IES Tokyo ("IES": meh; "Tokyo": AMAZING) Past Review
By Ashley S (Japanese Language and Literature., The University of Texas at Austin) for
IES Abroad: Tokyo - Language & Culture
Definitely worth while and I would definitely choose it again, simply because it was the only Japan program offered at UT for the summer. My experience was amazing only because of when I went out and explored the city; not because of all the little things the program itself did for me. But, the program gave me an excuse to go to Japan for six weeks so I'm thankful for that.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Our Japanese class-led field trip was pretty boring. He only had us go to the Japanese equivalent of the dollar store, which I had already been to multiple times. I did like, however, how laid back classes were because I mostly went on study abroad just to experience Japan; I didn't much care for the classes. I already have all the Japanese credits I need so these were just elective hours. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The administrators were really helpful with day-to-day problems inside and outside of the "dorm" (I say "dorm" because it wasn't really a dorm). They were also very friendly and supportive (especially the student advisors). When I got sick, they were very helpful with the advice they gave me for what I should do and they even checked up on me later. The reason it's rated 4/5 as opposed to 5/5 is because of those orientations and also because a few of the trips we were supposed to do weren't researched enough. We were scheduled to visit the NHK on the one day out of the entire month that it was closed. We were also supposed to go white water rapids in Nikko but that didn't happen. Same for some museum we were supposed to visit; scheduled on a day it was closed. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
Living in a dorm setting with only other study abroad students does absolutely nothing to help improve language. The only improvement in language I got from the living setting was from the 5-day stay in Mobara with my host family. My host family was very welcoming and I couldn't have asked for a better one. Back to the "dorm". It would've been nice to stay in an actual Japanese university dorm, but since it was such a short program, it's understandable that they couldn't arrange that. My expectations of the living situation and the reality of said situation were pretty much the same because I knew someone that did the program previously and he told me about it. |
| * Food: |
The food provided by the program (meal tickets for Cafe Friends) wasn't sufficient at all. The food sold at the cafe weren't filling at all, so for most of the trip, I ate out. The food out in the city was amazing but that's not part of the program. I'd rate the food out in the city 5/5 but I only give the program food 1/5. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
As mentioned before, some trips weren't researched thoroughly. A few field trips were scheduled on days the location was closed (NHK, a museum). Other than that, the trips were decent. I got pretty tired of shrines after a while though. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
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| 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) |
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| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Everything was pretty much expected but it was still very expensive, just because it was Tokyo and just because of the exchange rate. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Intermediate |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | Six semesters of Japanese, with another two semesters of Japanese conversation |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
It didn't really help too much because I had already taken that course with the exact same book. However, I did learn a few new things like some new vocab and it did help my confidence in speaking a little bit. But I wouldn't give it 4/5. More like 3.5/5. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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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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