Hi everyone.
As part of my University program, I can study abroad once I've been at Uni for a year. As I've studied Japanese for 5 years, and will continue to study it at Uni, I thought I'd take my exchange in Japan.
I have several questions regarding study, living, transport, and how to get around only knowing half the language.
Study- I have a choice of several Universities...is it better for a foreigner to study in Tokyo, or in more regional areas? If I remember correctly, there are a couple of universities in Tokyo, two in Nagoya, and at least one in Osaka. I've got a friend in Gifu I'd like to see at some point, so Nagoya would be my first choice, but if it's easier to study/live in Tokyo, then I'd prefer that. I'll be studying for either 6 months or a year
Living- Is it better for a student to live in an apartment, a dorm, or to share a room in a house. In Australia, it's common for University students to share a house - maybe 2-4 people per house, with shared kitchen, bathrooms, and living room, but with private bedrooms. How common is that in Japan?
- How much is average accommodation? What is a reasonable price for a room in a house, and how much would I need to live on for, say, a month?
- Could I, as a foreigner, get a part time job tutoring students in English? I have a fairly decent grasp of Japanese, and so I could communicate fairly easily. Could I just put up notices offering tutoring, or is that generally frowned upon?
- If that's not feasible, are there other types of part-time work available to foreigners?
Transport- Ok, so there are trains everywhere. How much would you pay, weekly, for a train pass? Is it better to live closer to the university and ride a bike?
Language- I've been studying Japanese for 5 years, and by the time I go to Japan, that will be 6. I've got a fairly good grasp of sentence structure, speaking, etc. However, I'm not great with vocab, and I'm absolutely shocking at Kanji. Will people I'm talking to mind if I stop mid-sentence and look up a word? Does it matter terribly if I make a lot of mistakes, and accidentally say something stupid?
- How much of a knowledge of kanji is necessary for reading signs and stuff? I'm at about the kanji level of a Japanese 3rd-4th grader
Thanks
