Over in a Flash Past Review
By A student (Japanese Language and Literature., Western Washington University) - abroad from 04/06/2012 to 06/22/2012 with
KCP International Japanese Language School: Tokyo - Intensive Japanese Language Immersion
I gained a better perspective on my abilities as a language speaker and found new areas in which I could improve.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 0-2 weeks |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Lots of resources for you to go beyond just the classroom learning, supportive teachers who do want to see you do well. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
Excellent staff that helped make things go really smoothly. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The Ikebukuro dorms are a little cramped for someone over six feet tall. Kinda of wish that there was a true kitchen on site instead of just hot plates in each room. |
| * Food: |
No meal plan, but was close enough to a couple of good grocery stores as well as being notified of some good decently priced places to eat out. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Since the only Japanese people I had regular contact with were staff, faculty, and the dorm manager it felt kind of hard to interact with Japanese people my own age. I kind of wish there were more opportunities arranged through the school to do so. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I personally never got really sick but a couple of people on the trip did and they seemed to be able to get access to things fairly easily. |
| * Safety: |
I never felt really unsafe at any point during my stay in Japan, even during the week or so that I was on my own. I would probably recommend doing groups over alone as it's just more fun. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* 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) |
I give it this score with one caveat. Namely that there could be some enormous start up costs getting utensils and other food related electronics. But I was able to shelve some food cost by partnering up with a friend on food costs and making combined meals. However based on what the program recommended that I budget for my time there I would say that things were fairly accurate. |
| * Was housing included in your program cost? | Yes |
| * Was food included in your program cost? | No |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Probably between 75 and 115 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Watch out for the small costs, several hundred yen may not seem like much but it definitely piles up. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
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How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
Program was taught exclusively in Japanese |
| 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? | Japanese 302 |
| 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? | Talking helps, also finding simple writing prompts that force you to use learned grammar and vocab are excellent. It can be really hard but try to speak up in class if you can. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| 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? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish i knew just how fast time would fly by. |
