For regional experts and international affairs professionals, language proficiency is not optional.

Before arriving at GPS, I studied Japanese for a number of years. I could maintain basic conversations and function in daily life.  But I did not have the language skills to be competent in a professional setting.  At GPS Japanese classes, I learned the expressions and style needed in giving business presentations, and I learned how to formally debate political topics – both of which were an immense asset during my summer internship during which I presented policy analysis to Japanese bureaucrats.  My language classes also taught me how to write professional correspondence to colleagues, which I do now daily in my current job.

Beyond being able to use language in my job, I am now able to get my news from foreign publications.  Reading about the American healthcare system and the internment of Japanese Americans in Japanese magazines has been a sobering experience.  Reading government policy papers from the Japanese government has given me a great deal of clarity on what is going on in Japanese society now.

Language has given me a grounded perspective on America’s role in the world, greater capacity as a researcher, and the ability to be taken seriously by colleagues. I would not have been able to reach this level had I not taken classes at GPS.

When deciding whether to move back to the US to complete my Masters degree, I was concerned about whether I would have to sacrifice my language skills that I had worked so hard for. At GPS, my skills didn’t suffer but expanded.

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[1] Kuper, Simon. “The problem with English.” The Financial Times Magazine, January 12, 2017
https://www.ft.com/content/223af71a-d853-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e

Meiji Style Tokyo

One of my personal favorite periods of Japanese history is the Meiji period.  Tokyo really came into it's own during the Meiji period, and thanks to a thirst for modernizing combined with some horrific fires, much of modern Tokyo was rebuilt then.  Here are some examples of Meiji style buildings I came across this trip.

Tokyo Station

Emperor's Palace

National Museum

The End of the World

I went to Shizuoka to see a friend.  Shizuoka is the town right at the base of Mt. Fuji.  The order of the day was catching up, but we went to Tanuki lake which is supposed to reflect the image of Mt. Fuji.  This is what we saw instead.  It makes me think of what the world would look like if it was flat and you really could fall off of it.

Kaifeng Revisited

For two weeks this last summer I went back to Kaifeng.  It still has a certain chaos to it that Shenzhen has been orderly removing from itself.

Note the monkey

I'll Have a Venti

Xingbake, or as it's better known in America, Starbucks, has not yet made its way to Henan province.  But the richer cities of China are no strangers to them.  Though all the English translations are idetical to the American versions, Chinese speakers need not worry about the difference between a tall, venti, and grande.  The Chinese version roughly translates to "
medium cup" "big cup" and "really big cup."

 

 

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Patriotic Beijing

I have wanted to post this for a long time.  These pictures were taken in December.  Beijing, being the capitol, is under more scrutiny than most places.  A few images.

Training For the Job

It's a little funny to think that I just finished training for a job I already have been doing for almost a year.  Being a foreign language teach in Kaifeng consisted of three easy steps: 1) be foreign.  2) show up in Kaifeng. 3) don't cut class often enough that your students complain to the higher ups.  I think the five of us last year managed to set the bar a little higher than that - but we would all readily admit that we had no idea what we were doing.  Our goal was to make coming to class more worthwhile than cutting it.  That was all the structure we had.
We arrived in Beijing on August 2nd.  August 3rd we had orientation.  On August 4th we began our daily schedule for the next two weeks - 1 hour of teaching, 3 hours of TEFL classes, 2 hours of Chinese, 1 hour of group meetings and information about Shenzhen.  After group meetings there was lesson planning and coordinating with the group of teachers you shared students with in order to make sure there wasn't too much overlap.  It was tiring.  But we learned.  We got advice on how to deal with problems.  We were taught a framework to put our class lessons on in order to create structure and goals.
Aside from the 24 hour train ride, we haven't had any days where we could sleep in.  I'm looking forward to that in the next few days.