By Ami Tsuru
“It seems that studying abroad is good, but is it difficult?” I think there are many students who want to study abroad but are hesitant because of money and cultural differences. I have considered studying abroad several times. Universities and government are helping students with a lot of ways to study abroad. However, there are many people who don’t study abroad. Some people think that there is no point in going just because it costs money. Nonetheless studying abroad gives you a variety of experiences and skills. There are several reasons why studying abroad as a student is important, including acquiring English ability, understanding different cultures and increasing future options.
Learning English abroad will help students acquire the ability to speak English fluently. Unlike in Japan, English is widely spoken overseas. To continue to study, you will need the ability to speak English. In Japan, there are few foreign people around, so there are few opportunities to talk in English. Since there are only foreign people abroad, it is necessary to speak a lot of English. Therefore, the ability to use English naturally and practically grows.
We can experience the culture of country we visit. Behaviors that are allowed in Japan will be allowed in foreign countries. For example, in Japan, it is a good manner to hold a rice bowl while eating, but in Korea, it is good manners to keep the rice bowl on the take while eating. Also, in Japan, people often take off their shoes when entering a house, but in many other countries, people enter a house without taking off their shoes. We can learn manners and rules in a foreign country that we wouldn’t normally know if we lived in Japan.
If we can speak English, we can get a job at an overseas in the future or go on to an overseas university. Studying abroad will increase the number of occupations you can choose, which is useful for finding a job. We can expand our horizons by meeting people with various backgrounds in foreign countries. Being able to speak English makes it easier to find a job because there are more options for many kinds of occupations. If we make use of experience and go on to study abroad, we will be able to learn deeply.
Some students might object to going study abroad, saying the drawbacks. It requires a lot of money. Graduation may be delayed due to the time spent in studying abroad. Also the life will be stressful in a foreign culture. However, as stated previously, studying abroad provide good experiences and the ability to speak English.
In conclusion, study abroad will help you acquire ability to English, understand different cultures, and expand your future career options. We can learn a lot of things that we didn’t know by going abroad. Go among the students and have a nice experience!
Posts published in “Study Abroad”
Studying abroad is one of the most beneficial experiences for a college student. By studying abroad, students have the opportunity to meet different cultures and gain new perspectives for their personal growth.
By Takuya Tsuchihashi
The most memorable vacation in my life was the summer vacation in my eighth year of junior high school, when I went on a short-term study abroad program in Australia. There are three reasons why I was impressed. It was my first international trip, I learned many things a bout other cultures and it had a major impact on my future.
First this was my first overseas trip, as this was my first short-term study abroad program in Australia. I have always been interested in foreign countries as much as in Japan. I have always been very attracted to cultures and atmospheres that I cannot feel in Japan, and I wanted to experience these different cultures for myself. At first I knew nothing about Australia, but I studied a lot before going there to study. I learned that there is a difference between the English you can actually use and the English you are studying. However, I learned for the first time that studying something you love is not hard at all, and can be a lot of fun.
Second, I learned many things that I could not feel in Japan. In particular, the culture, language, and climate left a strong impression on me. First of all, unlike the Japanese, many Australians are very sociable. When I visited the school, they treated me, a foreigner, as if I were their friend. Later, I found out that this is because Australia is a multicultural country, tolerant of all races, genders, and all other aspects of life. Next, language. The official language of Australia is English, but Australian English has an accent. For example, good morning is called “Good day,” and the pronunciation of the letter “a” is slightly different. I also learned a lot about communicating in English, which I did not learn much in school, and I remember being very happy to be able to gradually communicate my intentions. And the climate. It was winter in Australia when I studied there, but even in winter it was warm enough, just like spring and fall in Japan. On the other hand, when Australian students came to Japan in the winter as exchange students, I remember how they shivered as if they were freezing. These three distinctive differences gave me experiences that I could not have had in Japan, and all things led to new discoveries.
