Welcome!
Welcome to my university graduation portfolio. My name is Joshua Baldwin, and I studied as a Japanese Language and Culture major student in the World Language and Culture department at California State University Monterey Bay. In this portfolio you can view the courses I've taken and some work I've done to complete this Bachelor's degree.
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Statement of Purpose:
I’ve been interested in Japan since I was around seven or eight years old, when my friends introduced me to the Gameboy and role playing games such Pokémon. I loved being able to delve into a new world and take on the role of another adventuring child. The curiosity I found as a child grew to a desire to learn more about the culture and language so I studied Japanese in high school. What cemented my love for the culture, and more importantly the people, was my serving as a missionary for the Mormon Church in the Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures. My experiences lead me to the desire to share what I know with the people of Japan by becoming an assistant language teacher, then ultimately going on to be a Japanese school teacher. Through my experience teaching eikaiwa I feel I am prepared effectively serve the people of Japan.
My various interactions with Japanese language and culture in different stages of my life have given me a love for the country, culture, and people. Thanks to this great affection that developed I have a strong desire to not only live among them, but to avidly work, through teaching, to aid the people and add my knowledge in a way that would benefit the country’s future. Through me sharing my knowledge of the English language and the culture of America I can broaden the minds of those I teach and get them to be more interested in the global society to increase their awareness of things outside their cultural norms. To teach this, I have various experiences that would greatly aid me; namely my eikaiwa teaching as a missionary and my experience teaching for service learning at California State University Monterey Bay.
When I was living in Japan my job was to teach and serve the people. This aided greatly in being able to stand in front of people and speak, and how to put together lesson plans refined for certain groups or people. Other than that we also taught eikaiwa classes weekly in all our areas, which provided me with experience teaching English. Our classes varied from area to area, but we always had at least around twenty to twenty five students which we would divide into proficiency groups for the lessons. Teaching this way has given me experience in how to present learning English to those at both a lower level and also to those who are more advanced.
As a great partner to go alongside my experiences in Japan I am also currently the group leader for my advanced Japanese service learning group at CSUMB. We go to an elementary school every Wednesday and are in charge of three groups of about twenty children each split up from grades one through five at the afterschool program, and we teach them about Japanese language and culture. So far we have taught about basic greetings and gourei at the beginning and end of class, setsubun, origami, and other cultural practices. This experience has taught me how to best deal with teaching small children and having to be flexible with our lessons because of the difference in age between the groups. It also helps us to find ways to share the knowledge we have with them so they can retain it while having fun and enjoying what they are learning. The most important part of it is that we are getting children to be more aware of their global identity and to understand that there is something more than their culture. This is something I look forward to being able to share with Japanese students as well.
Finally, it is through this process of getting into video games as a child, which lead to interest in the language as a high school student and ultimately to my genuine love of the culture and people while living in Japan that has lead me to apply to teach English in Japan. I was then lead to my goal of being a public school teacher in Japan. This journey has given me an aspiration for what I want to do with my life, and I hope now that I’ve gained my purpose I’ll seize the opportunity to share my knowledge with the youth of Japan. Great things can be expected from what I have to offer as I have nothing but the highest expectations for myself to be successful in impacting others positively.
Resume: PDF File
I’ve been interested in Japan since I was around seven or eight years old, when my friends introduced me to the Gameboy and role playing games such Pokémon. I loved being able to delve into a new world and take on the role of another adventuring child. The curiosity I found as a child grew to a desire to learn more about the culture and language so I studied Japanese in high school. What cemented my love for the culture, and more importantly the people, was my serving as a missionary for the Mormon Church in the Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures. My experiences lead me to the desire to share what I know with the people of Japan by becoming an assistant language teacher, then ultimately going on to be a Japanese school teacher. Through my experience teaching eikaiwa I feel I am prepared effectively serve the people of Japan.
My various interactions with Japanese language and culture in different stages of my life have given me a love for the country, culture, and people. Thanks to this great affection that developed I have a strong desire to not only live among them, but to avidly work, through teaching, to aid the people and add my knowledge in a way that would benefit the country’s future. Through me sharing my knowledge of the English language and the culture of America I can broaden the minds of those I teach and get them to be more interested in the global society to increase their awareness of things outside their cultural norms. To teach this, I have various experiences that would greatly aid me; namely my eikaiwa teaching as a missionary and my experience teaching for service learning at California State University Monterey Bay.
When I was living in Japan my job was to teach and serve the people. This aided greatly in being able to stand in front of people and speak, and how to put together lesson plans refined for certain groups or people. Other than that we also taught eikaiwa classes weekly in all our areas, which provided me with experience teaching English. Our classes varied from area to area, but we always had at least around twenty to twenty five students which we would divide into proficiency groups for the lessons. Teaching this way has given me experience in how to present learning English to those at both a lower level and also to those who are more advanced.
As a great partner to go alongside my experiences in Japan I am also currently the group leader for my advanced Japanese service learning group at CSUMB. We go to an elementary school every Wednesday and are in charge of three groups of about twenty children each split up from grades one through five at the afterschool program, and we teach them about Japanese language and culture. So far we have taught about basic greetings and gourei at the beginning and end of class, setsubun, origami, and other cultural practices. This experience has taught me how to best deal with teaching small children and having to be flexible with our lessons because of the difference in age between the groups. It also helps us to find ways to share the knowledge we have with them so they can retain it while having fun and enjoying what they are learning. The most important part of it is that we are getting children to be more aware of their global identity and to understand that there is something more than their culture. This is something I look forward to being able to share with Japanese students as well.
Finally, it is through this process of getting into video games as a child, which lead to interest in the language as a high school student and ultimately to my genuine love of the culture and people while living in Japan that has lead me to apply to teach English in Japan. I was then lead to my goal of being a public school teacher in Japan. This journey has given me an aspiration for what I want to do with my life, and I hope now that I’ve gained my purpose I’ll seize the opportunity to share my knowledge with the youth of Japan. Great things can be expected from what I have to offer as I have nothing but the highest expectations for myself to be successful in impacting others positively.
Resume: PDF File