Experience of Studying In Japan

[juria]

こんにちは！私はちょっとわかりませんだからおしえってくださいね。 どもう。

I am currently a high school student living in California and studying the Japanese language. I've heard of many wonderful responses about travelling abroad and studying in another country. Is it generally very expensive to live/study in Japan? Maybe I can find a well-paying job to attend to after school next year, but truthfully I was planning to devote my time solely to classes because I want to take on a heavy course. Thank you for reading this.

 

[kameron]

Ah, there's so many questions you need to consider. The main thing about exchange is the cost involved. My Japanese friend stayed here for a year and it cost her about 2,000,000 JPY (check xe.com for your local currency). I think 1,000,000 might just be enough for one year. yeah, it's not cheap. How long did you wanna stay there for?

You are so young, maybe the American government will give you financial aid for your exchange?

Just a note to the Aussies, if you are interested in going on an undergraduate university exchange to Japan, read about OS-HELP.

Please keep at learning Japanese, I'm impressed to hear about your devotion to it (rather than just think about learning hiragana one day). Your Japanese is nice too

 

[dblbstrd]

I paid almost nothing out of my own pocket for a 1-year exchange to Japan in college.
The school I was going to at the time had exchange deals set up with a few different schools in Japan, most of which have allocated funds from JASSO scholarships; they pay your airfare and give you 80,000 yen a month cash for ten months. There's also the US-Japan Bridging Foundation scholarship, they award something like $4000 one-time for students doing a full academic year in Japan (or a lower amount for one semester). It's pretty competitive, but you can get it if you keep good grades and demonstrate a real interest in studying in Japan.
I'm pretty sure there are other scholarships that you can fish around for.
If you do an exchange through a home university in the US, you generally just pay tuition to your own school, which can mostly be covered by whatever financial aid you were already going to take in the first place (though direct student aid (Stafford loans) for your first two years is limited, so if you don't qualify for income-based grants, you'll need parent loans or something else to cover tuition).

If you can scrounge up all of that, it'll get you by pretty well. ESPECIALLY if you go to a school in a smaller/cheaper city, and not Tokyo or Osaka. I went to Tokyo, myself, but a friend of mine went to Okayama, and got the same 80,000 yen per month that I got, but his dorm rent was less than 10,000 yen (the dorm was a crap-hole, but who can complain for something like 80 bucks a month, and who wants to go to Japan and spend all his/her time in the dorm room anyway?) so he had more than he needed.

I would recommend doing your undergrad in the States probably anyway, but there is also the Monbukagakusho scholarship, which has been discussed quite a bit on this forum. If you get that, they will pay for a year of language school and four years of college in Japan... and actually they have a one-year exchange scholarship, too, for students in US schools doing exchanges, but you're not allowed to take other scholarships if you accept that one, I think....

Hope that helps... welcome to the gang and I wish you a nice trip to Japan whenever ya get there!

 

[juria]

Waaah! 1,000,000 is quite expensive no matter how you look at it. However, since you also mentioned scholarships for Japan and things like tuition money being awarded, I'll just have depend on myself and work a little harder. It would be very exciting if I received the opportunity to study at a Japanese university; the best way to improve your foreign language skills is to visit a country where you can practice the language, right? Thank you for thoroughly hinting me with the coorporations that are kind enough to finance persistant people such as myself. I will save this thread to my computer because I don't want for the typed information to go to waste. It might be a little early now for me to be considering scholarships and studying abroad since I haven't completed my years in high school yet, but I'm just that type of person that plans ahead xP Thank you also for your encouragement. I will definitely work hard to make Japanese one of my main foreign languages.

 

[kameron]

Well, I believe if you really wanna improve then exchange is an excellent thing to take part in. University exchange is probably a wise move, many universities in Japan have some great programs for exchange students. Nagoya University has the best Japanese university program in japan (about 20 hours a week with a JLPT focus) in my opinion but I chose to go with Yokohama instead as they offer Japan orientated business courses.

I'm guessing university might be a few years away for you though. You have to check who your university's exchange partners are to see where you're able to go. I had about 6 to choose from so I read about them heaps and came up with my decision.

You're not alone, juria. I've been planning ahead for a long time too. It's good because it gives you something to work towards.