Third, this study abroad experience had a significant impact on my later life. The first was the student council election held in the fall of that year. I ran for the student council election with the social skills I had learned in Australia and the joy of interacting with many people, and I was elected student body president. Thanks to this, I was able to interact with many people regardless of grade level and made many friends. I also learned the difficulty and responsibility of managing a large organization. Studying in Australia also had an impact on what I wanted to do in the future. I had not had a clear idea of what I wanted to do before, but my interest in Australia was piqued after my study abroad experience, and I decided that I wanted to work in a career that would be international and cross national borders, so I began to think about becoming a pilot. I still haven’t given up on my dream of becoming a pilot, and after graduating from university, I would like to attend an aviation college and eventually work for Qantas Airways in Australia.
For these three reasons, my study abroad experience in Australia when I was in the second year of junior high school was the most memorable experience of my life. I cherish this experience and hope to learn more about Australia and other countries in and I want to work on my English language skills and be able to work in Australia in the future.
By Honoka Akazawa
Students are interested in studying abroad these days. They have a various of reasons to studying abroad. For example, people have reasons for studying foreign languages, getting ability to think flexibly, training what you want to learn in the best place, and getting unique experiences. It will help you. However, a lot of Japanese people don’t like foreign languages and Japan is an island country. So Japanese people have little chance to speak foreign languages with foreign people. And some people are interested in studying abroad, but studying abroad needs a lot of money and time. So, they give up it. Still, there many effects of studying abroad on young people.
Firstly, studying abroad make you intelligent. When you go abroad, you will learn a foreign language and gain knowledge of the destination. You must speak a foreign language all day, so you will get foreign language skills easily in a foreign country. In foreign countries, you touch foreign language more time. Then you have friends there. You will try to study more and more for communicating with them. And your foreign friends can collect your foreign language. By doing this, you can gain a native sense of the foreign language. And you learn about area’s information, you understand more about foreign country’s good points and your home country’s good points. Making foreign country’s friends is good for you in learning.
Secondly, you can assert yourself well. You may get a lifelong companion during your stay in foreign countries. And you will learn various of communication ways by them. People in Japan and people in foreign countries use different communication ways. In Japan, people are not good at express their feelings, they think modesty is a virtue. However, people in foreign countries are usually assertive, it is just a normal thing for them. Japanese people think modesty is good in Japan, but I think this thinking is dangerous in an increasingly globalized world. So, if you are not assertive, you can’t do it from now on. If you are aware of it, you get the upper hand in socially. Now a lot of companies need capable person who can accept globalization.
Thirdly, you get new values. You can feel what you can’t feel in Japan, because foreign countries have different culture from Japanese culture. It may shocking things for you. For example, people in foreign countries have more sense of discrimination than people in Japan. Then people in foreign countries believe in religious, but a lot of Japanese are not non-religious people. What you think it is obvious is changed by going to studying abroad. Sometimes it makes you irritate during your stay in foreign countries, but it removes stereotype, and you can think flexibly. It is very useful ability in society too.
To summarize, Studying abroad gives you many effects. In conclusion, there are three of effects.
Learning a lot of things that you can’t learn in Japan. Getting skills what express yourself in public. Getting influence from foreign people will broaden your horizons. During studying abroad, a lot of things are happened, and they are opportunities to improve yourself. If you want to get these effects, you should study abroad.
By Nana Hamano
What are fun things to do for students who study abroad? If you go to South Korea, there are a lot of interesting things to do. I would like to introduce three types of entertainment that are great for relieving the stress of study abroad. They are going to cafes, shopping and traveling.
There are many shops lined up around the university where I am studying abroad. There are many fashionable cafes in South Korea. And there are many bars around the university. So foreign students go with their friends to talk and drink at cafes and bars. Korean students drink alcohol almost every day. Also there are a lot of people hanging around outside. The atmosphere of the college town is different from those in Japan, so if you go to South Korea to study, you will be able to enjoy a different university life from Japan’s.
If you like South Korea, you can enjoy shopping. South Korea are very concerned with beauty. That’s why Korean cosmetics are attracting worldwide attention. Recently, Korean Cosmetics are very popular in Japan. Fashion is attracting attention as well as cosmetics. Due to the popularity of K-pop, the number of people imitating fashion has increased. If you are in South Korea, you can get cosmetics and clothes cheaper than in Japan. Recommended places for shopping in South Korea are Seoul and Busan. There are many places where you can shop.
