Ai Amemiya

Instructor of Japanese This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
University Hall 3106

Research and Teaching Interests: Japanese pop culture, pragmatic competence in the Japanese language (socio-linguistics), second language acquisition

Office Hours: MWF 11:00am-12:00pm (for Fall 26) and by appointment

Education:

• BA, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
• MBA, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
• MA, Columbia University in the City of New York

UAB Scholars ProfileOpens an external link.

Ai Amemiya grew up in Kansai (Western) Area of Japan.　She has had her education in a private school in Kyoto.　The ancient capital is notorious for the double standards of Honne (real feelings) and Tatemae (facial language/actions).　For example, if a local host invites you to his/her home party and said "would you like to have a soaked rice?" at the end of the dinner, it means that she/he expects you to say no and go home.　Since she lives in Osaka, at first, she was confused by that kind of sarcasm produced by her Kyotoite classmates and relatives.　At the same time, however, those two-faced natures sparkled her academic interests of the Japanese language and Japanese people's indirect way of communication.

Her first career in the US was to teach Elementary and Intermediate Japanese and offer Japanese cultural activities, such as calligraphy, at DePauw University, one of the liberal arts colleges, in Greencastle, Indiana.

Before she came to NYC as a graduate student, she had worked in several companies and became an entrepreneur as a Japanese government-licensed English tour guide, in which she is aiming for sharing her knowledge and hands-on experience at her Japanese language courses, especially in the new Advanced Business Japanese.