CET Japan

Academics: I took the 12-credit 300 level class and 1 elective course. I chose this program primarily because it offered classes at the 300 level and above, and I was pretty happy with my class. The workload is fairly intense since we covered 10 chapters in one semester. There was a lot of homework, and we had two quizzes every chapter and a speaking and written test about every 3 chapters. All of the instruction is entirely in Japanese, and I'd say the primary focus in class was on discussion rather than grammar/kanji drills. I think people who are comfortable with self-study will do really well, while those who are used to more in-class guided instruction might struggle. The class also featured a number of field trips and cultural activities that I really enjoyed! The only issue I had with those was that class would often end at the field trip location, meaning students who had class soon after had to spend their lunch time commuting back from Kyoto or Umeda. As for the elective course, that was handled by the university, OGU. In my experience, and from what I heard from others, these classes almost never had homework, so even though the Japanese workload was intense, the elective didn't make things overwhelming. That said, by the end of the semester, everyone in my Japanese class was exhausted.

Language Acquisition: I would say I was able to achieve the goal I set before I left. My primary focus was on developing my reading skills, and I could feel a noticeable improvement in both my abilities and my confidence by the end. The impact of immersion on language acquisition is really amazing. I would be waiting for the train and suddenly see something I had just learned in class on a poster or train announcement. It was really exciting to recognize and understand words and grammar points while just going about my day. While the language pledge really only felt strict in class, I do think its existence drew in more students who were serious about using Japanese as much as possible. Plus, if any OGU students were around, then Japanese was definitely the language of choice.

Housing: I was pretty happy with my housing. I stayed in a share house with each student in a code-locked room and shared living areas. My house was pretty conveniently located, and I almost never had issues with my housemates. We set up a cleaning schedule to make sure the common areas stayed clean. The OGU students we lived with were also really kind and helpful.

Support: Absolutely 10/10. From pre-departure to preparing to leave, the staff made sure we had the information we needed. We had several days of orientation when we arrived to prepare us for living in Japan, including earthquake training. If we had any issues at all, it was easy to contact the staff. One of my housemates accidentally burned himself while cooking, and a staff member accompanied him to the doctor. I honestly felt so taken care of while I was in this program. They're also very upfront about the support they offer, so you're not left worrying.

Program Trips/Excursions: This was probably one of the weaker aspects of the program in my opinion. Some things didn't pan out as expected. Our day trip ended up feeling unbalanced with the time we spent sitting in the bus to get places compared to the time we spent actually enjoying things. I also personally found some outings less enjoyable simply because we were such a big group. That said, I didn't regret joining any of the trips, and I don't doubt that they'll make adjustments in the future to try and avoid running into the same issues. Even within the semester, after traffic caused us to run late during our day trip, they planned out our overnight trip with extra time. All of these trips are also no extra charge and entirely optional, so if you do them, you're losing nothing but time, and if you don't want to do them, you don't have to.

What about Japan as a whole? 100000/10 I loved it there. There's so much to do in Osaka, and the trains make it so easy to explore! I went to the "downtown" like area of Umeda at least once a week, and almost every weekend, I was traveling to places like Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe. Those kinds of day trips are incredibly affordable, too. The weather is so nice in Spring, and throughout the semester, there were plum blossoms, cherry blossoms, wisterias, and more blooming. Japan really is a beautiful, clean, safe, and easy to travel country. That's not to say it's some utopia country without any issues, but I think if you're realistic in your expectations of it, it's a really wonderful place to go.

I am personally planning to continue my Japanese studies and return to Japan in the future, and I think CET Japan was an amazing opportunity to further those studies and reaffirm my goals.

CET Japan provides the opportunity to immerse yourself and the Japanese language and culture in the great city of Osaka, Japan. The program provides intensive and Immersive curriculum only in Japanese that truly accelerates language acquisition. I had the opportunity to do the program and 2 separate summer semesters and take both the 2nd year class and the 4th year class, in both instances I felt that In the short two months I was in Japan I improved my Japanese more than entire academic years at my university. I personally think that it was due to the fact that because you are in Japan, you're required to utilize language everyday and really put it into practice. So for anyone that's serious about learning Japanese and really trying to learn the language I can't recommend the program enough.

