Fox Chapel graduate crosses the globe to learn new language

Summer vacation for most college students is about earning some extra money or sitting back and relaxing.

Others, however, decide to learn a new language.

That’s true for Fox Chapel graduate Daniel Thomas, who spent his summer studying Japanese in Okayama, Japan.

Thomas, a rising junior at the University of Rochester, is majoring in history and Japanese studies. He also is a member of the school’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

Thomas was selected as one of 500 undergraduate students in the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program.

The CLS program offers college students eight-week immersion courses in a multitude of languages from Arabic to Portuguese. Students from all over the country were selected from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants.

Thomas first heard about CLS while attending another language study program last summer at the University of North Georgia, where a professor recommended that he apply. After submitting his transcript and writing a multitude of essays, Thomas was accepted and approved to go to Japan to study the language there.

“I was pretty happy. It is fully funded by the U.S. government, which means I don’t have to pay, so it is a really great opportunity that I am really grateful to have,” Thomas said.

Thomas, who is Japanese American, plans to join the Army after college to become a tank operator, and he hopes one day to be stationed in Japan.

But he admits wanting to learn the language for a deeper reason.

“I was hoping to speak with my grandparents more as I grew up, have more mature conversations with them and connect with them on a deeper level, and I think part of what is necessary to do that is to understand the language that they speak more,” he said.

A total of 25 students, including Thomas, traveled to Japan as a part of the CLS program and lived in dormitories at the University of Okayama. Each student stayed with one other American student and two Japanese students, who served as language partners for the Americans during the learning process.

These language partners also helped American students to better understand the culture and traditions in the foreign country.

“I really enjoy learning about Japanese culture. I had a lot of fun discussing with my Japanese roommates on how to address someone and how to be polite and how to be careful to not disrespect someone,” Thomas said.

In return, Thomas and his American peers share their culture with the Japanese students. One highlight this summer was having an American-style barbecue with his roommates during the Fourth of July.

The Thomas family previously vacationed in Japan but agrees that being a tourist is not the full experience.

Learning about the culture is just as important as learning the language, said Thomas’ father, Vincent.

“We were thrilled for the opportunity for him to travel and experience the culture firsthand. When you are a tourist, you don’t really get to understand the next level of the culture,” Vincent Thomas said.

CLS students are immersed in the culture, even eating at the college’s dining facility as well as local markets throughout the campus.

Thomas looks forward to returning to Rochester this fall and plans to continue studying Japanese.

Next summer, he will begin his military training en route to becoming a second lieutenant.