Getting Ready to Study Abroad (ICU)

[barrn]

Hello everyone,

I'm a sophomore at a university in Philadelphia, and I'm getting ready to study at ICU for the duration of my junior year. I will be in Japan from the end of August to the beginning of June. My major is Japanese Studies, and my only experience with Japanese language is the four semesters of Japanese (Beginning Japanese I-IV) that I've taken at my school.

We've finished the books Yookoso I and II as well as BKB I. My hope is that from my time in Japan, I will develop a better grasp of the language and be able to achieve at least conversational fluency. I enjoy studying Japanese history, particularly modern history (from Meiji on), and I do well in my Japanese history courses. However, I'm a B student in the language courses, so I definitely want to improve while I am abroad. My main issues are with speaking and listening (I often hesitate when I am trying to say a complex sentence or use advanced grammar patterns, and I also tend to need things repeated to me a lot). While my reading and writing could also use help, I don't struggle as much with these as I do with speaking and listening.

I have a few questions particular to ICU:

1) Has anyone studied there before? What is the atmosphere like? I know it's an international school, but I've been told that many Japanese attend as well and that the student body is predominantly Japanese. However, I'm worried that I might fall into the bad habit of spending too much time with other English-speaking students if they make up a large portion of the campus. Will this be an issue, or is it one of those things that will only be as much of a problem as I let it become?

2) As I said above, right now I'm about a B student in Japanese. I want to attend law school after I finish undergrad, and one of the things I am trying to do is boost my GPA. I know that ICU offers language courses and I'm sure that they're very good. However, I've also heard that they are quite intensive and can be very difficult. I have a gut feeling that I would have an easier time taking the intermediate language courses at my home school after I return in my senior year, with (hopefully) a better grasp of the language.

My question: Is it reasonable to expect my language skills to improve enough just through everyday use, provided that I make an honest effort to spend time with Japanese speakers, immerse myself in the language, and avoid using English as much as possible, that I would return from Japan in better shape to take Intermediate level Japanese at my home school? Or, would it be foolish to not take the formal Japanese courses at ICU if my goal is to improve my language skills. I do want to get better, but I also want to boost my GPA. I feel like I could continue to be a B student in Japanese language at ICU, but I also feel like I might be able to come back from ICU, take the courses in America, and get an A.

As I said above, my goal is to improve my listening and speaking skills eventually; I don't have many opportunities to converse in Japanese outside of the classroom here in America, so getting those opportunities are important to me.

Thanks for your time, and sorry for the long post. Cheers.

[Behan]

[quote="barrn"]

1) ... However, I'm worried that I might fall into the bad habit of spending too much time with other English-speaking students if they make up a large portion of the campus. Will this be an issue, or is it one of those things that will only be as much of a problem as I let it become?

As I said above, my goal is to improve my listening and speaking skills eventually]

You will hear varying opinions on this topic, but my experience has been that a lot of people will seek you out to practice their English on you. Try to avoid them or just stick to your guns and answer their questions in Japanese.

Hanging out with just native English speakers all the time is, of course, not going to help, either.

Good luck with your studies.

[FG Lurker]

However, I'm worried that I might fall into the bad habit of spending too much time with other English-speaking students if they make up a large portion of the campus. Will this be an issue, or is it one of those things that will only be as much of a problem as I let it become?

I don't know the university you are going to so I can't comment on the situation there specifically. However in general (as Behan said above) a lot of the Japanese students there will be looking for exactly what you are looking for, except in reverse. They'll be aiming to practice their English with you in the same way you are hoping for Japanese practice with them. The best way to get around this problem is to find a way to make friends with Japanese people who don't give a flying fuck about English and would much sooner talk to you in Japanese.

One thing to be careful of is something that happens to a lot of gaijin guys here... They get Japanese girlfriends and end up copying their speech patterns. Female Japanese is often very different from male Japanese and the more feminine your girlfriend the bigger this difference is going to be. If you're not careful you'll end up sounding like an effeminate gay guy. (Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing, but if not then...)

2) As I said above, right now I'm about a B student in Japanese. I want to attend law school after I finish undergrad, and one of the things I am trying to do is boost my GPA.

