Ayako Ugamochi
Ayako graduated from The University of Sheffield with an MA Applied Linguistics in 2008
I am Ayako Ugamochi, a Japanese student currently reading for a Masters in Applied Linguistics. I came to Sheffield after finishing my undergraduate course in Language Teaching (Japanese language) in Japan. This is because I am interested in being a teacher of Japanese language in Europe. This aim stems from my experience teaching Japanese voluntarily in Edinburgh several years ago.
My former professor in Japan recommended to me that The University of Sheffield would be the ideal place to take my education further. She also mentioned that the university specialises in Japanese studies, which was one of the main reasons as to why I chose here. In addition, my chosen subject, linguistics holds a highly ranked position within universities in the UK. Prior to applying to Sheffield, I had an interview in Tokyo with the International Officer who gave me a great impression of the university, which ultimately helped me with my final decision.
At the beginning of my course, piles of extremely theoretical reading materials made me very anxious and unsure whether my English would be sufficient to pass a masters course in the UK. However, many friends as well as the support available to me at the university have since eased this feeling, and I am now proud of choosing this university course.
I find the city of Sheffield very comfortable to live in. This is because of not only the beautiful Peak District, but also because of the fact that Sheffield is the safest city in England. When I was playing on a quiz machine with my friends at our local pub, they said to me "Why did you take your bag with you? Just leave it back there. We are in Sheffield!" Of course I don´t recommend you to leave your valuables anywhere, just in case! The local people are also really friendly to foreign people. I like that they always call me "love", which is a type of addressing in Yorkshire, which I always find quite heart-warming.
In my spare time I like to go to cafes and relax with a book and a nice latte, but I always make time for going out with friends to pubs and getting rather drunk on occasion! I am really enjoying the student life here in Sheffield, and I am certain that you will also feel the same!
Web Diary
Read about the experiences I had during my time at Sheffield in my web diary.