Japanese Students and Study Abroad
Recently we had the chance to talk to a few different Japanese students and their experiences studying abroad. We're lucky to have such a great source of information on this as we try to glean an understanding of why Japanese students study abroad, how easy it is to do, and just how many of them are doing it.
The first student we talked to was Tatsuhiro. Tatsuhiro, or "Tatsu" for short, studied abroad for a year in the United States, in Oregon specifically. Tatsu's main motivation for studying abroad was to meet his american friends, and to be able to converse with them in English. Tatsu's english improved during his year from beginner level, to being quite adept with the language. He studied english for one term, followed by studying his major, journalism, for two terms. He stayed with a host family for one term and in a dorm for the following two terms.
Tatsu thinks that although studying abroad is popular among Japanese students, the rate at which people are going abroad is decreasing. This is due to two main factors: cost, as well as growing globalization - giving Japanese students the opportunity to learn english in Japan. This said, Tatsu thinks that Japanese universities do encourage students to study abroad. Tatsu describes his study abroad experience as being positive overall, and he is currently volunteering to help students studying abroad in Japan.
Next we spoke to Aki, who also studied abroad in Oregon for five months. She studied english during her stay and went from beginner level to being very confident with the language. Aki had travelled to Oregon in middle school and this fuelled her desire to return later and attend U of Oregon.
She compared english education in Japan to America, stating that in Japan english classes focus on accuracy, whereas in America students are encouraged to speak more and develop confidence. Aki thinks that most Japanese students study abroad to improve their english, and to further their careers. Furthermore, Aki thinks that it is becoming easier for Japanese students to study abroad, and that most universities encourage their students to do so. However, she shows similar concerns with Tatsu, stating that it is also becoming easier for Japanese students to learn English in Japan, and that studying abroad is very expensive. Aki speaks in high regard of her study abroad experience.
Our final student was Shoko. Shoko spent six weeks at the University of Calgary, studying both english as well as Japanese language education. Studying said topics was her main motivation for studying abroad. Shoko could barely speak any english before she left, and afterwards her listening was greatly improved, with her communication skills also showing increase. Shoko says that studying abroad helped her feel more confident in English, and that a lack of confidence in english keeps many Japanese students from studying abroad.
Shoko stayed with a Kenyan host family while abroad. She said she knew Canada was a multicultural country, and so she was not surprised to stay with a non-Canadian family.
Shoko says that in Canada, the school day is much busier due to shorter class times, and in addition, the teachers are much stricter. Canada's classes are also in general, smaller than Japan's, and more interactive. Shoko thinks that many Japanese students would like to study abroad, but not for more than a month. This is mostly due to a lack of confidence with the english language, as well as a lack of information. This lack of information, Shoko says, is not the fault of the University (there is a wealth of information available) but rather, students seem not to be in touch with this information. The high price is the one thing that most Japanese students seem to be aware of the most.
Overall Shoko says her experience was very fun, and that she would recommend studying abroad to everyone.
Prior to conducting these interviews, our first impressions were that Japanese people were super interested in studying abroad. We believed that the rate of interest with studying abroad from Japanese students was increasing. Our preconceptions led to a heightened level of surprise when both Tatsu and Aki said that the rate of Japanese students going abroad was decreasing. The reasons they gave made a lot of sense however. Increasing levels of globalization leads to an increase in the availability of the English language, which makes learning English at home easier. If learning English at home is easy, then whats the point of studying abroad? If Japanese students want western culture, then they would just go on a vacation. Plus studying abroad is not cheap. We didn't take into account the state of the world and availability of the English language when we built our preconceptions.
The rest of the interviews lined up smoothly. All three came into their study abroad experiences wanting to learn English as their English speaking skills left much to be desired, and left with proficient levels of English. They all lived with a home-stay family, although Tatsu and Aki had roommates as well. All three of them comment that the North American style of teaching is more free and interactive, while the Japanese style of teaching is more focused on the lecture-style of teaching. They all agree that there is a lot of effort put into spreading the word of studying abroad, and that there is a ton of opportunities available. Finally, all three of them had positive experiences.
Our final impressions from these interviews is that Japanese students mainly use study abroad to improve their English. Universities all over Japan are doing a good job in spreading the word and providing opportunities, but the problem of decreasing interest lies with the students themselves; with being able to experience the benefits of studying abroad in different ways, as well as being out of touch with the information, low confidence in English skills, and high cost.
We hope this article gave you a detailed glimpse into Japanese interest and experiences with studying abroad, and learned something from it like we did. Thanks for reading!