Matt Alt

View LinkedIn Profile

Major(s) and Certificate(s):

Japanese Major, International Relations Major

Graduation Year:

1995

Current city:

Tokyo

Current state/province/country (if outside US):

Japan

What have you done since graduating from UW-Madison?:

Co-Founder and Vice President of AltJapan, Co., Ltd., a Tokyo-based company specializing in the localization and adaptation of Japanese content for English-speaking markets, including video games, animation, comic books, and toys.

Language(s):

Japanese

What motivated you to study this/these languages?:

A longtime interest in Japanese pop culture since I was a child.

How have these languages enriched your life?:

My entire career is built on the language study I did at the UW.

What do you remember about your UW language classes? How were they different from other classes you took?:

The intensity and rigor was what struck me most. It was a demanding commitment time-wise. But a welcome one as I wanted to master the language.

How valuable were your out-of-classroom experiences?:

Studying abroad both allowed me to apply the lessons I learned in class and develop new real-world experiences of the sort you can’t learn from a textbook, particularly in such a highly contextual culture as Japan’s.

How have you maintained or improved your language(s) since graduation?:

I live in Japan, so I use my language skills every day.

What advice do you have for current language students?:

While learning a language is incredibly empowering in its own right, it isn’t a guarantee of employment in and of itself – it’s important to cultivate and combine other skills with your language abilities for success.