A challenging, yet satisfying year in Japan Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

There are some really passionate teachers in the program, ones who take a real interest in how the students are and trying to help foreigners adjust to both the curriculum and to social life in Japan. These teachers really made it easy to feel at home in a university setting completely different from at home. Not every teacher is like this, but most of them will be. The textbook material for the intermediate language classes are acceptable, but could use more explanation of grammar and vocabulary usage. The textbooks focus a lot on giving examples, but at the higher levels examples without in-depth explanation does not help much in advancing language understanding and mastery. However, the grading system seems to be quite kind, and teachers do go out of their way to try and help you pass a class you may be struggling in. For the most part, however, the workload compared with American universities is quite light and not very challenging, at least at the intermediate level. The program also offers each students a personal tutor, although the tutors seem to be a hit or miss when it comes to keeping appointment times or even simply staying in contact. Luckily, my tutor was wonderful and we became good friends. Overall, I felt my studies at university gave me the tools to advance my language ability, but it was really up to me to go out and use them to actually advance my skill.

On-site administration of your program

There are some definite problems with communication between the Program administration and the study abroad students. Even prior to going to Japan, I received paperwork that had to be filled out immediately, even though the due date had already passed since Kanazawa University was late in sending it out. Semester grades took a very long time to process. Questions about national health insurance bills received various answers depending on who you asked. They changed the schedule of the spring semester and made no effort to notify students or their universities. There was also a fiasco with a faculty member approving a student's absence during testing period then retracting their word and penalizing the student for their absence. This needs to be rectified, as it gives the impression of disorganization and lack of regard for students.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

The rooms are fantastic, fully equipped even if facilities are smaller than what I am used to. The only possible downside was that the location of the dorm kept us fairly isolated from native students, so it was quite impractical to hang out with local friends. Chances to practice Japanese were also low due to this isolation.

Food is quite excellent in the campus cafeteria and convenience store, but it does not cater to vegetarians at all. If you are vegetarian, you will be hard pressed to find something filling and nutritious.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

Socially, there was not much provided by Kanazawa University for my program. There was one international festival in the fall, which was fun but only for international students. We had also one trip especially for study abroad students, but many ended up disliking the trip as we spent a majority of it on the bus and had very little time to explore each of the places we visited. There were very few events in all, and I don't recall any of them involving both native Japanese students and international students. On the other hand, from Tufts University we had many wonderful social gatherings with the Tufts program director and her assistant. We occasionally met with her friends as well. These events were wonderful and something I looked forward to every month as Kanazawa University did not provide much of anything in the way of fun social gatherings. Tufts also arranged for a trip to Wakura Onsen, and safe to say that was an experience I will never, ever forget. It may have been just with other Tufts students, but it was definitely the highlight of my second semester.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

Safety is #1 in Japan and I never felt endangered at all. Japan is indeed one of the safest and most honest countries in the world. You don't have to worry about being robbed in Japan, but don't use this as an excuse to be careless with your belongings! As for health, I never had any problem which required me to see a doctor. However, many of my classmates had difficultly sleeping and other issues, but they had difficult time receiving treatment as the English-speaking doctor was only available Tuesday and the treatments prescribed to students sometimes did not help.

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

Most people spoke English in my dormitory, so I had to go out to practice my speaking ability. Some days I went without speaking in the foreign language at all, but I found that listening to conversations in Japanese helped me advance regardless.

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• Dorm

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• International Students

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• International Students