Kyoto Alumni Talk
On November 6th, Brandon Syms (CAS ’12) spoke via Zoom to students interested in Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS). Brandon studied in Kyoto in the fall of 2011 and returned to Japan in the summer of 2012 after graduating with a major in Japanese & Linguistics to become an English Teacher, teaching for an 英会話 (English conversation) school in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
KCJS shared the following about Brandon:
“As his teaching skill improved so did his status within his company. He was promoted and sent to work in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. During the 4 years he spent teaching, he managed to travel to over 15 other prefectures to which he’d never been. Brandon’s dream of becoming a translator goes back to when he was only 8 years old. Even after KCJS, he continued to study on his own, eventually passing the JLPT N2 and then N1. Kanji has always been his strong suit and it has been his greatest weapon in boosting his skill in Japanese. After passing the JLTP N1, Brandon decided to chase his dream and search for work as a Japanese-English translator. He now resides in Fukuoka City, doing just that. In addition to his main work, he also hosts a number of events across Japan in the cities where he’s lived to help connect foreigners visiting and living in Japan get in touch with the locals”
On November 20th, Jon Anderson (CAS ’96) spoke via Zoom to students interested in Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies (KCJS). Jon graduated with a BA in East Asian Studies and a minor in Economics. He now serves as Media Sales Director for Twitch Japan, after spending 15 years working for Microsoft in Seattle, WA.
KCJS shared the following about Jon:
“After KCJS, he worked at Panasonic handling marketing for consumer laptops and then at Hakuhodo subsidiary in Tokyo overseeing international media buys before moving to Seattle. Somewhere in there he also became part owner of a pizza restaurant. Jon is also learning nagauta shamisen with a goal of earning an instructor’s license.”
Interested in learning more about KCJS? Click here