The program is situated in Osaka, Japan which is an hour train ride away from Kyoto and maybe a 45 minute train ride away from Kobe. And thus the location provides good access to a variety of locations, attractions and things to do. I really liked living in Osaka. To me it was better than Tokyo in almost every way and to most students I spoke to said it was the best city in Japan as well, although we may be slightly biased. Japan as well as the experience of studying abroad in a foreign country, To me is something that's very hard to explain in words how wonderful it is, but i do recommend to absolutely any and all students to do it at least once.

For me it wasn't even just about the location, the food, the people, It was everything. It's obviously a completely different experience from studying at your home institution, But for many students it's also the first time that they're just away from their families, completely on their own which can be exciting and frightening but also to me it's kind of so different form traveling to another country, because when you study abroad you are a student in that foreign country and your life kind of continues but changes location which I think is something that can't really be replicated by traveling, because when you do, you're more of a tourist as opposed to someone living in a foreign country. Which is an experience that I think study abroad programs provide and honestly its so exciting and such an incredible experience that I think every student should have.

CET provides housing, curriculum, materials and even opportunities for extracurricular activities for students during the length of their stay, And so all you really have to do is show up and you're almost guaranteed to have an amazing time. Should you participate; please travel, explore, and see all that Japan has to offer. It's an amazing experience that I know you won't regret. I sincerely believe CET Japan is worth your consideration for a study abroad program.

I’m so happy that I chose this program! From the staff to the students, CET Japan was the time of my life. With three hours of class, a language pledge, and time to explore anything from Osaka to neighboring countries, I couldn’t have asked for more. As a result of this program, I made friends from different backgrounds, learned about cultural differences (as a result of coming from different states, countries, etc.), and tore down a language barrier. My one warning is that this program is best for those who are truly interested in learning Japanese and meeting new people. The housing situation can either be GREAT or subpar (but never bad) depending on roommates + housing placement. The best part of this experience for me was the local roommate matching, as they played a big role in connecting me to the community. Whether it was restaurants, sports, trips, or my wildest dreams, I owe a lot of my knowledge to my amazing roommates and OGU friends. I loved this experience, and you will too!!

I found this program to strike a very good balance between support and also promoting independence living on your own overseas. I of course, came to the program with the goal of improving my Japanese, but I also wanted to learn how to function as an adult and I think that this program gave me a good taste of both of those goals. The housing is not the best but it’s livable. Because Japan has so much to offer you won’t be spending much time in the house anyway so I would overall recommend this program. The staff were very kind and I felt comfortable turning to them if I ever had any issues. What I loved most about this program was the fact that our academic sensitive of not only in class learning, but also many activities outside of class such as field trips to local schools, and also things on campus that involved other students outside of our own classrooms. I also liked that school was Monday through Thursday for the most part so that gave us a longer weekend to go and explore Japan, which is relatively easy to do because of the amazing transportation system.

Housing- Housing was a lot more pleasant than I thought it’d be! I lived in Tiffany-1 which was only a minute walk from the nearest station to get to Osaka Gakuin University (OGU), our host university. My apartment was all-female and I was able to live in my own room with a personal bathroom. I was given the ability and freedom to really decorate my space and was something I spent a lot of time doing in the first couple of weeks to help me feel at home. Luckily, I have a very small build so I had an easier time adjusting, but if you are uncomfortable with small spaces, are taller than average, or have hesitations with crowded living spaces, you may find Japanese housing very difficult to deal with. There is no dryer so you will have to get used to air drying your clothes and the trash schedule was definitely a learning curve. Here’s some pros and cons I found. Please note a lot of the cons are just part of getting used to living in Japan, it was my first time living alone, and my comments are specific to my apartment and room!

Pros: Personal bathroom, VERY convenient location (lots of nearby convenience stores, station, etc.), already furnished, lots of kitchen supplies and other necessary items provided, don’t have to pay for utilities bills (Summer Term), quick support from staff and residence director if there are any problems, SAFE neighborhood, beautiful scenery nearby, personal balcony, plenty of locks on front door.

