Comments on: Learning Japanese During Your Study Abroad

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:45:00 +0000

Hi Topher. Thanks for commenting.
The debate over how to measure someones language ability is one that has been going for quite some time, and (not surprisingly) a conclusion has yet to be reached. Obviously, within the category of ‘language ability’ there are many, many sub-categories, but I suppose if we’re talking about study abroad we are probably going to be most concerned with verbal communication and comprehension.
I am only speaking from my own experience, but I feel that ‘useful immersion’ can take place even at quite a basic level. Sure, the more advanced your language skills the higher the chances are that you’re going to get more out of it, but being in an environment where you have the opportunity to come into contact with and practice what you are studying – even if it is only basic – is invaluable, as it reenforces the knowledge in your mind. Moreover, you can have lots of ‘cultural’ and ‘real life’ experiences, and the better you know a culture the easier it is to learn a language connected to it, or so I feel…

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:41:00 +0000

Thanks for the insightful comment, Jupiter.
It sounds like you were satisfied with your living arrangements on study abroad :) You’re certainly right about it being easy to slack off speaking in class – it’s really easy to think ‘meh, I’m tired so I won’t really participate today’, but if your host family/Japanese roommates are talking to you you’re less likely to just brush them off.
I’ve certainly had the ‘Broken Japanese Monkey’ experience more than once during my time here, and judging from the advanced speakers around me it doesn’t completely go away even if your language skills are near perfect….

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:36:00 +0000

Thanks for reading an commenting, Takky.

That sounds like a good idea to me, and agreeing a topic in advance sounds fantastic, as it would give you a chance to study vocabulary, phrases, and other ‘language-y bits’ that you think you could use, and then put them into practice in real-life. Of course, you do risk having a conversation that doesn’t really flow naturally because you feel stuck to a certain topic, but there are pluses and minuses to everything I suppose!

I definitely think it takes quite a bit of time to establish friendships, especially in your second language, so hang in there! Best of luck with the part time job – any industry in particular you are hoping to work in? Fantastic to hear that your vocab is making good progress, Sorry to hear about the grammar part. Is there anything extra you’re doing that helps reinforce the vocab in your mind (if so please share!) or it’s just kind of naturally ‘sticking’?

I think time being taken up by English language subjects is a problem a lot of study abroad students face. Do you mind if I ask are the grades from your English classes transferred to your academic transcript, or do you just need to pass them? I know a lot of universities in Europe don’t count study abroad classes as part of GPA – all you have to do is pass them, so a lot of students just do the bare minimum for those classes so they can have more time to study language.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:19:00 +0000

Thanks アリス！Hope you’ll keep reading – and more importantly enjoying – my articles and ones by other contributors
in the future (^^)

By: Matthew Nairn

Matthew Nairn — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 07:56:00 +0000

Under strategy #5 is a typo; “they’re using full other English” is missing “of.”

By: Takky

Takky — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 12:50:00 +0000

The only other thing I can reccomend is getting a language partner to practice all your nihongo skills on. If you agree topics in advance you can expand both your vocbabulary skills drastically! Of course this shouldn’t replace going out and making Japanese friends. I’ve managed to make some, even if I didn’t like the clubs at the university I’m studying and even though I don’t have a part time job yet (but working on it!) I don’t feel like my grammar has improved a lot so far (far too easy classes, too busy studying for English subjects which we are required to take to instead of learning new grammar, urgh), but my vocbulary, just through sheer force of repetition has improved leaps and bounds as well as my confidence. Just go out and as my friends would say ‘Do a nihongo’.