Kiara Zecha, a fourth-year Japanese major and education minor, has always had the goal of being bilingual. Through her hard work and commitment to her journey, Kiara has amassed multiple experiences and outlets to improve her Japanese language comprehension. She hopes to use these skills in her future career goal of teaching language abroad.

Language Practice with Native Speakers

During her time at UC Davis, Kiara has been involved with multiple programs focused on connecting students of various backgrounds. One of her experiences has been her involvement with the Global Affairs Pal Program. This program pairs students to engage in intercultural conversation, learn more about their peers, and improve their intercultural awareness. Throughout the quarter, Pal participants complete a series of assignments, such as an online intercultural competence assessment, a case study, and a final summary/evaluation essay.

Kiara began her involvement with the Pal program during her second year. She was motivated to join to practice her Japanese skills while also helping her partners with practicing their English skills. Through the program, Kiara found a lifelong friend in one of her Japanese partners. The pair enjoyed trying out new restaurants together and pushing one another in their language-learning journeys. They often spoke in a mix of Japanese and English and learned new slang and terms from one another. Her biggest takeaway from the experience was gaining confidence in her speaking abilities. Kiara shared that when learning Japanese in high school, she felt like her classes made her scared of making mistakes, but through her Japanese partners in the program, she became more comfortable with outwardly practicing.

Kiara shared that one of her partners had said, “I don’t talk to you to grade your Japanese and whether it’s perfect or not, I talk to you for your personality,” which really impacted her experience and her comfort with making mistakes and improving.

Kiara has also been involved with the Global Affairs Global Ambassadors Mentorship Program (GAMP) which is designed to help first-year and transfer international undergraduate students in their development at UC Davis. International students are paired with a student mentor based on similar academic and social interests. Mentors assist in accustoming their mentees to the variety of communities and opportunities that UC Davis has to offer. During her time as a GAMP mentor during her third year at UC Davis, Kiara worked with two international students, one from Japan and one from China. Kiara went into the program wanting to be a resource for students and forming new connections while also wanting to work as a team with her fellow ambassadors. She shared that one of her biggest takeaways was improving her time management as she had to balance meeting with her partners on top of her school work and personal life. Kiara stated that she learned a lot about being flexible schedule-wise and gained connections with her partners and the team at GAMP.

Working with Youth and Virtual Language Learning

In addition to her connection with her campus peers, Kiara has also engaged in opportunities to help youth in their language learning, along with transcending platforms to learn more. During the summer of her junior year, Kiara was part of the Gowell Education Program, where Chinese middle and high school students spent time at UC Davis learning about the campus. Through this experience, she helped students observe classrooms while also helping them with their English development. Kiara shared that she felt a bit nervous coming into the program due to her inability to speak Chinese. As time went on, she realized that even with a slight language barrier, she was still able to build connections with her students and help them during their time in Davis.

Additionally, Kiara has used the World Wide Web to advance her language skills. She’s engaged in virtual conversation with students from Japanese universities, practicing her Japanese with them and their English with her. Kiara has also used the social media platform Instagram to create a “studygram,” a profile that shares her language learning tips and tricks to motivate others to study language.

Learning Inspiration and Future Endeavors

As she nears the end of her time at UC Davis, Kiara has had a chance to reflect on her language-learning journey. When beginning her language journey at UC Davis, she often felt imposter syndrome but felt comforted knowing that the younger version of herself would be proud of the improvements she’s made. In the future, she hopes to become an assistant language teacher and potentially work abroad. Kiara wants to continue helping others and would enjoy working in groups and one-on-one with her students, applying her own learning techniques to her teaching. Her advice for those hoping to learn a new language is “that it is more than okay to be shy or anxious when learning, and even if you need space to improve, you’ll always get good experience out of practicing.”

Kiara states, "It’s important to be true to yourself but also be open to trying new tactics or techniques when learning because you never know what you can learn if you don’t try.”

Opportunities to Get Involved

Don’t miss these opportunities to make life-long connections!

• The Pal Program seeks undergraduate students each quarter during the academic year.
• Global Ambassador Mentorship Program applications are open from January 7 to February 2, 2025.