In the modern world, there are many problems that cause differences of opinion among people and cannot easily be solved. Examples of such problems include conflicts between nations, typified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and disagreements about how to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. While differences of opinion about these problems are reported in the news every day, resolving such conflicts and disagreements is no mean feat.

Regarding these problems that give rise to differences of opinion, people around the world express their thoughts and opinions from many different standpoints by speaking or writing through various forms of media. In most cases, they do so in languages other than their native tongue. Therefore, having a good command of one or more foreign languages is essential for accurately grasping what people in other countries express in words. In addition, understanding the society and culture lying behind a foreign language helps us to comprehend the backgrounds of thoughts and opinions expressed in the language, and to gain deeper insight of what people express in their own words.

In saying that, in today's world there is a diverse range of thoughts and opinions from various perspectives about each individual problem. We need to choose from among them to grasp the essence of these issues. When doing so, having a framework for our way of thinking would be helpful for sorting out all those thoughts and opinions. We can build such a framework for the way we think by learning specialist knowledge accumulated by our forebears. You are therefore encouraged to not only learn foreign languages but also create a framework for how you think built on specialist knowledge gained at this university.

But achieving these goals is not easy. You cannot attain them without studying diligently at university and engaging your brain at all times. Kobe City University of Foreign Studies is blessed with an abundance of teaching staff who have been devoting themselves to their studies not only in linguistics, but also in a range of other fields. We believe you can overcome obstacles in you path by choosing a field of study based on what you are interested in and learning from each other, with the help of the teaching staff at our university. The teaching staff at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies will support you in pursuing your goals.

Satoru TANAKA, President