Difficult, yet worth it. Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

Before you think about seriously applying to IES Abroad for Nanzan University, you should check if their Japanese courses are align with yours. From my experience, I was not planning to be in the upper Japanese courses, because I have only gone over GENKI 1. But Nanzan University of second year Japanese does not start off with GENKI 2, it starts off with GENKI 2 chapter 15. That’s about 2 or 3 chapters behind if you think about how fast they will be going. I highly advise you to go over your materials if you want to get into the right level, especially since Nanzan University makes you take two placement test upon arrival. If you get placed in the level that you did not want, there is almost no way you can change that. A friend of mine got placed into a lower level and had to repeat a Japanese class she already knew. She tried talking to the professors, but they said they wanted her to stay in the current level she was put in. The good news is that, you can take the test again after a week if you truly feel that you are in the wrong level.

On-site administration of your program

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

All host families are different and all my friends had different experiences with their host family. My experience however was not as satisfying. I originally thought I would be spending a lot of time with my host family, such as going out with them on their daily errands or learning Japanese culture from them. Instead, my experience was very mundane. They spent the majority of their time watching television, going over assignments with their children and preparing for dinner. My host parents seemed to like routines, and were independent. I tried asking them about their life in Japan several times and what they would advise to do in Japan. It was a bit difficult to communicate with them because my Japanese level was not as high and elaborating on topics was very difficult on both ends. I do not advise living with a host family if you have not studied Japanese for at least 3 years. My host family was also fairly new and had only hosted one student before me. With that being said, I often had to solve my problems on my own. Other than that, I was really happy that my host family had two children. It was fun playing with them, introducing them to American games and also learning from them as to what’s popular in Japan. Everyday was definitely rowdy, but very warm and engaging. I was one of the few who were lucky enough to have host children and those who did have host children said they enjoyed their stay more versus having a parent/parents as their host.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I love all the sight-seeing we did during our trips! It was truly an eye opening and culture shock compared to my own.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• Host Family

Select all that apply

• International Students

• The amazing locations we venture to
• My host brothers and sisters made my stay welcoming and exciting. I learn so much form them despite them being only in Elementary school.

• Some professors should be more encouraging to their students' performances instead of finding closure by sending them off to different Japanese levels.

The Nearly Native or Trail Blazer