Oxford or SOAS for Japanese?

[Eien ni]

Seeing as some people have already studied Japanese at degree level, I was wondering which university offered the best career choices for Japanese - obviously Oxford has its reputation, but after looking at the course, it seems fairly elementary by Oxford's standards, and seems a transition to a further degree - and I can only study Japanese on its own (although it appears to offer a range of options within, but I am not sure how much). I would have to reapply because I was rejected, and I was disappointed because I thought I had a chance with relatively few students doing Oriental studies. Not to blow my own trumpet, but these are the reasons why I thought I at least had a fairly good chance (chances are most people are high achievers even if they considered applying) but I had A* in a Japanese GCSE after starting in year 10 (and I only have one lesson a week at another school, reflecting my true passion and interest in the subject, which I tried to portray anyway in the interview) and I had 10 A*s, 5 As at A-Level and predicted AAAAA. I also won the JSA Japanese speech contest in 2005, a foreign language poetry competition in 2003 in Japanese, and I had 300/300 at AS. While naturally I thought I could have done better at the interview, I think I put across what I wanted (i.e. passionate about the course, ready to learn more but already had good knowledge, and could reason with independent ideas, rather than being a "just grades" student) and I answered all questions at least fairly well at worst, and intelligently at best, (only one I couldn't answer "what is another example of a dying metaphor"). I also study french and english whose skills complement oriental studies. One may reason may have been because I did not fully put across my enthusiasm for the history and culture side, more of the language. SOAS, on the other hand offers many double honours degrees and specialises in asian studies. I have applied for Japanese and Linguistics - is this better than Japanese at Oxford? Or would it be worth attempting to reapply?

 

[Eien ni]

Sorry for double topic >< I wanted to edit my post

 

[Ewok85]

I know a few people who work professionally in Japan as translaters and the such with Honours from SOAS, from what I've heard its a good university.

 

[Eien ni]

^That's good to know, although many say that a Japanese language degree is not particularly useful, which could apply to either SOAS or Oxford - since the SOAS degree encompasses learning of the language, but I will be studying it along with linguistics, attributing me with more skills. However, at Oxford, the downside is that I can only study Japanese by itself, however, it is not heavily focused on language and thus focuses on skills that may be more useful for further study, and of course, its reputation speaks for itself. This is the reason why I am unsure of which university to decide going to. Also, if I went to SOAS, would it be worth taking the JLPT test, since the degree reflects such a proficiency in Japanese anyway? Or is the JLPT test a concrete qualification that will impress the Japanese?

 

[Ewok85]

I'd do the JLPT as well, can't hurt to know that you're able to do that as well.

As a bonus (for me anyway) I've heard there is a Shorinji Kempo club at SOAS. I'd give it a go, if you ever go to Japan it would be easy to continue training in Japan and you'd be able to meet many friendly like-minded people

 

[Harvey]

Is this inquiry about Undergraduate or Graduate (post-grad) school?

 

[Eien ni]

This is for an undergraduate degree.

 

[Harvey]

For undergrad, I would recommend to chose the University whose name will carry the most weight after graduation. I don't believe that the quality of the Japanese Cirriculum between each university will be different enough to seriously affect your own Japanese ability after graduating.

The school with the higher name value would help you to find a job after graduating (if you plan to work). If you plan to go straight to post-grad, and you can go to the same undergrad school as the grad-school you think you want to apply to... that might help your chances of getting in to post-grad later.... Personaly I wouldn't do it that way, a change of environment is something I tend to enjoy... But I'm sure it would be eaiser that way.

Though, they are both very good schools. I am considering SOAS for my post-grad studies in Japanese and Development Mangement.

Anyway. My 2 cents.

 

[Eien ni]

I was wondering whether the name of Oxford is worth waiting a year to reapply for, or whether SOAS is the better choice in terms of reputation for Japanese study. To make it clear, my options are to either go to SOAS this year to study Japanese and Linguistics, or reapply next year to Oxford for Oriental Studies (Japanese) although of course there is risk of a second rejection and discrimination from SOAS if I turned them down the first time when I reapply to them as my second choice.

To cut a long question short - which university will have the most favourable opinions from employers in jobs for Japanese graduates? (including in japan). If Oxford, does it have as much more reputation for it to be worth re-applying to?

 

[sakurastar]

I go to Oxford Brookes university. We offer a course in Japanese, and also many courses in Japanese society. I found that when I studied out in Japan, people only ever heard the 'Oxford' part, and wouldn't really listen when I would try and explain we are a separate university. The Japanese were all really impressed when I said I went to Oxford Brookes ^_^ Go figure.

We've had a few Oxford Japanese students come to us, because they didn't like how Oxford taught. But to be honest, if its the language you want to concentrate on, go to SOAS. My friend transfered there, and he said whilst it's difficult, you really learn Japanese.