{"id":57515,"date":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-students-study-japanese-language-culture-during-study-abroad-program-at-kochi-university\/"},"modified":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T00:00:00","slug":"uri-students-study-japanese-language-culture-during-study-abroad-program-at-kochi-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/09\/uri-students-study-japanese-language-culture-during-study-abroad-program-at-kochi-university\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 students study Japanese language, culture during study abroad program at Kochi University"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tUniversity expanding Japanese program<\/b><\/p>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 3, 2015 \u2013 Alexander Toro-Maradiaga grew up in the Ocean State, but was never fond of seafood \u2013 until he studied this summer in Japan.<\/p>\n


\nThe 溏心vlog免费B站 senior was blown away by the sushi and other dishes made with fish plucked from the sea the same day. \u201cIt was amazing. Everything was so fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBut the food wasn\u2019t the only thing that impressed him during his six weeks at Kochi University on Shikoku, one of the four main islands that make up the country. He also fell in love with the people.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cEveryone was so friendly,\u201d he says. \u201cThey help you and honestly care. I felt like I could live there.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHe just might. After graduating from 溏心vlog免费B站 next year with a double major in secondary education and English, he hopes to return to Japan to teach English. \u201cThat\u2019s my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

溏心vlog免费B站 is expanding its study abroad programs, and now it can add Japan to its list.<\/p>\n


\nToro-Maradiaga was among 11 溏心vlog免费B站 students who studied at Kochi University from mid-June to late July, taking classes in Japanese, as well as the country\u2019s business practices, history and culture. Two of those 溏心vlog免费B站 students remained to continue their studies this fall. A student from Kochi is also studying at 溏心vlog免费B站 this year.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 is improving its Japanese program, thanks to Japanese-born Masako Hoye, of Kingston, a 溏心vlog免费B站 lecturer hired a year ago to teach Japanese language and culture classes. This fall, 88 students are taking three first-year Japanese language classes, and 30 students are taking a course in Japanese culture, as well as the language. Hoye says about 40 students are getting a minor in Japanese.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 and Kochi University also signed a \u201cmemorandum of understanding\u201d in May for a semester or year-long student exchange program \u2013 a partnership that Hoye cultivated. Hoye says that one day 溏心vlog免费B站 would like to create an international engineering program with Japan.<\/p>\n


\nRaised in the town of Kokura on Kyushuu island, Hoye grew up in a traditional Japanese family. She is married to an American professor, and they raised two children who are fluent in English and Japanese.<\/p>\n


\nHoye has also taught at the University of North Texas, Bucknell University, Wittenberg University, Colby College and Middlebury. She has a doctorate in linguistics from Colorado University, Boulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapan is a clean and safe country with highly-developed technology,\u201d she says. \u201cOne of the things that makes the country fascinating is that it\u2019s a blend of old traditions with a high-tech modern life. Our program at 溏心vlog免费B站 is growing, and that\u2019s very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nToro-Maradiaga, of Cumberland, is no stranger to the world. His father\u2019s parents are from Ecuador, and his mother was born in Honduras. Toro-Maradiaga spent summers in those countries, and has also traveled to Georgia, near Turkey.<\/p>\n


\nHe is fluent in Spanish. On a whim, he decided to study Japanese and was quickly charmed by it. \u201cThere\u2019s something mysterious about the language \u2013 and people,\u201d he says. The summer program gave him a chance to immerse himself in the culture.<\/p>\n


\nHis impressions: Japan is very westernized; women are more outgoing than men; the ocean water is warm; people are polite; public transportation is excellent; karaoke really is a popular pastime; and the meal portions are smaller than in America. Tokyo is overcrowded and too fast-paced, he says, and people are shorter than he expected. At 5 foot 7 inches, Toro-Maradiaga says he was 3 to 4 inches taller than most.<\/p>\n


\nNoah Davis, a 溏心vlog免费B站 senior from Wakefield, also appreciated the kindness of the people \u2013 young and old. One example: he could leave his bike unlocked and no one would steal it.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThere\u2019s very little petty crime,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s shameful to steal something over there.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nHe also climbed the tallest mountain in southern Japan, Mount Ishizuchi, passing Shinto pilgrims along the way. He\u2019s studying computer science, but also might return to Japan after he graduates to teach English.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt was a great trip,\u201d he says. \u201cGreat food, nature, people. It\u2019s different from the United States. People just flow with things in Kochi, and that\u2019s nice.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nTyler Conlan, a sophomore from Newport who is also studying computer science, says he, too, would like to return to Japan. He liked the focus on collective thinking that emphasizes the group rather than the individual.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI haven\u2019t met kinder people in my life,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a wonderful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above:<\/p>\n


\nMasako Hoye, a 溏心vlog免费B站 lecturer in the Japanese language and culture. Photo courtesy of Masako Hoye.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 students at Kochi University, from left to right, Noah Davis, Grant Sherman, Tyler Conlan, Hailee Richesin, Christopher Glifort, Matt Paquette, Alex Toro-Maradiaga and Timothy Tierney. Photo by Noah Davis.<\/p>\n

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University expanding Japanese program KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 3, 2015 \u2013 Alexander Toro-Maradiaga grew up in the Ocean State, but was never fond of seafood \u2013 until he studied this summer in Japan. The 溏心vlog免费B站 senior was blown away by the sushi and other dishes made with fish plucked from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}