Any "japanese studies" applicant? (MEXT)

[Paco1992]

Hey Guys!!
Yesterday I received a mail from embassy saying that I can go to do the exam the next Tuesday in Madrid. My level is around N3 but I never did a Noken test. I was studying last semester in Japan.
I'm really nervous about the exam and the interview. I only could find two old exams of japanese studies scholarships but I heard that it changed.

There are more people who are going to do the exam of japanese studies soon? Or any senpai who want to share his experience?

Thanks you all!!

 

[Yvm]

Yes! We already had the test. Ours had 3 big parts,
An elementary Japanese one, a intermediate and finally an advanced part. Each part was again divided into grammar, reading/writing and reading comprehension. Grammar and reading comprehension was multiple choice. In the reading/writing part you had to give the reading in hiragana of kanji and the other way around.

I don't know at all what my level is. But don't stress out too much! go through lots of JLPT questions and refresh your kanji!
Good luck! Keep us updated about the results

I got through the first screening so now MEXT is up to decide

 

[Paco1992]

Hi Yvm!! Nice to meet you!
Really thanks for your reply! I hope you can win the scholarship!
I'm gonna study most of kanji of N3. I hope will be enough.
Im doing old tests too but I dont know if the level is the same.
And how was the interview? Did they ask you things related with "why do you want to go to Japan" or things like this?

Btw, what were your universities preferences?

 

[Yvm]

Don't worry too much about the kanji, the elementary part is really easy. like 茶色、駅、三つ、and so on.
The ones i remember from the advanced one (because i could read them) were 七夕and三味線
The old test of course depends on the level. I can't tell you which jlpt level the intermediate and advanced parts are, but you know...nobody can do perfectly well on the test. Just think how well you can do compared with the other candidates. The advanced part is really hard and they don't expect you to do the test perfectly. They just need to see how your Japanese is.

The interview: they first of all need to check your language skills, that is English and Japanese.
How my interview was like: first step was self-introduction. After that they first went through the documents i submitted. They asked about my grades, how long i had been studying Japanese, what research i was interested in (for example if you already have any clue about what you want to write your thesis about) and so on. They also sorta try to figure out your enthusiasm and motivation. Stay relaxed! i heard from one of the interviewers that one other candidate was soooo nervous that he..well..the impression they were able to get was that he was nervous... They may ask more about your hobbies, stuff you did during high school whatsoever, It depends on what you wrote on the application and what you mention during the interview.

Answer true to who you are, to what you want. They will also ask about your universities of choice and why you picked those (i actually didnt do too well on this part because they want it DETAILED. very detailed. If you can mention courses you want to do, do so!

My university preferences are the following 3:
Keio
Hitotsubashi
Tokyo gaikokugo

Your interview is after your test right? Do well!

 

[charlie07brown]

Hey everyone! I'm from Perﾃｺ, and apparently I passed the written test and the interview. So now, I'm just waiting for the final screening announcement to be conducted by MEXT. I'm really nervous! My university preferences were the following:

1. Ritsumeikan University
2. Doshisha University
3. Tokyo Gaikokugo University

 

[Yvm]

Hey! Congrats on passing the first screening! Any idea how many people passed the first screening in your country?
I am so nervous as well for mext's verdict (>_<)
Let's hope things go well!
Btw, Tokyo gaikokugo is my third choice as well!

 

[Paco1992]

Really thanks for the advices Yvm!!
Encantado Charlie!
In Spain we are 5 for do the first screening and only one can win the scholarship but I think that this changes depending on the country.
My preferences were:
1. Kyushu Daigaku
2. Kyoto GaigoDai
3. Osaka Kyoiku Daigaku

 

[Yvm]

Oh, Kyuushuu daigaku! one of the research applicants got the mext for Kyuudai.
Only one?? How much universities do you have for Japanese studies? I don't think they have this really fixed number, only an estimation. After all it depends on how many applicants worldwide pass the first screening ^^;

 

[charlie07brown]

Hey! Here in Peru only three applicants took the written text. Two of us passed and were chose for the interview. I don't know if the other applicant passed the interview. But supossing so, it'd be two people who passed the first screening here in Perﾃｺ.

