CET Japan

This program was intensive, as promised. I did make a lot of progress in regards to my Japanese ability. I would recommend your Japanese be at least low/mid-intermediate, as the pace does not allow for much adapting if you fall behind. Expect to have a lot of busy work in regards to homework. Myself and fellow classmates had consistent trouble managing sleep and completing all of the homework. If you prioritize your grades, do not count on having free time to explore the area or travel. CET does a good job warning students beforehand that this isn't a vacation, but even finding time on the weekends was a challenge. I highly recommend that students with ANY type of health or mental health related issue start that dialogue as soon as possible with the staff and to already have relevant documents on hand when arriving. This was a life saver for me, the absence/tardiness policy is pretty unforgiving if you don't come prepared.

A highlight of the program were the language partners. The Japanese students were incredibly patient and accommodating. If your assigned partner isn't the most helpful, other partners will be more than happy to help so don't hesitate to engage with the other language partners.

It was a great cross-cultural experience. The students were offered great opportunities to attend awesome excursions with the program.; The staff and the local roommates were definitely supportive of the foreign students for the most part. Although the academics had proven to be rather challenging, it was definitely an effective way of learning a language in a fast pace. One thing that I would recommend on improving is the communication between the local roommates and the foreign roommates. A weekly check-up on both of them could be beneficial.

I chose this program primarily for the academic rigor, which it did provide. My Japanese language ability improved significantly over the course of the program and the materials provided by my classes was generally effective. My teachers were all excellent and I very much enjoyed going to school every day to learn the new vocabulary and grammar. In this respect, I got what I wanted from my experience at CET.

This program was challenging and some assignments felt unnecessary and superfluous to the development of my Japanese skills, but overall it was a good program. The people I met on the program, both Japanese and international, are unforgettable. The language pledge is difficult at first, but extremely helpful for developing confidence and fluidity in speaking. It is easy to default back into English, but if you try to speak in Japanese as much as you can, even if you cannot get it right, it helps. If you're looking for a program that will drastically improve your skills in Japanese this program is a good choice. Osaka is a great city for someone who wants the big city, but also someone who wants a more quiet area to live. Great food, funny and unique people, and a decent class.

The biggest thing I gained was so many friends that I am really close to. I also hugely improved my Japanese skills. This experience has opened my mind to the world (met so many people from all over the world while I was in Japan) and also made me decide to live in Japan in the future.

The program was very rigorous and we studied so much within a short time. Everyday we had quizzes and a large amount of homework (in my opinion it was a little excessive but it was in order to finish the workbook in time). We learned so much each week. It was also great how we were not allowed to be speaking English with other participants of the program. This forced us to practice all the time.

The staff members for CET were very nice and always willing to offer their support. The teachers were also encouraging and tried their best to make learning the language easy.
I lived 5 minutes away from school by train, and my place was 2 minutes away from the station (though I skateboarded most places). My roommate when I was there is one of my best friends to this day. I really miss my life in Japan!

The CET program in Osaka is, in my opinion, one of the best study abroad programs in Japan. It will NOT be the program for you, however, if your goal is to have an easy semester that allows a lot of travel and free time. It WILL be if you want to enhance your Japanese language ability and truly live like a Japanese college student. The Japanese classes are intense, often, and have a lot of work involved. The language pledge forces you to express yourself in and use Japanese every single day. Living with a Japanese roommate means that you have to communicate and learn about your roommate's style of living, and it also gives you an easy entrance into how a real Japanese college student lives. Because there are a lot of pros and cons of this program's aspects, I will break it into parts.

Japanese language classes
Pros:
- They are HARD and rightfully so. You will see your Japanese improve quickly.
- The professors are amazing, available, and encouraging.
- The class field trips made me more connected to different parts of the culture, while also using Japanese to understand them and talk about them. My favorite was probably my class's trip to Himeji-jo.
- The classes are small (at least smaller than at my home university).
- The project class was a huge turning point for me. I would have never thought that I was capable of interviewing local Japanese people, creating a presentation about a topic, and presenting it completely in Japanese.
Cons:
- The learning gaps between class levels are large. My class (200 level) was more encouraging and fun, but we also learned a lot. My friends in the 300 and 400 levels found these classes extremely hard and time-consuming, and were incredibly stressed about them.
- If you're looking for a program with good English-taught electives, I would not recommend this program. My electives were, quite simply, jokes, and did not challenge me in the way I hoped. That being said, it was fun to take a Japanese culture class while in Japan.

