My Reasons for Studying Japanese:

My main reason for studying Japanese is purely pragmatic: because my major and my future career possibilities have strong ties to Japan, it would benefit me to know the language and the culture. Japan is recognized as the hub of the technology industry--especially for the video game and artificial intelligence industries--and I plan to pursue a career in either video game programming (admittedly, the companies for whom I would like to work are based in English-speaking countries) or artificial intelligence research. Even if I do not physically work in Japan, though, I will still have some kind of connection to the industry in Japan. I know, then, that learning Japanese will increase my chances of obtaining a more sought-after position in my chosen career field.

However, my interest in Japanese/Japan was developed before I knew my future career plans. I watched a lot of anime and read a lot of manga when I was younger, and thereby developed an interest in Japan. Futhermore, the culture of Japan, being so very different from Western culture, is incredibly interesting to me, and since the language is largely linked to the culture, learning the language would help me further understand/become acquainted with the culture.

Lastly, I simply like the sound/grammatical construction of the Japanese language. I had difficulty speaking Spanish fluently (even after five years of study) because of the rhythm/fluidity; Japanese, however, is proving to be more easy for me to speak.