Great Support System and Japanese Study Environment

This program takes place at Osaka Gakuin University (OGU) in Osaka, a 50 minute train ride to Kyoto, Kobe, and most of the busier streets of Osaka. Though class was every weekday for 3 hours, it was in the morning, giving time to explore after class was released. I was also able to visit many areas around Japan on the weekends, especially during holidays and when Mondays started becoming free.

Housing: I lived a 7 minute walk to campus, making getting to and from school easy. Some of my classmates lived further away, requiring a 30 minute commute. My apartment was well furnished, including a stove, shared/free laundry machine, and small balcony. As typical in Japan, I did have to get used to drying my clothes on drying racks.

Academics: Being in the 100 level Japanese class, we finished Genki 1 textbook. However, most valuable was the constant practice we got speaking to the Japanese students at OGU. I am extremely fond of the Japanese friends I made in this program, who also helped me improve my Japanese. However, the CET class moved a bit too slow for the amount of immersion we got studying abroad in Japan. Some topics we covered should have been brought up earlier in the semester, as they were necesarry to communicate. Genki 1 curriculum seems not optimal for people studying abroad in Japan. I would recommend additional self study in your free time for more growth in Japanese, which you will be motivated to do when seeing your classmates work hard on learning Japanese as well.

One downside in my academics was, besides Japanese, being required to take 3 extra afternoon classes by my US university, and OGU offered only 5 elective options for those 3 spots. Also, attendance in the OGU electives was very strict. With limited choices, the classes were a time suck, and I would have preferred more options in the classes I had that didn't require me being in class for 4 additional hours in the afternoon when I would rather be exploring Japan and studying Japanese.

The semester was unforgettable to me. However, if you are paying full tuition for this program, be aware that CET is one of the most expensive options at ~26k tuition and there are cheaper alternatives. Being on a scholarship, I chose this program for fulfilling my objectives of studying Japanese intensely and having many perks, like weekend field trips and very attentive staff. For my first time studying abroad I felt extremely safe, with the CET staff always answering my questions. The health insurance on the program is also extremely generous, and it is built in to the cost of the program. I loved my experience in Japan and would highly recommend studying abroad here.