 

[Yvm]

Wow so people really do fail the first screening. All of those who applicated here were allowed to go for the interview. Don't know what happened to the others who did the interview but usually all people pass the first screening. How much universities do you have for Japanese studies in Peru? In Belgium we have 2 universities and last year 4 people (if i remember right) were allowed to go. But this seems like so many people considering the small country we are!

 

[charlie07brown]

We actually don't have universities specialized in Japanese Studies. So the embassy recommends people who have studied japanese for a long time and has documents that prove their interest in Japanese and Japanese culture.

Enviado desde mi XT914 mediante Tapatalk

 

[Yvm]

That sounds really hard! In that case i really hope you get the opportunity so you can get really into Japan

We have 2 universities who offer Japanese studies so that might explain why double the participants got the scholarship last year.

 

[charlie07brown]

Yeah, I really hope I get this scholarship, because I won't be able to apply next year. Also my friend who went on 2012 told me it was an awesome experience. She got to meet lots of people there, went to visit lots of shrines and temples, did lots of Japanese Culture activities at her university and more. Anyway, fingers crossed haha.

Enviado desde mi XT914 mediante Tapatalk

 

[Yvm]

Yup, definitely fingers crossed.
You don't even have the opportunity to study Japanese studies, so it is a really good thing that you can at least apply for the scholarship. you got an official message that you passed the screening?

 

[charlie07brown]

Yep there are no more worries about the first screening. Though the second screening has always been some kind of a mystery. I applied to the undergraduate scholarship last yeat, got passed the first screening but unfortunately I didn't pass the second one. Hope that doesn't happen again :'c

 

[Yvm]

According to previous forum posts i went through, for the Japanese studies scholarship passing the first screening gives you a really big chance of getting the scholarship. Do you have any clue whether this is the same for the undergraaduate? Might be that the second screening is really tough as well for that one, which might leave us with a bigger chance of passing the second screening for this one.

Altho' that doesn't keep me from being anxious as well

 

[charlie07brown]

Hmm I think a higher number of applicants submit to the undergraduate scholarship, since, for example, you don't need to know japanese. I think the odds of getting the Japanese Studies Scholarship might be higher. I hope we get it. We could meet if we both get chosen at Tokyo Gaikokugo Daigaku that'd be cool.

Enviado desde mi XT914 mediante Tapatalk

 

[PandaCrackers]

Hey! I study Japanese at a university in Belgium together with Yvm and I also passed the first screening!!
What I've heard from my professor is that a country doesn't have a fixed number of students who are allowed to receive the scholarship. Once you passed the first screening, all candidates are put together and they just select the ones they like. So it can be that not a single student from a certain country can go, or that all of them can
But I do hope that we all get the scholarship!!
Best of luck to all of you!!

 

[drewa]

Hey!
I plan on applying this year and I was wondering about the application process just a bit.
The first screening is the interviews and exams in your home country right? Then the second screening is MEXT?
Well, how do you get to the first screening?
Is it just up to if they like your application?

 

[charlie07brown]

Yeah. You just have to send your documents to a japanese consulate and then they will contact you by phone. Then you'll have to take a written exam which is divided in three levels of difficulty from basic to advanced. I recommend you do a little study of basic kanji so you don't forget any of it. After that you'll have to take an interview which is normally done in japanese. Thought it is not really hard, they'll just ask you about yourself and why you want to go to Japan with this scholarship. And that's basically the first screening. If you get called after that you'll proceed to the second screening where you basically just wait for the answer from the embassy. That process takes a lot of time. So prepare yourself to wait lots of time. Ganbatte!!

Enviado desde mi XT914 mediante Tapatalk

 

[drewa]

Thanks for the info!
I've been pretty scrambled about this scholarship thing ever since I heard about it.
So it seems I have to take 3 levels of Japanese. Hm, I just gotta study insanely for it. Just start getting vocab and grammar.

