Stuart Kirby
Teacher, 30
My main reason for studying Japanese is to understand my karate sensei when he's yelling at me, and, obviously, if you're going to live here a while, then you're missing out on a lot by not studying Japanese.

Adam Gvenes
Teacher
I'm studying Japanese just to make living in Japan easier. I'm planning on staying here for a while. I'd like to help Japanese see past their stereotypes of foreigners, and one is that foreigners can't speak Japanese.

Nathalie Pinto
Student
I'm from Chile. I'm studying Japanese because I live here, so I would like to communicate with people. If you know just a little bit your life changes so much. It's great to know languages. I know 4 languages so far.

Piie Leino
Student, 17
I like the culture. Because everything is so different, I came here and because I came here, it's good to learn the language. From Finland, everyone goes somewhere English-speaking, but I wanted to do something totally different.

Arjun Lama
Student, 29
I want to be a Japanese teacher, not here, but in my home country of Nepal. It's a good job because a lot of people there want to study Japanese, as a lot of Japanese travel to Nepal. I will also use my Japanese in the tourist industry.

Pierre Pergiguier
Intern, 21
Anime was the first reason I got interested in learning Japanese. Then I came to Japan for a month and loved the food and the Japanese attitude. I will probably use my Japanese in a company with ties to Japan.