 

[dblbstrd]

Don't be too discouraged by the 1,000,000 yen figure. That's sort of the guideline for what room and board for a student in Japan costs (and in the countryside you can get by with much less). If you are a self-supported student, you have to prove that you have access to that sort of funding in order to get a student visa, but for a one-year exchange with a partner university, it's pretty easy to get around that.
And if your program happens to offer the JASSO scholarship, it can be very easy to get it. In my case, there were more JASSO scholarships allocated to people from my particular stateside school to the program I went to than people applying for the program (in fact I was the only one to apply), so I got it pretty much just for signing up.
Depending what university you're at, it can be more competitive, but there are plenty of opportunities. Working over the summers and weekends and saving up money is a very good and responsible idea, but you can accomplish a university exchange even if you don't manage to save much.

 

[kameron]

You've got me interested in the JASSO scholarship, guys. Knowing my university hasn't had an outbound exchange student to Japan in about 8 years I think my chances would be alright. There is a downside though, if I were accepted for the scholarship I would not be eligible to receive (australian) government support, I would also be not be eligible to stay in the accomodation I'd originally wanted to (Yokohama city house) because they have a no scholarship students rule.

Sorry I can't give much USA based info >< The scholarship is probably the way to go over there though, but start saving! seriously. The JASSO + your additional spending money will enable you to have an awesome time in Japan.

 

[Glenski]

Don't do this research yourself. Talk to your school's counselors. It's what they get paid to do.

 

[juria]

Hmmm I think I understand a little now. I'll try to discuss this topic with my Japanese teacher and a school counselor (ah ha now that I've finally figured out where the office is with my wonderful coordination).

However, another issue comes up even if I were to have the support to go to a Japanese university. I am planning on becoming a journalist, but if I don't immediately go to a university and instead enroll somewhere in Japan, will the universities here not accept me because of a later attendance? In Japan, would it also be possible for me to take classes in journalism and Japanese or is the number of classes I'm allowed to take limited? Ah, a new stream of bothersome questions; sorry, but you are all so very helpful ^_^

 

[Glenski]

Very few universities in Japan offer courses taught in English. You will find probably less than a literal handful that have enough of such courses to allow you to graduate.

Temple University is one. Miyazaki International University is another. There may be one or two more.

Look into them and see if they offer majors suitable for you. Otherwise, if what I understand from your post is accurate, you are concerned about taking some course(s) here and transferring them back to your homeland where you would finish university? If so, that's a valid concern, and again I would have to urge you to check with your counselor first. Then, even though you're only 15, see if you can figure out what college you want to attend in the USA and see what they say about transferring credits.

If you are simply concerned about being accepted to an American university a year or so later than your current classmates, I really wouldn't worry about such a short span of time. You would have had an experience (here) that they didn't, and you would be a year older. Trust me. That may actually work in your favor.

One thing I can tell you. Of the American exchange students who attended the private HS where I worked here, they were all set back by the time they spent studying here. I could explain what the classes were like here, and that would by itself explain things. PM me if you want more info there.

If you don't want to get into the few Japanese universities I mentioned, you are going to have to deal with Japanese language requirements, steep ones. Taking Japanese classes concurrently probably won't cut it. Foreign graduate students (depending on whether they have a government scholarship or not) may have to spend 6 months of intensive (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) study on campus just to get up to speed on Japanese, and even that is hardly enough for daily living (as evidenced by some of those very students who attend my own university). Don't get such a scholarship, and you may not even be eligible for the language courses! But, all that is for grad students, and it doesn't apply to you. Just adding more info.

 

[kameron]

Okay, some quick advice:
Usually exchange programs only start in the second or third year of your degree.
To study Journalism in Japanese, you will need atleast a JLPT2 certification, although many require a JLPT1.
Course rules change from university to university, try to find one that specialises in Journalism/Language.
Usually if you earn credits in one country, another country's university will recognise those credits when you apply for a degree. (e.g. my friend studied economics in korea, so when he came to australia to study, the australian uni allowed him to skip all the economics topics.)

hope that helps~

 

[syahirah]

help me =)

i am a final year student intend to further my study in master and specifically in chemical engineering (process control)....

and i want to have my master scroll written from any university in japan =) hehehe

i'm dying to study in japan and now im waiting for MEXT scholarship.......is it (too) difficult during interview or examination?i've seen sample of exam question for paper Japanese....how am i to be able to answer it?huhuhu (T_T) do I need to take Japanese class?

help me!!currently i'm taking nihongo class which is in the level of kindergarten...very2 basic nihongo...but i'm trying my best!!