An interview with Mayuko Umeda, who works in international sales at a precision equipment manufacturer, exploring her experiences studying abroad in Canada, attending a community college and sharing housing in the U.S., and her long-term, relaxed approach to language learning.
梅田 麻友子 Mayuko Umeda
Originally from Hokkaido, she has worked for eight years in the medical division of a Tokyo-based Japanese precision equipment manufacturer, mainly in international sales and sales planning. Although she grew up in a family with no experience of living abroad—none of her relatives had ever left Japan—she was an avid reader from childhood and often engaged with language. Perhaps due to this, or to the English conversation school she attended as a child, English became her strongest subject in school. With a deep curiosity and admiration for living abroad using English, she first left Japan at the age of 20 to study in Canada. Later, while enrolled at a Japanese university, she spent a year studying in San Diego, California, and after joining her company, worked for three years on assignment in New Jersey, making a total of four years spent in the United States.
Mayuko Umeda has worked at a Japanese precision equipment manufacturer for eight years. She spent three years on assignment in New Jersey until June 2017 and had previously studied for a year in San Diego during university. Altogether, she has four years of U.S. experience. Unlike many bilingual professionals, she did not grow up abroad or travel internationally as a child—her serious engagement with English began in university.
Her first exposure to English came around age four, when her mother enrolled her in a small private English conversation class. She remembers folding origami into the shapes of the alphabet letters more vividly than speaking or singing in English. Because her family moved frequently, she could not continue lessons consistently and stopped for several years before resuming in upper elementary school.
By late elementary school, she chose to start English lessons again to prepare for middle school. This time, she joined a small group class taught by a Japanese teacher with U.S. experience, alongside her friends. She enjoyed the lessons and admired her teacher’s pronunciation. When English classes began in middle school, she found the transition easy thanks to her earlier exposure. English quickly became her favorite subject, supported by her general love of words and reading.
As a child, Mayuko was an avid reader, borrowing the maximum number of books from the library each week. This passion for words, nuance, and expression shaped her sensitivity to language. Even today, she enjoys noticing subtle differences in vocabulary and memorable phrases in TV dramas or daily conversation.
Although English remained her best subject in high school, she became less motivated academically and disliked long reading passages in textbooks. Still, she maintained a desire to go abroad. Encounters with foreign ALT teachers in middle and high school nurtured her dream of someday living overseas.
Mayuko entered the Faculty of International and Interdisciplinary Studies. At that time, her university had reformed its program, requiring students to pass minimum TOEFL (500) or TOEIC (600) scores to progress. This requirement pushed her to take English more seriously, and with the help of supplementary Saturday lessons with international instructors, she eventually cleared the benchmark.
In her second year, she joined a one-month summer program in Toronto, staying with a host family and attending a language school. It was her first time traveling abroad, and despite initial anxieties, she found the experience eye-opening and fun. She gained confidence as she discovered that “if I speak slowly, people understand,” and moments like chatting with children on a bus or ordering food in shops gave her a sense of accomplishment.
Motivated by her Toronto experience, she began attending short daily English conversation sessions with native professors at her university. These 30-minute lessons helped her realize that frequent, consistent practice was more effective than longer, occasional study. The casual, communicative environment suited her style and prepared her for longer-term study abroad.
In her third year, she arranged her own study abroad, since her university lacked English-speaking exchange programs. She enrolled in UC San Diego’s language program through a city partnership connection. Initially, she enjoyed the supportive environment, but after several months she grew frustrated with the limited conversational range among non-native classmates.
To push herself further, she decided to enroll in a local community college, where she would study alongside native English speakers. Despite missing the application deadline, she successfully negotiated entry—an experience that taught her how flexible U.S. systems could be and gave her confidence to take initiative.
Classes at the community college were demanding, with lectures and assignments entirely in English. She often struggled to understand but felt herself growing. Group projects were especially challenging, as she was often the only non-native speaker. She would introduce herself honestly—“I’m from Japan and still not fluent”—which encouraged American classmates to support her. These experiences were difficult but deeply rewarding, giving her a sense of real progress.
Mayuko explained that she never studied English intensively in a traditional sense. Instead, she absorbed it through daily life, classes, and—most importantly—interactions with her roommates. Living with three Taiwanese-American peers who spoke English constantly, she was immersed in conversations from morning until night. At first, she understood only about half of what was said, but gradually, listening and speaking daily sharpened her English. She asked her roommates to correct her mistakes, which helped her learn naturally and enjoyably.
Mayuko didn’t notice her own progress immediately. The breakthrough came when she reunited with her former host mother after six months; she realized she could now understand and converse smoothly. This confirmed her growth. Later, she also achieved a perfect score in the TOEIC listening section—a result that delighted not only herself but also her supportive roommates.
Her study abroad journey began with language school, followed by community college, before she eventually reached her goal of taking courses at UC San Diego. Rather than studying for tests, she improved her skills through listening to lectures, writing essays, and participating in group work. These experiences prepared her for exams indirectly while also giving her practical communication abilities.
Mayuko admitted she wasn’t good at sitting down with textbooks for hours. Instead, she thrived in environments where she “had no choice but to use English” and where learning happened naturally through interaction. She emphasized that her solid grounding in junior high school grammar gave her the foundation to recognize and reinforce grammar structures during conversations later.
After coming back to Japan, Mayuko sought part-time jobs that allowed her to use English, such as working at an English conversation school. She also maintained her skills by watching foreign dramas with subtitles and staying in touch with friends abroad. This helped her balance speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
When she began working at a precision equipment manufacturer, Mayuko was assigned to handle clients in Australia and Russia. At first, she struggled with technical vocabulary and the formal tone of business English, which was very different from her academic and casual experience. She learned by observing senior colleagues and imitating the professional expressions used by business partners—something she still continues to do today.
Later, she was posted to the U.S. for three years. Thanks to her earlier study abroad experience, she found adjusting to life in America relatively easy. Having already experienced cultural and everyday challenges as a student, she approached difficulties with flexibility and the mindset that “things can be worked out.”
Asked about her driving force, Mayuko explained it came from her love of people. She enjoys conversations, learning about others’ backgrounds, and understanding why people say what they do. This curiosity motivates her to use English, especially in a multicultural society like the U.S. She described her approach as “low-key motivation”: not competing with others or chasing higher scores, but sustaining a steady desire to enjoy conversations and connect with people.
