Japanese Club Visit THK Manufacturing in Hebron, Ohio: Oct 20, 2015

Since we began offering Japanese at Marysville High School last year, we have also created a Japanese culture club. We meet weekly on Tuesdays after school and discuss various aspects of Japanese culture, history, food, etc. The students take turns researching topics they are interested in, and creating presentations while leading discussions with their classmates. This has been pretty efficient and students end up taking their research to the next level and applying it to their classroom learning. 

My husband and I are active members of the Japan America Society of Central Ohio         JASCO, and we regularly attend their History Club monthly meetings and other fun events related to Japan. About a month ago, at one of our History Club meetings,  I met Chie Schuller, from THK Manufacturing, who exchanged her contact information with me. She reached out to me right away and said that her company was very interested in doing outreach and invited our students to tour the facility.  

On Tuesday October 20, the Japanese Club members and I took an hour-long bus ride to Hebron Ohio and had the opportunity to meet the President, HR personnel, as well as the translators and interpreters for this company. My students were so excited to see how the language that they have been studying and working on is so beneficial and applicable right here in Ohio. Japan is the number one foreign investor in our state and it is important that we all advocate for its relevance and need. 

When we arrived we had a panel introduction of the President and director, and my students got to see firsthand how the interpreters worked simultaneously to interpret the  English spoken language into Japanese and vice versa for the THK personnel. My students also got a chance to introduce themselves and tell the company why they were interested in Japanese and why they chose to study the language. One of my Japanese 2 students even did her entire introduction in Japanese! I was so proud!

After meeting the staff, our students got their very own guided tour of the facility. We got to see how the metal parts are made and assembled as well as how well the robots worked to assist the humans!

Afterwards, THK was gracious enough to provide us with some awesome pizza for dinner, as our students participated in round table discussions and Q & A sessions with the interpreters and translators. They asked some very insightful questions, such as the interpreters' biggest struggles and challenges, why they chose to study Japanese, and how to improve language skills. Overall, this was very productive and my students even wished they had more time to talk!

I am so excited to be able to offer opportunities such as this one to our kids here at Marysville. Students need to take their language learning outside of the classroom and see its real-life applications and possible future career options. I strongly encourage teachers of non commonly taught languages, as well as common world languages to seek opportunities in and outside of their community to get students excited about what they are learning. We need to advocate for our programs and for the importance of learning another language. Take advantage of your connections and colleagues. You never know who your students can connect with!