A Middlebury Institute degree in translation would assist me in helping others learn English, promote cross-cultural exchange, foster stronger U.S.-Japan ties, and learn more about Japanese culture. I believe that my experience teaching English in Fiji and being an ALT on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program coupled with my educational background in Japanese language and culture will help me achieve these goals.
In 2016, I became a participant of the JET Program as an assistant language teacher (ALT) after applying for the third time. Toyo Town in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture became my new home for three years. I had five schools all in the mountain and for the majority of the students at the schools, I was the first African American person they have ever met. There were students who silently place their arms next to mine to compare skin colors, ask me why I had black skin, and how they thought it was a suntan. Each time I explained to the students that there are many people in the world with different skin colors. This was when I understood the significances of cultural understanding and exchange that the JET Program hopes to cultivate.
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While the JET Program does not state the reason for rejections, after my second attempt, I realized that I needed to intensify my efforts to become the best candidate possible. It was necessary to know what it meant to teach English as a foreign language and as a result, I decided to obtain certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in early 2015. I completed the general sixty-hour course that covered diverse ways of teaching English and teaching terminology. In addition to the sixty-hour course, I furthered my studies by taking three separate ten-hour specialist certification courses: Business English, Young Learners, and Teaching English to Large