Like many Japan enthusiasts, my journey to understand Japan started with my major exposure to the culture through an assortment of media – My father’s military stories, News, Discovery Channel documentaries, random exchanges between Steve Urkel and his Japanese speaking
Program Spotlight: Japanese Chat Club
Introduction: NABEA’s Japan Chat Club is a community-driven program founded and led by Ashley Hayes and supported by Harvey Beasley; it was created in June of 2021, just 2 years after NABEA’s founding in 2019. As part of NABEA’s mission
Why I Joined NABEA – Brandy Darling
The Black girl that speaks Chinese. That was the way people identified me in my small, predominantly-white college in Connecticut. At first, it really bothered me because what did race have to do with my intellectual ability? Nothing. Little did
Why I Joined NABEA – Payge Jennings
Being Black and studying in Asia never seemed weird to me until other people told me it was. Growing up in Maryland, I had a lot of classmates who were of Asian descent. More specifically, I had a lot of
Why I Joined NABEA – Obio Ntia
All views expressed are Obio’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State. My introduction to formal Mandarin language learning was during my first days as a college freshman in 2000. My Chinese professor founded the