South Korea is smaller than Japan. In other words, it is easier to travel in South Korea than in Japan. In addition, transportation facilities in South Korea are remarkably well developed and transportation costs are very low. Popular domestic travel destinations are Seoul, Busan, and Jeju Island. Foreign students often visit amusement parks. Busan is famous for its sea, so you should go in summer. Jeju Island is a place rich in nature. There is an ocean and mountains. Therefore, playing in the sea in summer and mountain climbing in winter is good.
There are various kinds of entertainment where you study abroad. Have a good time with friends, shopping, and go on a trip somewhere. If you are going to study abroad in South Korea, why don’t you experience these ways of entertainment?
By Karua Ono
When you say the word “studying abroad” what comes to your mind? Many people might be worried about the cost. In fact, the cost of studying abroad is very expensive and we can study languages by not doing study abroad. Thanks to the Internet, we can communicate with people who live in other countries easily and we can study abroad online at our home country. However, there are many effects of studying abroad on student’s future.
First, studying abroad to study languages improve our language skill. Of course, it is possible to acquire language skills without studying abroad and we can get language certified by studying ourselves but by going to abroad, we will get used to listening to a foreign language by listening to it all day. Additionally, we can learn basic conversation from talking with native speakers and if there are students who is the same generation, we can learn trendy words. It is impossible to learn trendy words from a language textbook, so study abroad is the best way to acquire trendy words.
Second, the experience of study abroad become an appealing point when we do job-hunting. I think that there are a few people who have foreign education experience. If you have this experience, you can talk about abilities acquired by studying abroad, something impressive episode, and how good your language skills are. These episodes might be a hot topic when you have an interview at companies. Sometimes, there is a company incentive for people who have an experience of study abroad.
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other important effect of studying abroad is we can broaden our knowledge by experienced it. There are many people who have different cultures in foreign country, and it cause you to get a culture shock. I don’t think that having culture shock is but thing because this experience will be good for our personal growth. I have been to Croatia for three weeks and spending time with a local family. Then, I got a culture shock there. Getting a culture shock made me confused and it was difficult to accept a different culture. However, thanks to this experience, I could learn new things I didn’t know before.
To summarize, there are many advantages of studying abroad for students. Although the cost of it is expensive, I think it is worth experiencing study abroad. If you are wondering whether to try studying abroad or not, you should try it.
By Hina Inoue
In today’s globalized world, it became common for students to experience studying abroad. Study abroad is a great opportunity for students to broaden their thinking. However, there are times when students fail to understand cultural differences and they experience culture shock. How can students overcome culture shock in foreign countries?
Culture shock is the feeling of severe anxiety when someone is placed in an environment that is very different from the familiar one. They become impatient because they cannot understand what is happening around them. They also feel alienated and blocked out, which can affect their interpersonal relationships. Culture shock can become stressful and lead to long-term negative feelings. Students who study abroad are exposed to many cultural differences. If their culture shock is too great, they may need to give up studying abroad and leave for their home countries.
The first solution to overcoming culture shock is to accept culture shock as a natural consequence of study abroad. Study abroad students¥ are foreigners, and it is natural to feel uncomfortable with the host culture. Culture shock is a stage in the process of adapting to a new culture. Therefore, there is no need to be overly anxious about culture shock. By doing so, the culture that made you feel uncomfortable in a foreign country will become familiar to you before you know it. Eventually, you will be willing to experience and accept the new culture. It is also important to realize that you do not need to accept all the differences. Everything you see is new and shocking, but you don’t have to agree with them. By recognizing that it is natural to experience culture shock and that you don’t need to like everything about the host culture, the stress will be relieved.
The second way to overcome culture shock is to talk to friends and family. Conversation with family members and friends from the same country will relieve the stress of culture shock. This is because even in the midst of a confusing situation in a different culture, people who share the same culture can be a source of comfort. During study abroad, a place where people can vent these anxieties will become a mental refuge for them. It is reassuring to know someone understands your feeling that you are feeling uncomfortable. Talking honestly about your feelings with family and friends can help change the difficult situation.
Culture shock is part of study abroad. But knowing it is possible to overcome culture shock can help students complete their study abroad programs. They can overcome culture shock by understanding that it is natural to experience culture shock and by sharing the feelings of discomfort with friends. Experiencing new cultures makes people anxious, but they also help people grow. Enjoy coping with different cultures by knowing solutions.