Hello I’m Elena from group 17 “Traditional Events” and I would like to share some of my thoughts on this project! Since our topic is something I already had interest in I was very happy when I was assigned to this group. Discussing traditional events and Japanese culture was fun to begin with, but thanks to the other members of the group this project became even more fun. Talking about traditional events and getting to know new people was really enjoyable!

This experience was important because it really helped come together with other students during this difficult times and have fun while also learning new things and specific vocabulary. Not only I had the opportunity to improve my conversational skills but also to I got learn more about our topic. I found out a lot about festivals and traditions thanks to the articles sent by the other members on slack that I wouldn’t have discovered on my own; not only about Japan but also about Italy. It was also important to have with us a student from Japan, it helped me learn about certain differences and also similar things about our two countries. During these two months we had the opportunity to really go deeper on the topic and thanks to the efforts of all the group members a lot of interesting facts were shared. I feel like the conversation was always enjoyable and I had the opportunity to share something about my own culture while learning something new.

The project helped me to get less and less shy as the time passed and gave me more confidence about my communication skills. I still have to work harder but I think it was also nice to have extra opportunities to improve my communication. The zoom meetings and the free conversation lessons were helpful and fun, as we got to interact with other students during these hard times. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and learn how to make myself clear even when I was couldn’t remember the right expression or didn’t know a specific word while talking. Also, reading the posts on the blog was really interesting, as other students elaborated on topics I didn’t know much about.

I would like to thank the other group members, people responsible for our group and everyone involved in the project. Thank you!