Anonymous wrote:JH wrote: I was wondering whether the program at Waseda University was good...give me their opinions on it(housing/japanese language program/quality of life).
Ahhhh, Waseda.
Personally, for a Japanese university, I like the place. You could think of it as Japan's shoddy version of Stanford or McGill (and about as expensive). The Waseda student neighborhood is the "best' of Japan's pathetic student playgrounds. In the past, I have lived around Waseda area for 10 years---it's a slightly nicer version of a Tokyo concrete slum.
As for Japanese study, it's ok (but all Japanese universities are a cruel joke). "Housing?"---Japanese student housing will be an education in itself (most Japanese structures could not pass the building code in the real world). There's better schooling found at small private juku. Of the Japanese universities, ICU is the best* university for Japanese-English translation/interpreting, but it can be tough <http://www.icu.ac.jp/liberalarts_e/jlp.html>.
DISCLAIMER: Waseda brought me to guest lecture my first week in Japan. Almost all my Japanese friends are Wasada grads. My boss is a grad, my editor is a grad, hell, my o-cha girl is a grad...Wasada grads dominate Japanese publishing industry. Their main complaint is that Waseda is an education factory (20,000+ students and I doubt 2,000 are on the "campus" on any given day). My best-buddy here is an Iowa farm boy who JUST "graduated" Wasada's Japanese program after two years of dicking around. He also spent two years at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Monterey, California (the largest foreign language institute in the world). He had fun at school , but I can't hire him as a translator/interpretor straight out of Waseda---he'll need at least five years in-country like most Westerners.
*"best"--- I say ICU is the "best" after about 20 years of my experience handing J/E and E/J translations. ICU grads both Japanese and gaijin generally are the best. Wasada and Keio grads are also good. Grads from the other Tokyo universities often prove to be marginal: it's the person not the school that counts. The BOTTOM LINE is the money my company pays. We just don't find many Western translators worth a shit---New Zealand produces the best (I'm an America).
Are you sure you want to study under a Wasada don?
PS: Actually, the "best" Japanese course for Americans is free! You should sign up the 3-month torture program of the Mormon Church---that will make you a real HENA gaijin. The Moron Church produces more Americans who are fluent in Japanese than any college, Japanese or Western.
Damn, I was logged out yet again.
