Math teacher Patricia Jacobsen enjoyed teaching her Japanese elective for two years. And for several alumni, an enjoyable elective turned into a passion.

“I took [the elective] mostly just for the fun, but Ms. J told us stories about her experiences with the culture and I found it interesting,” Ryan Winters, ’05, said.

Jacobsen spent six years studying Japanese, living as an exchange student in Tokyo from 1995-96, as well as working at the Japanese Ministry of Education from 1997-2002. When she had become fluent after completing her studies, she chose to begin teaching.

“I enjoyed the two years of teaching it; they all had a great time. It was just a fun class and all of the students were very into it,” Jacobsen said.

Winters certainly was. He continued studying Japanese at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Calif., and passed through the highest level offered there by the middle of his junior year.

Now a senior, he spent last spring semester and last summer in Nagoya, Japan, though he did not attend through Occidental because they offered programs in only Kyoto and Tokyo.

Aside from intensive Japanese courses, Winters studied Japanese economy and calligraphy, and took field trips to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kobe and Osaka.

“Their culture is so diametrically opposed to ours,” he said. “It gives me a good foundation and exposure to the world today.”

Because Winters’s program wasn’t through one specific university, it included students from around the United States and the world. He shared an apartment with a Japanese student and two non-Americans also in the program.

Though not yet fluent in the language, Winters studies on his own and believes he will become fluent after spending more time in Japan.

In fact, he now hopes to graduate early from Occidental and has applied for a fellowship to spend second semester in the philosophy department at Kyoto University. Or he may teach English in Japan for a year.

He continues to e-mail Jacobsen, especially because Winters soon plans to take the level-two Japanese test.

With four levels of proficiency (one being the highest), passing the level-two test means that the examinee has mastered grammar to a relatively high level, knows around 1,000 Kanji (Japanese characters) and 6,000 words, and can converse, read, and write about matters of a general nature, according to Japan Educational Exchanges and Services.

“Once you’ve passed the level-one test, you’re fluent. In fact, in order to hold a non-English speaking job in Japan, it’s required to not only pass this test but also the GRE [the Graduate Record Examination, traditionally taken when applying to graduate school],” Winters said.

Jacobsen is confident Winters will easily pass. She remembers him as a strong Japanese student who picked up difficult intonations and pronunciations quickly. “He had a good ear for Japanese, and he naturally worked hard [at the language],” she said.

Alex Egerter, ’07, also took Jacobsen’s elective and has now taken three semesters of language classes at The College of William and Mary in Virginia.

He also has taken a profound interest in Japanese culture, particularly after living in Japan for three weeks at a gymnastics training camp with the West Coast Regional Team.

Along with 20 other college gymnasts, Egerter stayed at the Nippon Sports Science University (Nittaidai), where Beijing Olympic all-around silver medalist Kohei Uchimura trained.

As Egerter has progressed through the language, he has found it very challenging.

“It’s totally different. You have to learn how to make sentences out of things you don’t even know.

“And the mindset and behavior of the Japanese is like going to another planet,” Egerter said.

Winters’s family, including senior Kayla, visited him during Spring Break and were pleased to see him immersed in the culture and language.

Although they weren’t happy to be so far from him, they enjoyed communicating through e-mail and Skype.

Though the Japanese elective lasted only two years because of scheduling restrictions, it sparked enough interest to shape Winters’s and possibly Egerter’s futures.