Difficult Time Past Review
By Henry (Western Michigan University) - abroad from 09/03/2018 to 11/11/2019 with
JCMU Japan Center: Intensive Japanese Language & Culture
I met a few people who I still have a good friendship with, and i got to live in Japan for ~2 1/2 months.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
There is a very distinct "gap" in the difficulty of courses between the 2nd and 3rd levels. 3rd year students sometimes refer to themselves as 残念生 (zan'nensei) rather than 三年生 (san'nensei,) due to the difficulty and lack of help during the 3rd level course. I took the third year course myself, and saw many other students who were struggling with it despite having quite proficient Japanese ability. |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The Resident Director is an Angel, he was one of maybe 3 people among the staff/faculty with whom I got on really well. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The housing was another high point, the dorms are good and there's even a disability-friendly accessible room. |
| * Food: |
They do not provide food, be prepared to go to the grocery store (2 miles away by bike) at least once every week. There is a seven eleven about 500 meters from the school, if you need anything small urgently. |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Could not have been worse. I think that because of various factors, including the location of the school, the lack of options for transit to the downtown besides bicycle (which of course not everyone is comfortable with,) as well as the professors giving several hours of homework each day, there wasn't really an incentive to go out and see the local community. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
Health care is fabulous in Japan, and in general costs very little. I ended up leaving the program due to medical concerns that were better handled back in the US. That being said, I think they should treat illness more seriously; it appeared as though their first assumption was always that I was skipping class for fun. |
| * Safety: |
Japan is very safe, Hikone is no different. You can walk out after midnight and you won't be in any danger. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
There were many things that I wish I had known about JCMU before I made the commitment to attend. There were very rarely opportunities to use the Japanese we were learning in the classroom outside. The Japanese kokunai ryuugaku students were there for literally the first 2 weeks, and then it was just americans for the rest of the semester. There are also faculty/staff members whose attitudes towards the educational system could be improved... |
Finances
|
* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
It's not expensive, but it's not inexpensive either. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | 80-100 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Get a debit card that has no foreign transaction fees, and if possible reimburses ATM fees. That will save you loads of money over the semester(s) |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
|
How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
You were forced to use the language during class, and when talking with Japanese Language faculty, but otherwise it was rarely used. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | JPNS 3760 |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | Make friends at Shiga-dai and/or Ken-dai. That is how you will get better at speaking japanese, regardless of what you are doing in the classroom. |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
|
| * What could be improved? |
|
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I had known that there would be almost no opportunities to use my japanese outside the classroom. |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Academic or LinguistYou went abroad with specific academic goals in mind; the program credentials and rigor of your coursework abroad were very important to you. You had a great time abroad, but never lost sight of your studies and (if applicable) were diligent with your foreign language study. Good for you! |