Cons: Thin walls and train sounds late at night (also sometimes a chanting lady that says her hymns till very late outside your window ;-;), only one stovetop in kitchen, difficult trash disposal procedures and very small personal trash cans, lots of stairs and very steep, not many common spaces, very small bathroom, will spend quite a bit of money on living expenses.

Academics & Language Pledge- The curriculum during the Summer term is incredibly challenging and affected a lot of students' mental health because of how much is taught and expected during such a short time. I’d view academics as a double edged sword, cause although I personally struggled simply keeping up with all of the work, quizzes, and tests, I went from speaking little to no Japanese before the program to now being able to hold 30 minute conversations with my Japanese professors back home. You will make leaps in your progress as a language learner, and a lot of that is in regard to the unique language pledge CET has, but it’s important to understand how much that’ll cost. As an Intermediate High Japanese (OS-LANG-261) student, I found that learning from the textbooks will prepare you with the grammar and vocabulary necessary to take your skills outside. There are 4 hours of class everyday but you will learn the most from those real conversations after classes end. This can be done with your housemates, other classmates, and random people you come across in Japan! However, this brings me back to the point that socializing is such an integral part of the academics at CET. I believe that the language pledge is the best thing this program has to offer, but don’t beat yourself up if you can’t always meet those expectations.

Another thing to note is that the environment of the classroom might be a bit too intense or intimidating because people are hot, tired from the lack of sleep, and/or naturally competitive when it comes to academics. The language pledge is not for the faint of heart because it will reveal your skill level, so if you get offended by people correcting your Japanese, judging you for your skill level, or are uncomfortable with the feeling of not understanding (lectures, conversations, everything is in Japanese only), this program is not for you.

Fun- How much fun you have in the program is heavily dependent on the connections you are able to make while you are abroad. As it is already challenging enough to get used to being "alone" in a country you are unfamiliar with, reaching out to the resources and people around you is essential and will greatly influence how you look back on this program (specifically for Summer since the curriculum is so challenging). Remember, the housemates you are living with are not obligated to be your friends and they have lives of their own! Going with someone you know from your own school might be something to consider if you are stressed about making friends or not entirely comfortable with being an independent traveler. I didn't find my friend group until much later in the program, but if I'd prioritized the social aspect of the program, I believe I would've made a lot more 大切な思い出 much sooner. I am the first person from my University to attend this program, so please take that into consideration!

Support- LOTS of support from CET staff and OGU staff too! Highly recommend visiting the i-Chat lounge if you want more opportunities to connect with OGU students that are interested in international studies. The CET staff will keep close tabs on you and your progress each step of the way which may be great for some but bad for others. When I got sick, I really appreciated them checking in and giving me updates on how it would affect my grades, what options were available for me regarding health services, and more. It was nice knowing how much they cared and how I wasn’t just another student in their program without a name.

Finances- The program is already pretty pricey but I highly recommend saving more than what you already have planned as you will be spending a lot in regards to transportation, food, and tickets to events like matsuris or USJ. Although the exchange rate is great right now, if you are adventurous like me, you’ll always find places to go especially since you know that your time is limited within those 2 and a half months. Regarding food plans, there are none provided by CET or the host school and many students found that it was easier to pay for their food rather than cooking. Plan wisely and create limits ahead of time so you aren’t feeling the effects of your poor spending habits after. Money Matters!

To review, CET in Japan is a great program if you are up for the challenge. The pace of this course will test your limits but will bring the best out of you if you are focused and willing to be open to the unique challenges your term will bring. Best of travels to you and 頑張って for whatever you choose! <3

If at all possible, go during the fall or spring semester! The summer program is absolutely packed with a year of study packed into 9 weeks. Make sure to savor your time in Japan and get the most out of your experience! During the summer program you will spend most of your time outside class studying and doing homework. If you're okay with that kind of intensive program while abroad, all the power to you! If you want more than that, go during the full semester. However, I would not recommend studying with CET during the summer.

I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this program, but I think that was best case scenario. The people you meet both international students and native students will probably be so much different than what you think! The opportunity to make close friends and have fun shared experiences is so fun and a chance that I don’t think anyone should miss out on. I was in Osaka, Japan for my program and it was just the right amount of urban and countryside for me. I like having the freedom to explore the Kansai region and there was always something new to look for and do! The people are also very kind and helpful wherever you go.

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.