Dear Readers,

Did you know that our project is on instagram and facebook? If the answer is no and you are curious, check out our instagram page @jalea_unive and facebook page JALEA, e-learning tool for Japanese Language study!

Today I would like to introduce Angela and Lorenzo, JaLea SNS team leaders. Let’s find out how they are dealing with their roles and daily responsibilities!

What did you expect from taking part in this project? What do you like about your present mission? What do you dis-like and how would you like to make it better?

Angela: I did not know what to expect taking part in this project, I just wanted to be a part of the JaLea team, and to help improve the platform. I like working with the other teams and seeing the results of our hard work. There’s nothing that I dislike, I think that all of us have useful perspectives to help improve JaLea.

Lorenzo: By taking part in this project I highly expect to join a group of talented colleagues and teachers to work and collaborate with. Besides, I strongly believe in JaLea mission and I am truly honored to be responsible for JaLea Business and the PR team for social networks. Of course, I am aware that this will be a demanding task to carry on yet at the same time I am convinced that all the members of my team(s) will do their best to create engagement with our followers on social media and all Ca’Foscari students.

How do you deal with your role? What perspectives are you offering to your team? And which steps are you taking to pursue it?

Angela: I’m still learning how to be a “sekininsha” and sometimes I can be a little overwhelmed, but it’s a really useful experience that will help me in the future. My team is full of beautiful ideas, and I try to make them become reality. I’m constantly learning new things and I’m trying to improve my managing skills.

Lorenzo: As a matter of fact dealing with both JaLea Business and Jalea social network is not easy but, it gives me the opportunity to challenge myself from different point of views. As far as the management of Social Network is concerned, the most challenging part is how to coordinate myself with the rest of the team to create new and engaging content for our followers. We always try to give our best by working on contents that can pursue the promotion of JaLea itself and catch the eye of the users sharing with them various curiosity at the latest news about Japan. From my point of view, the Social Network Team is doing great and despite the fact that we have the responsibility to represent an ambitious project like JaLea, we cannot wait to show what we have in store for you!

Do you think that the Collaborative Creativity Project will have an impact on Japanese language courses at Ca’ Foscari University? If yes how?

Angela: I think that this project could really help lots of students. Japanese is a complex language and students can get easily demotivated. JaLea could be a new way to study while having fun, taking a break from our textbooks. 

Lorenzo: I strongly believe that it will. From the point of view of a Japanese language student, studying at Ca’Foscari, I had the opportunity to test my language proficiency going to Japan and widening my knowledge directly speaking with natives. However, especially the first time I went there, I felt a little gap between what I had learned at the university and the actual language skills that it was required to carry on the everyday activities. I think that first year students could fill this gap thanks to JaLea and its innovative materials that give them the opportunity to virtually travel to Japan and integrate the skills they develop during curricular courses.

Finally: what is your “final vision” of the e-learning platform you are contributing? How do you see their very-near future (e-g- will they be ready for May exams?)? How will you use them to study (or to teach) Japanese?

Angela: I think that JaLea has lots of potential, but needs to improve even more. Adding more content and the help of many students to make it even better.

Lorenzo: From my point of view, JaLea is one of the greatest software available for learning Japanese. If I will ever have the chance to teach to somebody, I will certainly suggest them to use JaLea. At the same time, there are some more work needed to make JaLea even more enjoyable for our users, and I’m sure that the team will bring the students the best experience possibile within the next months.

Did you enjoy the interview?

Stay with us to discover more about our project and our community!

Federica