Living situation
Pros:
- Living with my Japanese roommate gave me a view of what it was like to be a college student in Japan.
- I was able to practice with my roommate and get help on my homework almost always.
- I made a friend that I can still connect with and talk to, even after I left.
- I lived in an apartment in Toyonaka with only my roommate, so my experience was different than the majority of students who lived in share houses. However, living in a small city on the edge of Osaka was amazing -- I was able to travel by train to anywhere and eat anything within the vicinity of my apartment.
Cons:
- Some people get closer to their roommates than others, which is frustrating.
- Some roommates don't try to hang out with the American students and are busy with their own lives.
- There are definitely cultural differences that come with living with someone from a different country.
- How you live in Osaka is strongly dependent on where you get placed. Students living in share houses had very different experiences that students living in apartments.

Excursions and Travel
Pros:
- The CET official excursions were AMAZING and things I would have never thought to do myself. Examples include: eating a vegetarian meal at a Buddhist temple, traveling to Gifu prefecture and staying in a ryokan, visiting Byodoin temple
Cons:
- There was VERY little time for travel outside of the program. We had 2 breaks during the spring semester, and one was Golden Week. I wish there had been more long weekends so that we could explore more of Japan.

Others
Pros:
- CET offered fun activities during the week that really enhanced my experience. These included: takoyaki party, karaoke party, origami making workshop, naginata demonstration, calligraphy class, etc.
- The CET staff were always available to students, especially with things like injuries/illness and emotional difficulties. Additionally, they always helped with simple Japanese living requirements like paying bills, enrolling in health insurance, etc.
- Living in Osaka means that you are close to SO many major cities. Nara, Kobe, and Kyoto are all barely 45 minutes away. Thus, it is easy to travel around the areas and visit famous places on weekends. This starkly contrasts studying abroad in Tokyo, where you need to take a bullet train or airplane to get to larger cities in other regions.
- The language pledge forced me to think in Japanese and express myself through the words I knew. This was probably the MOST important point that enhanced my language ability.
Cons:
- CET is on a normal American spring semester system, which means that Japanese students were on summer vacation for a majority of the time. Thus, there were no opportunities to participate in clubs or events on the OGU campus, and meeting other Japanese students proved exceptionally difficult.
- CET staff is strict on the language pledge. Although it was extremely beneficial, it was frustrating when you wanted to befriend other English-speaking students. Additionally, CET staff scolded Japanese students that wanted to speak English with us, which was unfortunate.

Overall, this program truly changed my thinking in terms of what I wish to do after I graduate. I loved Japan so much that I decided I wanted to steer my career goals toward living and working in Japan. If you want to learn Japanese and live in a way that is more closely aligned with how it is truly like to live in Japan (vs. living in a bubble where your only friends are other American students studying abroad), then this is the program for you.

My experience in Osaka may be different from what "foreigners" experienced because I am Japanese-American, so I look Japanese and can do conversational Japanese. I heard many stories of my international classmates being stared at by random people in the train, when walking in the streets, etc., but they got used to it and just ignored the stares. Although I can speak conversational Japanese, CET placed me in a level (4) in which I could challenge myself. I had little knowledge of kanji, so being placed in a higher level was challenging because of the amount of learning kanji (25-50 kanjis a week) and writing we had to do. The support of the teachers and staff really helped me get through the semester. The teachers are all very friendly and are willing to help the students with utmost care.

CET also provided a chance to stay at a Japanese family for a weekend in a city called Sanda, which is about an hour train ride. The experience differs from house to house, but I enjoyed my host family very much. My host mom would teach me how to cook Japanese food (okonomiyaki). and since it was almost Girl's Day (March 3), we made a traditional dish called chirashizushi. Although the trip was short, I had a memorable time with them. I am very thankful for CET for providing a chance for us to experience what it is like to live in a Japanese family.

I believe my experience at Japan changed dramatically when I joined "Nihon Buyou," which is a traditional Japanese dance class offered once a week. I got really close with the other international students who took her class and with the teacher. We were like a family. She would invite us to her house and she would teach us how to make traditional Japanese food. At the end of the program party, we would perform a dance that we have practiced throughout the semester.

If you want to travel somewhere to meet awesome people, go to Japan. The Japanese I met were some of the nicest, most considerate, most helpful people I've ever known, and that made the trip completely worth it. My roommate never hesitated to help me with my homework or show me a cool tourist destination. Some thing about Japan can be tough to figure out at first, and I would have struggled a lot had it not been for everyone going out of their way to help me. The Japanese were also always very respectful to me. I never had to deal with an angry cashier or frustrated bus driver; they were always calm and patient. Putting aside the incredible culture and super interesting language, Japanese people alone are reason enough to go to Japan.