1. How many years did you study Japanese at the U before going
to Japan? Any thoughts on what is best?
2. How long did you study in Japan?
3. Why did you decide on the program that you did?
4. What were monthly expenses? Any advice?
5. Where did you live? Apartment/Dorm/Hostfamily? Any suggestions?
6. What courses did you take in Japan? Was it easy to get your credits transferred?
7. How difficult were the classes? Any advice?
8. Any advice on how to make Japanese friends?
9. What is spoken most often, Japanese or English? Is it true that English is
spoken more often at Universities which are located in as big a city as Tokyo.
Is it true that in Universities like Hiroshima, Kanda and Nanzan Japanese is
spoken more often?
10. Would you recommend the program you experienced to fellow students?
11. Other comments?
Male 1
1. I had finished first year Japanese at the U before I went to Japan for a summer abroad, but I think it would have been better served had I finished second year Japanese before going. You just learn some many more useful expressions and phrases in second year, or Genki II.
2. Including the summer term, 2 days shy of one year.
3. I heard Nanzan was a good school and I felt the program suited my needs best.
4. I had a scholarship which gave me a monthly stipend of 80,000 yen, but that went pretty quickly. Nagoya is not as expensive as Tokyo, but most things still can be double what it is here.
5. I lived in a dorm, which was a godsend. I was literally a ten minute walk from my classes, and I had a great time with the others in the dorm. All the dorms have a great mix of foreign students and Japanese students, and you can often talk with them and practice your Japanese. Some people say that you aren't able to practice your Japanese as much without a host family, but I think that is only true if you don't put forth an effort. In addition, I have heard a few horror stories about host families, only a few cases, but very bad. However, if you find the homestay to be untenable, Nanzan can get you a different family or into a dorm.
6. Same as with Kanda, it is an IES program and credits and grades all transfer and many can count for liberal education or major requirements.
7. Be prepared for a very different teaching style. I quote from one of our teachers, "Class is for practice, not learning." In other words, you're supposed to learn it yourself and just practice it in class.
8. Just like Kanda, college is all about the clubs. Join a club, and you will make some friends.
9. Nanzan's English program is not nearly as good as Kanda's, so the students aren't as proficient. Except for the occasional Japanese student who lived in England for ten years of his childhood, very surreal seeing a Japanese man speak with a perfect British accent.
10. It's not bad, but be prepared for a very different college experience.