Why studying Japanese?

I decided to study Japanese because it is an important academic language to my research. I am studying Chinese and Inner Asian history as a PhD student at Columbia. In the field of my studies, Japanese scholars have made prominent contributions and it is essential for me to understand the Japanese scholarship. I learned Japanese in Taiwan when I was an undergraduate student, but the class mainly focused on reading instead of speaking and writing. I really want to improve my colloquial Japanese in order to communicate with my Japanese colleagues fluently in the future. Also, I am planning to study and collect primary sources in Japan as an exchange student next year, so I hope I can learn some practical daily conversations as well.