Would you move eight thousand miles away to live and work in a country whose language and culture are completely different from your own? That’s what WTMA graduate Leyra Espino-Nardi (grad year 2021) signed up for last year when she was accepted to the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program with a placement in Kyoto.

A One-of-a-Kind Opportunity

For decades, the JET Programme has accepted recent college graduates from around the world as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs), placing them in elementary, junior high, and high schools all over Japan as support staff for the main English teachers. A highly competitive government program, JET is one of the best ways for young people to live in Japan for a year or two while working a stable job and forging connections in the local community. When the program finishes, JET alumni generally find it a simple process to extend their time in Japan, and even to pursue permanent residency there, by finding work with Japanese companies or enrolling in graduate programs at Japanese universities. Mrs. Kappenman, the Academy’s Japanese instructor, participated in JET for two years in Kochi Prefecture as a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR).

After learning about JET via Mrs. Kappenman’s Japanese I and Japanese II courses (Leyra was a member of the very first Japanese I class at WTMA), she kept the program in mind as she continued on to Johns Hopkins University. “Kappenman-sensei instilled in me a passion to continue studying the language in college,” says Leyra. “I learned many invaluable lessons about not only Japanese grammar and linguistics, but also how to interact with Japanese culture respectfully and inquisitively.” At Hopkins, while continuing to polish her Japanese language skills through a double major in history and East Asian Studies, she bolstered her credentials for her JET application by participating in the Japan-America Student Conference and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Summer Institute.

An Unexpected – But Welcome – Placement

When she received her placement in Kyoto City, Leyra could barely believe it – most JET participants are placed far in the countryside of Japan, not in one of its most important and ancient cities! Kyoto was the capital city of Japan for over a thousand years, and was largely spared during World War II air raids, making the city a living museum of traditional art, architecture, and culture.

Furthermore, being centrally located in the heart of the main island, travel to other parts of Japan is simple.

Kyoto is a placement other JET participants only dream of! Not surprisingly, when Leyra was offered the opportunity to continue on the program for a second year, she accepted without hesitation.

“The Most Amazing Experience”

Of her life in Kyoto now, Leyra says, “These past months have been… the most amazing experience for my personal and professional development.” As she uses Japanese in her daily life, her coworkers frequently comment that her language skills are continuing to improve. She divides her time as an ALT between three elementary schools and one junior high school, often eating kyuushoku (school-provided lunch) with her students.

Well-balanced, delicious, fully-funded lunches are standard issue at Japanese elementary and junior high schools. Students participate in serving and tidying up, and teachers and students frequently eat together.

At graduation time, she says, “I wrote all [the graduates] letters in English and Japanese to tell them how proud I am and share some of my best memories with them… The kids even wrote me sweet notes about how much they loved English class.” She was delighted to discover that many of her elementary graduates moved on to the junior high school she works at, so graduation was not sayounara (farewell) forever.

She even has a Kanji name now, given to her by a kind coworker.

As Leyra puts it, “My Japanese language journey began with Kappenman-sensei’s Japanese lectures, and has taken me from Florida, to Baltimore, [and] all the way to Japan! I’m truly so grateful that Kappenman-sensei told us about JET all those years ago at WTMA.”

We are so proud of Leyra here at the Academy, and we’re thrilled to have played a role in setting her on the path that has taken her all the way to Japan. We can’t wait to hear where the journey takes her next!

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