You need to decide what your priorities are and then act accordingly. If your biggest priority is law school then realistically you should probably forget about coming to Japan and focus on what you need to do to get into law school. If your priority is speaking Japanese well then you need to focus on that. I can tell you what I think: Speaking Japanese will get you laid in Japan but is a nearly useless skill outside Japan for the vast majority of people. A good law degree will land you a high paying job and if you play your cards right you're set for life. In short, I can't see what the hell you're doing fucking around with coming to Japan for a year when it could easily screw up your chances of getting into a good law school.

[BO-SENSEI]

You're lucky, ICU is a good school, it had an exchange program with my university in the states, there will be plenty of students that will be more interested in talking to you in English than you talking to them in Japanese. Also, say hello to Princess Mako if you get a chance.

You need to decide what your priorities are and then act accordingly. If your biggest priority is law school then realistically you should probably forget about coming to Japan and focus on what you need to do to get into law school. If your priority is speaking Japanese well then you need to focus on that. I can tell you what I think: Speaking Japanese will get you laid in Japan but is a nearly useless skill outside Japan for the vast majority of people. A good law degree will land you a high paying job and if you play your cards right you're set for life. In short, I can't see what the hell you're doing fucking around with coming to Japan for a year when it could easily screw up your chances of getting into a good law school.

I don't think studying abroad will screw up your chances of getting into a good law school, since you say your a B student, its not like your are trying to go for Harvard Law. I am also not really sure how going abroad is help your GPA, but then again since my GPA sucked rocks, you really shouldn't be taking advice from me. But GPA is not everything.

[barrn]

I mean, my GPA isn't awful. Right now my numbers are in range for the top 20-30 law schools as long as I can do well on the LSATs (not that it's all about numbers when it comes to law school, but GPA and LSAT are definitely the two that matter). I guess I should have been more specific in saying that I want to boost my Japanese language grades, sorry for the mix up.

I don't view going to Japan as a waste of time. Japanese Studies is my major so it's relevant to what I am doing in undergrad. I'll pretty much be able to finish my major while I'm over there, and when I come back I'll only have 3-5 courses left to take overall (I already have my minor done and have two courses left for general requirements, which I might try to finish in Japan as well). I'm serious about law school and I wouldn't go to Japan if I thought it would fuck over my chances. I'm going to really have only one chance to go abroad to Japan as a student, whose only obligation is to learn the language and be immersed in the culture, and this is my chance.

I guess my question is, with a foundation in Japanese already from taking four semesters of it in the States, do you think it's necessary for me to take the language courses at ICU if I want to improve my grasp of hearing and speaking Japanese, or would I do just as well absorbing the language through the locals and then coming back to America and taking the Japanese classes here in my senior year?

[RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS]

I mean, my GPA isn't awful. Right now my numbers are in range for the top 20-30 law schools as long as I can do well on the LSATs (not that it's all about numbers when it comes to law school, but GPA and LSAT are definitely the two that matter). I guess I should have been more specific in saying that I want to boost my Japanese language grades, sorry for the mix up.

I don't view going to Japan as a waste of time. Japanese Studies is my major so it's relevant to what I am doing in undergrad. I'll pretty much be able to finish my major while I'm over there, and when I come back I'll only have 3-5 courses left to take overall (I already have my minor done and have two courses left for general requirements, which I might try to finish in Japan as well). I'm serious about law school and I wouldn't go to Japan if I thought it would fuck over my chances. I'm going to really have only one chance to go abroad to Japan as a student, whose only obligation is to learn the language and be immersed in the culture, and this is my chance.

I guess my question is, with a foundation in Japanese already from taking four semesters of it in the States, do you think it's necessary for me to take the language courses at ICU if I want to improve my grasp of hearing and speaking Japanese, or would I do just as well absorbing the language through the locals and then coming back to America and taking the Japanese classes here in my senior year?

You should take the classes.

[barrn]

I wound up taking the classes, and it turned out to be a good decision. I don't know what I was thinking but the classes have definitely made a difference. Nothing helps like just getting out and about, meeting people, and using the language though.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

There's nothing I enjoy more in life than studying a broad...

[IparryU]

There's nothing I enjoy more in life than studying a broad...

ya, a lot of the studying is really fun at first, but you get bored and need to to a test experiment from time to time...