Hello everyone! In these last few weeks I’ve participated in a virtual exchange project as one of the group leaders and I would like to share this rich and multifaced experience with you.

Everything has been based on the principle of autonomy, and the responsibility for a successful interaction rested mainly with the participants, who were encouraged to take on responsibility for finding their own themes for discussion and even correcting their own and their partners’ errors. We wrote weekly reports to reflect on our learning progress, on the themes dealt with and on the interaction which we were able to establish, an interaction which was both oral and written, based on the one hand on the conversation lessons held on several days every week, on the other on Slack chats among the students on a daily basis. Moreover, we wrote weekly on our blog to share our impressions and opinions and commented on each other’s posts.

As teams we could work on issues together in real time and we were able to discuss themes and make reflections on the process of language learning and on the Japanese language as well and learn somehow from one another. We also engaged in interaction with native speakers which gave us the feeling of an authentic experience of communication in the Japanese language.

After my own experience I found it really useful to practice Japanese in real time and in a real context instead of just reading or practicing artificial conversations following a text book. It has been a very natural, spontaneous and real interaction in which the language has been used to discuss interesting issues and to convey impressions and personal opinions.

Furthermore this experience has been so much more than a language learning experience, it has created real moments of interaction and connection, which is such a significant aspect in this period of sanitary emergency, isolation and lack of stimulating relationships.
Also the themes that have been chosen were interestingly connected with our language studies, but also with aspects of intercultural competence.
It was enriching to speak with other students and also with students from other countries, in fact it helped us understand other perspectives and other ways of thinking.

I also appreciated the collaborative activities which aimed at raising awareness and the sessions helped us be respectful and open-minded towards other people’s opinions.

On top of that, the activities as a group leader also boosted my sense of responsibility and developed the awareness that I had to improve my ability of clearly explaining concepts and let myself understood by others. Also, I had to adapt quickly to changing situations and that made me a better problem solver (I hope…)!
Finally, fully throwing myself into this experience, has given me a better understanding of the importance of team work, collaboration and work organization(which is not easy at all, no matter the context, most of all for those who are not used to acting in a group…)
In conclusion, I really hope that this type of projects will develop in the future and that language will be studied from different and not yet explored perspectives.

Valentina Sernicola