JAPN 420: Maximizing Study Abroad
Your study abroad experience is potentially a rich opportunity for you to enhance your language skills and deepen your understanding of other cultures, people and their practices. This course provides the resources to help you prepare for your study abroad experiences. This course is taught in English.
Towards MLO 5
Reflective Narrative
Maximizing Study Abroad prepared us for our study abroad experience. It fulfilled MLO 5 by teaching appropriate intercultural communication skills and what to expect when studying abroad so that we could better appreciate and make use of our experience. The course also guided us through the application process to our varying Universities so we could actually make it to Japan. During this class, not only did I complete my application to Okayama University in Japan, I began this portfolio and my study abroad blog.
The most useful thing I learned in this class was the stages of culture shock. It was really helpful to know what to expect when I was abroad. I could recognize I was in the honeymoon period at the beginning, and was prepared for any negative feelings that followed. Though I personally did not experience culture shock badly at all, I think that was at least in part because I was prepared for it and prepared to be flexible. The class also prepared us for any potential differences in making friends, which was also useful.
The goal at the time was to study abroad successfully, which I have more or less completed. In the future, I would like to return to Japan in the JET program to continue honing my intercultural and Japanese skills. To this end, I would like to continue to learn more about intercultural communication.
The most useful thing I learned in this class was the stages of culture shock. It was really helpful to know what to expect when I was abroad. I could recognize I was in the honeymoon period at the beginning, and was prepared for any negative feelings that followed. Though I personally did not experience culture shock badly at all, I think that was at least in part because I was prepared for it and prepared to be flexible. The class also prepared us for any potential differences in making friends, which was also useful.
The goal at the time was to study abroad successfully, which I have more or less completed. In the future, I would like to return to Japan in the JET program to continue honing my intercultural and Japanese skills. To this end, I would like to continue to learn more about intercultural communication.