Every Saturday morning the Royer family commutes to Portland. They pass the time by quizzing one another in the car, but not with minor trivia questions. Instead they are translating and discussing culture in something a little more difficult: the Japanese language.
Gene Royer’s daughter Anna, a student at Colby, took Japanese for two years. She sparked Gene and his son Dale’s interest in the language, and the father and son duo delved into the beginner class.
Many assume that the Royers are taking a travel preparation language class for a possible trip.
“They can’t believe you can actually learn the language,” Gene said of most people.
After Gene and Dale completed the class, they convinced Siobain Monahan, Dale’s wife, to join. Siobain took the intensive summer course to catch up. Now all three are in an intermediate Japanese course at USM’s weekend college, taught by Ikuko Higgins, professor in the foreign language department.
“They are rational thinkers,” Higgins said. “The whole family has a same goal and interest and they don’t give up.”
The class covers Japanese culture and language while translating, studying dialogs and doing projects, Higgins said.
“We are a very close family,” Siobain said. “This is just one more fun random thing to try.”
During the week, the Royers pursue professional roles. Gene is a family physician, Dale is a computer science graduate student, and Siobain is an American and New England studies graduate student. Both Siobain and Dale are teaching assistants at USM. Despite busy schedules, the family allots time to study together every week.
“We do a lot of things together,” Gene said. “Every Friday we get together for a pizza and a movie.”
Learning the language can be challenging, but the Royers maneuver through the difficult areas with teamwork.
“When we are in trouble and want to ‘throw in the towel’ we kind of keep each other going,” Dale said.
They created a support system to make sure everyone understands and is at ease with the assignments.
“For me it’s really reassuring. I took Spanish in high school; I never spoke up,” Siobain said. “It’s more relaxing and I feel more comfortable.”
For the Royers, language opens a myriad of possibilities, the challenge offering a unique learning experience with an outcome that is always positive.
“You learn so much more about your own language,” Gene said.
During the summer Gene studied the Chinese characters Kanji, which are the root of Japanese much as Latin is to English.
They assist one another during the class by using their individual skills and abilities.
Dale quickly picks up the Japanese through listening skills and can speak it proficiently. Siobain is better at memorizing the vocabulary words.
Siobain points out that each strength reinforces their overall learning experience.
“When we have trouble with Kanji, we come to father and he can show us how to draw it.”
The Royers’ will continue to learn Japanese and plan to travel to Japan in the spring.
Recently the Japanese government has started searching for people to teach English to Japanese students, Siobain said. After she and Dale graduate this spring, they want to move to Japan to teach English.
Gene wants to be able to converse with Anna when she comes back from Japan.
“As the family goes to different places, this will be a time when we were all together,” he said.
Together they are a team having fun and learning despite the challenging language.
“We like to sneak out for sushi after class,” Siobain said.