In college,
every student has the opportunity to study abroad and learn Japanese straight
from the source, Japan. Studying abroad is essentially spending one or more
academic terms studying in a foreign country, in this case Japan. And not to
worry, knowledge of Japanese is not a requirement for many programs, so even if
you don’t know a word of Japanese, studying abroad in Japan as well as becoming
fluent in Japanese are both still possible! Many colleges do sponsor these
programs, and they tend to be around the same price as tuition and board at
your school. And yes scholarships and financial aid do apply to most of them,
so studying in Japan can be affordable. However, with so many online resources
that provide worldwide access you may be wondering is it worth is to study
abroad in Japan? Hopefully these tips will help you shed some light on the
subject and come to an informed decision.
1.
Constant
immersion in Japanese language and culture
·
Because
you will be in Japan, you are going to be surrounded by people that are fluent
in Japanese. Every moment will be an opportunity to practice and better your
Japanese learning and everyone you meet is a potential language exchange
partner. Everywhere you go you will see it, hear it, and speak it. There have
been many studies conducted on the connection between study abroad and language
acquisition and they show a definite, strong link, especially in terms of
pronunciation and becoming fluent (particularly in daily, conversational
Japanese).
·
One
of the greatest resources available to Japanese learners is a language exchange
partner. A person fluent in Japanese can coach you in pronunciation and how to
speak more naturally, in terms of sentence structure, and vocabulary. Through
constant conversation you will learn words that natives use that are never
taught in a classroom or textbook, and you will have a better understanding of
how Japanese works. And through studying abroad, anyone walking down the street
has the potential to be your most valuable resource.
2.
Huge
boost in self-confidence which greatly increases the capacity to learn Japanese
·
In
a recent study on the study abroad program,
it was shown that 96% of the participants felt an increase in self-confidence,
and you may be wondering so what if I feel more confident. How does that
improve my language learning ability? In fact, self-confidence has been shown
to be one of the most important factors when it comes to learning a new
language. Learning a new language, especially one as foreign as Japanese, can
be a really daunting task. And if you lack confidence and belief in the fact
that you can learn this foreign language it will be much more difficult to
overcome the obstacles that come with learning Japanese. In fact the more
self-esteem you have the easier it becomes to learn a new language. And as your
Japanese learning becomes more successful your confidence will only continue to
grow as well. You are then placed in a continuous cycle of growth, which will
work wonders for yourself and your Japanese.
And all it takes is one trip…
I hope these
insights made you think about, if not seriously consider the possibility of
studying abroad in Japan. It will no doubt change you as an individual in so
many ways, including your ability to speak fluent Japanese. If you would like
to know how I was able to achieve fluency in Japanese
please check out my video.
