Hello my name is Alice and during this project I was part of group number 8 where we talked about tourism.

Before sending my curriculum I was scared about what to expect, especially because I wasn’t confident in my speaking skills. Since the first year on university, I tried to avoid the conversation’s classes because I knew I wasn’t able to express myself as I wanted, but at the same time I recognised their importance. This year I started going more often and with this project, in some way, I obligated myself to be present all the time.

Learning how the Virtual Exchange Project was structured I felt excited about my choice: my group’s theme is something I have been interested in for a long time and it allowed us to talk about many micro-themes; in the weekly meetings with my members we were able to talk about a theme we explored by ourselves in advance by searching articles and videos; during the convesation’s classes, on the other hand, I had to present in an easy way the weekly themes and keep the conversation going with new people; on the weekend we all had publish and read the articles on the NolBrick blog. I think that participating in the conversation’s class and at the same time reading the articles on the blog let us explore further at the same time all the themes we are interested in.

The fact that I had to use japanese in so many ways, it helped me to put to use what I have learned so far. During the zoom meetings I had to encourage people to participate by presenting new materials and always asking stimulating questions. I also had to participate actively on slack and with my other members to organize our activities and, by doing so, I feel like I have taken the lead many times.

Now that the project ended I feel like we all gained something at the end, like being able to open up, make new friends, and improve in our japanese skills.