Hello, everyone, I’m Ayana Kato. I’m from Tokyo, Japan. I graduated from J.F. Oberlin university in Tokyo. I have been to 13 countries and 15 cities in China so far, and I found Ningbo to be the most suitable place to live.

I studied Chinese in Beijing Minzu University of China for a year and I found that Chinese to be a very interesting subject. This period of study in China, deepened my understanding of Chinese culture and Chinese people. I also studied Japanese education in my university. J. F. Oberlin University’s creed is the ideal of “学而知人(Gakujijijin)”. That means learning in order to be able to help others. So I thought working as a Japanese teacher in China is the best job to make use of what I have learned.

I’ve been working in the College of Science and Technology, Ningbo University since June 2019. This is a new experience for me, working as a Japanese teacher, it’s quite a challenging job but very rewarding. I really enjoy teaching here and have a good relationship with me students, some of whom will be exchange students in Japan. I also believe teaching Japanese is one of the ways to promote friendship between China and Japan. I am so grateful to be a part of this university and surrounded by amazing people.

The reason I've been working here for so long is because I enjoy seeing my students grow. It's a big motivator to see students grow little by little as they come into contact with new language and culture, and eventually become confident in speaking Japanese or take on the challenge of studying or working in Japan. It's especially moving for me as a teacher to witness the process of students who knew no Japanese at all becoming able to converse and write sentences.

As a native Japanese speaker, I want students to learn more about Japanese culture and Japanese people not only through classes but also through interactions with me. I also want students to improve their speaking ability. To that end, I run various exchange events as the head of the Japanese language club. Four years at university seems like a long time, but I would like to cherish the time I can spend interacting with students each and every day and continue to do my best to help students enjoy studying Japanese. I hope to improve students' speaking ability.