My Thoughts on Totoro

When I was growing up, my grandmother, who is from Japan, always liked showing me different Japanese films. She showed me many different ones, but my favorite was always My Neighbor Totoro. It is an incredibly entertaining film and we watched it many many times. I went back and rewatched some of it with subtitles, and it was felt like a return to childhood for me. I hadn't watched the film in a long time, but I really enjoyed it and also felt more of an appreciation for the lessons it teaches about being kind to your family and the importance of nature. I have learned through my exploration of Japanese culture that nature is incredibly important in Japan, and I think that is very cool. Overall, I really enjoyed rewatching the film and felt that it was not only entertaining, but also communicated a very cool message. 

Why I chose to learn Japanese

I am an arts and letters major, which means that I have to take a language. I chose to learn Japanese because I am 25% Japanese but I have never really taken the time to study the language thoroughly. I visited Japan last summer, and it was my 3rd time being there but my first since 2018. I really struggled to communicate with others while I was there, and I feel that my experience in Japan would have been much better had I known the language more. I am very excited for the class, most specifically learning how to read hiragana and katakana so I don't have to rely on english translations. I am also excited to learn about study abroad opportunities in Japan as I am very interested in studying abroad over the summer. Overall, I'm very excited for this class and the opportunity to develop skills with the Japanese language.