Major; Japanese Linguistics

[elan_vital]

So, I'm planning on going to Hawaii to study Japanese for two years, and then I'm going to try to get into Kansai Gaidai University to really study it.

I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about Kansai & the difficulty of getting in.

&/or how hard it REALLY is to master Japanese.

[Hater Depot]

It's pretty difficult if you don't study hard. :P

Do you want to go KG as an exchange student, which there are a lot of there, or do you want to actually matriculate?

[nskripchun]

Most students in Japan will tell that you in general private universities are easier to get into than public universities (like Tokyo U), but "easier" is a pretty relative term.

Getting into any good university in Japan is pretty rigorous, so like HD said... better study hard.

[Kuroyama]

Ive got about 10 semesters or lower and upper div classes under my belt. (4 were audits to brush up) this started around 1990... Ive had many Japanese friends since college which has allowed me to use Japanese every day without fail since maybe 3rd semester in.

Im on my 4th year of living in Japan and work for a global company here. (going on 3rd year) I just got transferred to the Tokyo area. Now instead of just working on servers I have to handle heavy email and do presentations in Japanese. No one on my team speaks English well, which means conversations in Japanese all day every day.

I have NOT mastered the language.

Heres a heads up: It is said that Japanese people living outside Japan are not the same as those living inside Japan...

Gospel.

Also a heads up, but you may already know this. If you have a foreign looking face, people will cut you more slack with mistakes. DONT TAKE IT. Study your ash off. If you look like you cound be Japanese or have Japanese relatives... once people here find out you dont speak at the native level, there might be even more pressure. So...study hard, and good luck.

[little mixed girl]

getting to a fluent level in any foreign language takes a lot of hard work, and japanese isn't any different.
my advice is to also utilize tv as a form of study.
watching the news, dramas and other tv programs will give you listening and some reading practice.

if you are looking to do study abroad through your university, it will probably be ridiculously(sp) easy to get in. they usually ask that you have a 2.0 or 2.5 GPA.

[elan_vital]

It's pretty difficult if you don't study hard. :P

Do you want to go KG as an exchange student, which there are a lot of there, or do you want to actually matriculate?

Matriculate.
I think that'd be better for getting a good job.

[elan_vital]

Ive got about 10 semesters or lower and upper div classes under my belt. (4 were audits to brush up) this started around 1990... Ive had many Japanese friends since college which has allowed me to use Japanese every day without fail since maybe 3rd semester in.

Im on my 4th year of living in Japan and work for a global company here. (going on 3rd year) I just got transferred to the Tokyo area. Now instead of just working on servers I have to handle heavy email and do presentations in Japanese. No one on my team speaks English well, which means conversations in Japanese all day every day.

I have NOT mastered the language.

Heres a heads up: It is said that Japanese people living outside Japan are not the same as those living inside Japan...

Gospel.

Also a heads up, but you may already know this. If you have a foreign looking face, people will cut you more slack with mistakes. DONT TAKE IT. Study your ash off. If you look like you cound be Japanese or have Japanese relatives... once people here find out you dont speak at the native level, there might be even more pressure. So...study hard, and good luck.

I am counting on the difficulty of Japanese. I never take the easier hand, or when people "cut me slack", it's insulting haha. Thank you though, this really was really helpful in telling me what to look forward for.


&& I'm black and white. So yeah, they probably will go easy on me. I'll be sure to ask them not to.

[elan_vital]

getting to a fluent level in any foreign language takes a lot of hard work, and japanese isn't any different.
my advice is to also utilize tv as a form of study.
watching the news, dramas and other tv programs will give you listening and some reading practice.

if you are looking to do study abroad through your university, it will probably be ridiculously(sp) easy to get in. they usually ask that you have a 2.0 or 2.5 GPA.

KG is asking for 3.0 & then I have to go through like 4 screen processes. Ugh. i hope I can find easier programs as you say.

:] thanks for your input.

[elan_vital]

Most students in Japan will tell that you in general private universities are easier to get into than public universities (like Tokyo U), but "easier" is a pretty relative term.

Getting into any good university in Japan is pretty rigorous, so like HD said... better study hard.

Oh yeah. I cringed reading what I'd have to do to get into some of the universities. :(

[Pat the Great]

ugh. japanese universities...

just, ugh. do your research first. it's not like an american university in the least.

[elan_vital]

ugh. japanese universities...

just, ugh. do your research first. it's not like an american university in the least.

haha.
i'm not going for like weeboo reasons.
i just thought it'd be better to learn the language in it's native land. easier to practice it && stuff.


& i'd rather learn japanese from like sayuri than...ashleigh.

[Pat the Great]

if your end goal is just to get really, really good at japanese, then i suppose that makes sense.

i just never saw the appeal, i guess. i'm only here for 3 more months, thankfully.

[Kuroyama]

haha.
i'm not going for like weeboo reasons.
i just thought it'd be better to learn the language in it's native land. easier to practice it && stuff.


& i'd rather learn japanese from like sayuri than...ashleigh.

EV just another word to the wise. If you plan to learn the language. Be careful about studying with girls. If you wanna date, go date. Just dont do one thinking its the other.

[elan_vital]

EV just another word to the wise. If you plan to learn the language. Be careful about studying with girls. If you wanna date, go date. Just dont do one thinking its the other.

can you elaborate what you're getting at?

[Makulita]

Hora, Kuro, elan-chan wa ONNA da yo!


Also, props for "weeaboo" :D

[Kuroyama]

EV

Im getting at the fact that Im a complete ass for operating without all the facts... Thx Mak.

Ever since I took my 1st Japanese class years ago the M.O. of non-Japanese guys was to tell Japanese girls that they wanted to learn Japanese. The goal of course was not education, but getting in pants.

Still, many guys delude themselves into thinking that having a Japanese girlfriend is the fastest surest way to better Japanese. And while I only have the classes Ive been in to go on, to a man no one that spent time dating got better grades than people who just studied. Most guys got worse grades.

So a guy learning from a girl might end up learning to speak like a girl, which is great is hes effeminate, but doesnt really jibe with the way a lot of Japanese guys talk.

[aelward]

I didn't realize that Kansai Gaidai had a Japanese degree? It is a gaidai, afterall. My wife went there, and back then, they only had Spanish and English degrees. But things could have changed...

[Hater Depot]

They definitely have Italian classes, so I assume they have a major for that now too.

[AmAznGuy]

If you look like you could be Japanese or have Japanese relatives... once people here find out you dont speak at the native level, there might be even more pressure. So...study hard, and good luck.

Damn this is so true in so many ways especially if you are Japanese but you get use to it and you study and try to live and learn. ;)

[aelward]

They definitely have Italian classes, so I assume they have a major for that now too.

That's not necessarily the case; when my wife was there, they had Chinese classes, but no Chinese major.

[Hater Depot]

You're right. I just checked and they still have just English and Spanish majors.