Why Study Japanese?

Hi! My name is Douglas DeLong and this semester I began learning Japanese at Columbia.

I'm a big fan of video games, and Japan has been instrumental in the development of that industry. I spent the last summer working as press for Game Informer, and learned that Japanese companies are still powerhouses in the industry. Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, and Square Enix are just a few of the big names that come to mind. Some of the work I did was transcribing interviews with Japanese developers, and they felt stilted because they had to go through a translator. I figure that if I want to work in the video games industry later, whether in press or not, being able to speak Japanese would be a valuable skill.

So far, the most challenging thing has been retraining my brain to read non-romanized characters. It's tough but has been a lot of fun!