Hiya Amii here, I'm looking into doing japanese at University, either with german or somesort of business orientation. Does anybody have any reccomendations as to what uniersities are good at teaching japanese or advise. I don't actually get to fill out an application form until september but any help would be appreciated. All I know is that I want to go to a uni that offers a year abroad. Thankyou in advance Amii
Definatly the Uni I'm currently studying East Asian Studies BA at ---- the Japanese course here offers a year abroad and SEAS is the top department in the country for Japanese and other Asian languages. ^^
Any uni worth its salt offering a language degree will have as part of it a year abroad. If there isn't, reject it - speaking from experience (German graduate) fluency comes from TOTAL immersion, preferably in the middle of nowhere where no-one speaks English (like the far eastern edge of Austria, where I spent a productive and lucrative year being a language assistant).
Lucrative is right - Alex came back with so much money he bought all kinds of fancy stereo equipment, but then on the downside, he did have to spend a year in a Deliverance-style village whose name translates to 'Lower Stinking Stream' :lol:
I went to the University of Oregon, and they have an excellent Japanese program. Part of what I like about it (and appreciated later living in Japan) was their focus on speaking, listening, and conversational Japanese. Many friends I met in Japan who has the same degree as I did couldn't have a conversation in Japanese (but could read a map like a native). UofO also has exhange programs with Waseda University.
japanese... my biggest worry in taking on something like that which has so far come purely from pleasure that if you find it too difficult or decide you dont like studying a language then you could wreck that enjoyable part of your life. personally, i find things difficult to find, and dont like risking them... i have a good sense of what i enjoy, its just so obscure (my taste) that it takes lots of effort but brings huge rewards... what about learning japanese as a hobby?... evening classes whilst at uni (and in the mood, hopefully, to study) and link it to enjoying films / anime as i think that at uni its VERY necessary to have something to escape too. i finished uni in 1997 and i admit now i really enjoyed working and had so much to do i found it hard to escape it all, and it DOES affect your work when your too close to it... i studied multimedia and was taught by same man who taught thom yorke of radiohead, so if you know thoms sketches and ideas drawings from record sleeves then you will know my slant was creative rather than business multimedia (so essentially "art") and it was so damn hard... but i loved it. in the end it made me ill, and i can no longer partake in such things... just an opinion : dont get too close to something you enjoy!...
