Sono Takano Hayes

	Rank:		Associate Teaching Professor of Japanese
	Ph.D.		University of Pittsburgh
	Department Member Since: 1987

Personal Statement
My focus in teaching core language courses has been to provide functional and meaningful training in the Japanese language through communicatively oriented classroom activities taught in the context of Japanese culture. I see myself as a Japanese language teacher and see language teaching as a means to introduce new cultural experiences through language and socio-cultural experiences.

Learning languages opens a window to new ways of doing and thinking and allows new insights into our view of the world. Consequently, it allows us to bridge different cultures in our ever changing and tightly connected world. Teaching a language is extremely rewarding because it allows the teacher to see a learner’s growth both in their language proficiency and character. It is a basic and holistic route to teach the terms of the values that underlie the humanities, including sensitivity to other’s needs, understanding, generosity, respect, and the cooperative attitude needed for cultural and personal co-existence. I have devoted myself to teaching Japanese as a career and I feel very strongly that I can keep contributing to the program as a language teacher.

I chose my career to take a small step in bridging different cultures. I will keep working to fulfill this goal as long as I am capable of contributing. In fact, my strongest asset as a language teacher, as stated before, is how I always get excited about working with students and get involved with their progress in acquiring Japanese language skills. Sometimes, I count how many of my students have acquired fame in Japan-US relations, made a living in activities that involve Japanese, or married a Japanese national and started a family. I am still excited to teach Japanese to those who had never been exposed to the language: I can start over every time with my students and stick with them as long as they try. I am glad to say that this fact is still true today.

For More Information
Sono Takano Hayes
Department of Modern Languages
Carnegie Mellon University
Baker Hall 160
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Office: BH 368
Phone: (412) 268-7860
Fax: (412) 268-1328
Web: http://ml.hss.cmu.edu/FacPages/Sono/