Beautiful City and Beautiful People Past Review
By A student (Texas A&M University - College Station) - abroad from 09/12/2017 to 12/23/2017 with
USAC Japan: Nagasaki - Japanese Language, Society, and Culture Studies
I learned how to adapt to a different culture. I think it was very worthwhile to see all of the differences between America and Japan and it gave me a new and better understanding of how other countries might behave differently than I am used to.
Review Photos
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | None |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The Japanese Language classes were all absolutely amazing and the teachers were wonderful. I felt that I truly learned a lot. The classes taught in English were relatively lackluster. I did not feel that I was challenged at all and I did not feel like anything that we learned in lectures came up on tests. I was mostly disappointed in the Japanese Culture class, Japanese Literary History class, and the Overview of Japanese History class. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
The two people in charge of the JASIN program while abroad were both very very sweet people. Sometimes I did feel like they thought we were a burden, but they still did what they could to help. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The dorm rooms were okay, but since there was only one person working there who spoke English and she was only there in the evenings, getting things fixed was pretty hard. Also, they had very strict rules in the dorm about different genders being on different floors. |
| * Food: |
The dormitory food was decent most of the time. Every once in a while you would be served something that was just almost impossible to eat. Those days the trash cans would just be full of whatever the meal was. But, putting that aside, most of the meals were pretty good and I enjoyed it. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I felt like I had lots of opportunities to integrate with the local culture. The program administrators at the college did a great job of always telling us about different events that we could participate in. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I didn't have any health issues while abroad, but I know that we had good health coverage while there and finding a doctor who spoke English wasn't too hard. |
| * Safety: |
I never felt like I wasn't safe in Nagasaki. I still didn't walk around alone at night, because that would just be asking for trouble, but I didn't ever feel like I needed to have someone with me. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
No
I loved the city and I loved the people, but I had some issues with the school and the classes. They just weren't up to the standard that I am used to. |
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) |
It was pretty easy to live on a students budget. It was easier to not spend much if you had the meal plan at the dorm or if you had a host family who was cooking for you. Buying lunch every day took maybe three dollars, so it wasn't that bad to live off small amounts of cash. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | I spent around $40 a week |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't waste all of your money on souvenirs like I did. |
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 |
We were mostly just encouraged to try out Japanese with our conversation partners (which we were assigned through the school) and in Japanese class. |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Beginner |
| 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 102 |
| 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? | Actually go and talk to the Japanese students. Don't be afraid to talk to them and to try out the language. And don't let them just talk to you in English. I know they want to practice English, but you have got to practice too. |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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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 that the dorm was split into boys and girls floors and that no one of the opposite sex could go on those floors. I studied abroad with my brother, so it would have been nice to know that we couldn't visit each other in our own dorm rooms before going on this trip, but that didn't ruin the abroad experience. |
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! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Japanese Literary History |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Claudia Marra |
| Instruction Language: | English |
| Comments: | The class wasn't challenging at all. She would lecture in class more about history than about anything related to the authors or the novels that they wrote. When she did talk about the authors, it would either have nothing to do with the novels that she asked you to read or it would be something so obscure that no one would ever have been able to answer her question unless she had previously mentioned it in class. Her syllabus had hardly anything on it and the dates she did have on it were wrong and she made no attempts to fix them. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
