Rising Thomas Dale High School junior Luke Fields loves languages. With a personal goal to learn and speak several languages – Spanish, French, German and Russian – Fields is completing his second year with Japanese classes at Thomas Dale earning high honors. Good grades and motivation earned him a spot for intensive study into the language this summer during the 29th Annual Virginia Governor’s Japanese Academy at Randolph-Macon College, sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education.
Nominated by his Japanese instructor Tadao Uchisawa, Fields was selected through a statewide competition from 600 applicants. He will be one of 38 Virginia high school students to learn Japanese over a three-week period at Randolph Macon in Ashland. During the three weeks, Fields will learn and experience Japanese language and culture through hands-on-activities and in real-life situations, making language acquisition more meaningful, practical, and lasting.
The Virginia Department of Education sponsors five Governor’s Foreign Language Academies each summer. At the camps, students are nurtured and language skills are cultivated. CBS News and USA Today have featured the Academies as examples of innovative foreign language programs. Fields was selected through a rigorous statewide process that began over six months ago. Uchisawa notified him in April of his acceptance.
Fields, the son of Laurie and Lynwood Fields, is excited about attending the academy. “I am very excited,” he said. “To be with 38 students who already are interested in Japanese will be fun. I just want to learn more Japanese.”
Fields said Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn. “It is really complex,” he said. “It has three different alphabets [character sets]and I only know about 150 of them. I do a lot of self-study.” High school students are expected to learn up to 2,000 characters.
Along with his fellow students, Fields will not learn in the ordinary way with textbooks and CDs, but by using the language and experiencing the culture with an excellent staff including native speakers.
He will attend creative language and culture classes – such as art, music, and Japanese customs – each day (including Saturdays), which are included to encourage students to take an active part in their learning. The language learning extends beyond the classroom with visits to Japanese cultural related sites, community service, afternoon activities such a cooking, soccer, volleyball, folk dancing, and singing. Students’ writing and photography skills are developed through a multi-memory DVD. All activities are hands-on and in real-life situations, making language acquisition meaningful, practical, and lasting.
Randolph-Macon College has hosted Virginia Governor’s Japanese Academy since 2011 and is excited to welcome students to its campus in Ashland. The Japanese Academy has a tremendous history of offering a unique and challenging experience that leads to a life-long love of language and long-lasting friendships with students and staff.
