Ritsuko Narita

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Ritsuko Narita Larson, “Narita-sensei,” has experience teaching all levels of Japanese at both US and Japanese universities. Presently at Macalester College, she teaches 2nd & 3rd year Japanese language courses. In addition to her classroom work, she organizes the department’s cultural events such as a Poetry Contest. Narita-sensei also coordinates other department events such as the Language Fair, Japanese Chatime, and career events (JET, alumni talk, etc.). She also advises Macalester students who coordinate the Japanese Culture Club.

Narita-sensei’s research interests include language pedagogy, pragmatics, second language acquisition, discourse analysis and conversation analysis, and computer assisted language learning.  She holds a Ph.D. in Japanese Linguistics from the University of Hawai’i.

Narita-sensei says, “To teach is to touch a life forever.” This is her life philosophy. Her passion for language teaching began when she started learning several foreign languages during her undergraduate education.  She believes that we can deepen our understanding of different cultures, as well as our own, through language learning. Narita-sensei is certain that introducing Japanese culture along with Japanese language study is essential for raising a life-long learner. As such, she incorporates issues of real life and topics of student interest into classes. She loves talking with students and supporting a Japanese learning community at Macalester. Narita-sensei is thrilled to hear updates from graduates.  She looks forward to exploring the world in Japanese with you.

日本語を勉強のみなさん、オフィスにあそびにきてください。日本語でおしゃべりをしましょう！（Come to my office! Let’s have a chat in Japanese.）- Narita