Quote:
Originally Posted by Xlll
But since I'm so immersive in my studies I'll get there in no time, and luckily I'm just turning 17 which means I still have plenty of opportunites.
|
If you have the funds, study abroad. Almost any university that offers classes in Japanese will also offer study abroad opportunities. If you don't have the funds, many scholarships are geared specifically for students who go abroad.
Believe me, you'll learn more Japanese in a semester (or two) studying in Japan than you can in years. I just got back from studying abroad in Nagoya for a year. Prior to that, I had taken three years of Japanese. I thought I was pretty darn good at Japanese by that point (minus being completely literate with Kanji), but man did I end up learning a lot more once I had lived in Japan for awhile. The university I studied at offered intensive Japanese courses along with many Japanese-related courses all taught in English (cultural courses, economics, history, all sorts of topics).
There's
absolutely no better way of ensuring your success in both Japan and the Japanese language than by studying abroad there. Not only that, but you get a real taste of what living in Japan is like and you can decide if it's really something you want to do in the future.
After studying abroad there myself, I've decided I want to return for a [much] longer period of time. I'm currently getting ready to apply for the JET Program (as a CIR, not an ALT
)