Whether it be the Japanese notes on the white board in Mr. Gabriele’s classroom or the drawings with Japanese captions right outside, the Japanese club doesn’t fail to create an environment for cadets who may have interest in different cultures.
The Japanese club was started by Sophie Rodriguez during the second semester of last year. When asked why she founded the club, Sophie said, “Because I found out Mr. Gabrieel knew how to speak Japanese and I wanted to learn.”
The amount of foreign language offered at UMA is sparse. So a language club is a welcome edition to the list of team times offered after school. It was not a surprise that Cadet Rodriquez wanted to learn something a bit different. “I’m learning how to speak multiple languages, and Japanese is the one I’ve been working on. As a Spanish speaker, it’s a bit dumb that I have to take classes for my first language.”
Mr. Gabriele has had a significant part in the Japanese club coming to fruition. Not only with the club’s need for an advisor but also with how the club has developed into an actual learning setting outside of school hours. Rodriquez described the environment of the club as “a nice relaxed way of learning. Mr. Gabriele tries to make it so we are all on the same page by going off their writing and words every day. It isn’t something that makes it feel like you are being rushed to do something.”
As for how the learning process is done in the club, Cadet Rodriguez described the teaching style. “In our club, we learn through teachers and each other. We have many cadets of different speaking, writing, and understanding levels. It is definitely a better way to learn Japanese as we are also going over the culture of Japan.”
The social environment of the club is pretty flexible in how cadets in the club interact with each other. “We are an open discussion club. We learn with each other and converse with each other. But also at the same time, it is an independent club, because you need to make sure to study words on your own and make discoveries to share with the club.”
The club has only existed at UMA for about a year, but Cadet Sophie Rodriguez has already accomplished some of the goals that she had when she started the club last year. “My original goals were to make a place where people could come and enjoy learning how to speak, understand, read, and write Japanese. So far all those things have been going in the right direction.”
“My current goal is to make sure that we all are able to converse in Japanese with each other by the time we are done. Making sure that we have a safe environment for anyone who would like to join us.”
As for those who would like to join the safe environment that has been created in the club Sophie says” We are a really inclusive group. We don’t care what your background is, we just care that you are there to learn and enjoy your time with us. We want to make sure everyone feels welcome to come in.”.
