ESG 23 Final Single pages - Flipbook - Page 55
Benjamin Moran
BA (Hons) Japanese Studies,
year 3
Ellie Beatty
BA (Hons) French Studies,
year 2
This year I studied abroad at Osaka
University in Japan as I continue my Japanese studies
degree. The RWS-Brode Scholarship I received this year
has been invaluable, as moving to a di昀昀erent country
is very expensive. It has enabled me greater freedom
to focus on my studies and using the funding from
the scholarship, I was able to take the JLPT ( Japanese
Language Pro昀椀ciency Test) N2 level; and I passed!
This quali昀椀cation will help to open up employment
opportunities once I graduate from university and I
am very grateful that the scholarship allowed me to
achieve this.
My experience of my second year at
The University of Manchester has been even more
enjoyable than my 昀椀rst year, which I didn’t think was
possible! I am really proud that I have pushed myself
out of my comfort zone this year by speaking more
French outside of the classroom. I am very aware that
I do not have any French familial background and
had not holidayed in France, which is quite common
amongst others on my course. I therefore have not
had as many opportunities to speak French outside
the classroom. However, the scholarship allowed
me to push myself and book 昀氀ights to visit my friend
in Geneva. This was an amazing experience and an
opportunity to visit a place I had been considering for
my year abroad for quite some time. More importantly,
I have never been in a situation where I could practise
my French language skills in everyday life, it was so
enlightening that it became the main topic in my
Independent Learning Portfolio, which I also discussed
in my oral exam.
Outside of studying I also had a wonderful time
travelling around Japan. I travelled to Tokyo, Kyoto,
Kyushu (the southern island) and Hiroshima. Whilst
it was a lot of fun, it was also incredibly useful in
improving my Japanese ability, as I was able to
experience talking with people using di昀昀erent dialects
(the Kansai dialect is still the hardest).
I have started preparatory work on my dissertation
that I will complete by the end of the next academic
year. I have also started to think about my future plans
after my dissertation is complete. I would like to return
to Japan very soon and maybe get a job in translation
or in a job where I can use my Japanese. My experience
of living in Japan has made me want to live and work
there even more.
I am hugely grateful and appreciative of the very
generous support that the RWS and Andrew Brode
continue to provide for me through my scholarship.
By supporting my living costs and helping me to
move abroad, I have no doubt that the scholarship
has helped me progress academically. I look forward
to returning to Manchester and continuing my 昀椀nal
year studies. Thank you so much for your continued
support.
For my third year of study I will be in residence abroad,
attending Université Lumière Lyon 2. I honestly
cannot express how grateful I am for the RWS-Brode
Scholarship for making this possible. The scholarship
is the reason I am 昀椀nancially and academically able to
pursue my year abroad in Lyon. I would like to give my
biggest and sincerest thanks to Andrew Brode and
RWS for enabling me to pursue my passion for the
French language, as well as my dreams for the future.
It really is making my overall experience as a student
at The University of Manchester even more amazing
than I could’ve imagined!
SOCIAL RWS Holdings plc — ESG Report 2023
55
