Name: Dakharai Murray

School: Benjamin Banneker

Grade: 10

Zodiac Sign: Virgo/Year of the Snake

About me:

I was born a military child, in Yokosuka, Japan. I am great at drawing, specifically Anime, and I enjoy playing basketball and badminton, despite not being much of an athlete. Also, I enjoy making my own stories with a unique range of characters and various personalities. Due to spending most of my life in Japan, I have developed an interest in learning more about Japanese culture and the language because I’d like to be able to speak a second language without taking constant peeks at my notebook. I hope to return to Japan someday and revisit places, such as Tokyo and Yokohama, but with a full comprehension of the Japanese language to encourage me to learn other languages and travel outside of my native country.

Personal Statement:

Despite living in Japan for 10 years, I never really had the chance to indulge myself in the Japanese culture and language, nor the opportunity to communicate with native Japanese citizens, due to my focus on education. Also, I lived on a military base, which limited the amount of Japanese exposure I received on a daily basis, so I only picked up on common words, such as konnichiwa and arigatoo, but nothing advanced. Through Japanese Plus, I wish to accomplish my goal of being bilingual by becoming fluent in Japanese. Then, I hope to get the full experience and travel back to Japan and use the skills I’ve learned to have an actual conversation with a Japanese national, but we can both converse as if there is no language barrier between us. I plan on continuing to live in Japan, so that I can visit the different prefectures and experience more of the Japanese culture.