As for the waiting, I don't think it should be too bad, but not good either. Cause when you think about it, it's all decided within one year(at least in my country it is). We submit our application in July and if we get the scholarship we will know by February. That's just 7 months actually, but I know that the suspense would add 5 hours to every second haha.
Oh but I have questions about the scholarship. It's about the Recommendation Form. It says "
1) To the Applicant : Please indicate your full name above. Give this form and one of the envelopes marked ﾂ"confidential" addressed to yourself, to the person you
have asked to recommend you. Ask this person to place the completed form in the envelope, seal the envelope, sign across the seal, and return the unopened
envelope with your application. "
I just want to verify this. For this step, I get 2 envelopes. One smaller than the other. On the smaller one I write my name, address, etc and put a stamp on it. However I do not seal it so that the one recommending me can put in the recommendation form and seal it.
So I give the 2 envelopes to my principal(he will recommend me). He fills out the recommendation form, puts it in the small envelope, and seals it. Then, he puts the small one in the large one and simply marks it as "confidential", am I right?

2) And what about departure? Supposedly you can have an April or October departure but I'm not sure so I've been all over the place trying to graduate half a year early in the case that I get the scholarship.

3) If I do really good on all the Japanese exams but feel like I need that one year intensive Japanese course, can I take it? It's kind of just a preparation thing for me. It is a foreign country after all and so I am wanting to be sure I can live haha.

4) Do you have your scores or know what anyone else scored on the exams? I plan on getting a perfect score on the English exam. As for the Japanese exam, there are 300 points(don't know how many points for English or Math) and I want to get no less than 280. As for the troublemaker, Math! As of now I'll be lucky to get 2 points. However I am confident that if I just work with math teachers at my school, then I will be able to do the math.

I also have some tips I came across for you guys. I read that you need to get an certain score(in total) in the exams in order for your Consulate to recommend you to MEXT. Also, I read that it doesn't matter really if your country doesn't have a lot of applicants. It's as simple as if they like you then congrats.

 

[Yvm]

I don't think you are applying for the Japanese studies one?
There is only an exam Japanese for us.

Also, the recommendation letter: we needed 2 of the recommendation letters (well this actually wasnt clear for us either) but the confidential should be made clear by having the recommender put his sign as a seal on the envelope. I dont think you have to put an envelope into an envelope. It says put the form into the envelope and seal it. Sorta.

But if you dont have the Japanese studies scholarship, you could try the following thread: MEXT Scholarship 2014


And the waiting time is HORRIBLEEEEEEE

EDIT: sorry, just saw that you also posted in that thread... I hope someone can give you a clear answer!

 

[charlie07brown]

Hey guys! I just heard from the embassy that I was the only one that got through the first screening. Apparently, the other person who took the interview didn't pass it. So I'm the only one getting the embassy recommendation, don't know if I'm more excited or even more nervous hahaa. Wanted to ask you a question, why did you choose the universities you chose? Just curious :3

Enviado desde mi XT914 mediante Tapatalk

 

[PandaCrackers]

Congratulations!!
I hope you will get the scholarship!! Too bad for the other person...hopefully he/she can apply again next year.
My universities were Hitotsubashi University, Keio University and Kobe University. I chose them because they provided Japanese language courses on many levels and for me personally, because they offer economic courses regarding Japan and the rest of the world. I already have a master's degree in Business Administration so I thought that would be a good combination ^_^
And you should def be happy!!

 

[Yvm]

Great!

I also chose Hitotsubashi and Keio for the Japanese program, they have these specific courses that only focus on academic writing, Japanese courses on several levels and so on. Next to that Keio had some interesting subjects concerning language education or social studies. My minor is social studies and i wish to continue research in social studies in Tokyo, so i need decent prep in Japanese as well as in my knowledge,

Hitotsubash has this course about Japan that gives more information about jobhunting and interviews, which would be useful for future jobhunting (which i wish to do in Japan)

Tokyo gaikokugo...well... the research i want to continue with is in Tokyo, so i wanted to study in Tokyo to be able to easily participate in events of the research group. Tokyo gaikokugo is still high level and they have lots of courses about languages or multicultural stuff.
Well yes i would actually prefer Keio or Hitotsubashi but you know... I JUST WANT TO GET THE SCHOLARSHIP AND GO TO JAPAN (Tokyo)

Too much waiting...
[MENTION=62477]charlie07brown[/MENTION]: Which course did you apply for? You had this focus on language or on culture. Which one did you choose?
Panda and i both took the language as the main one.