Improving our research skills

When we first arrived at the Japan Foundation's Kansai Language Institute, we thought that it would be difficult to improve both our Japanese and research skills in just 8 months. However, thanks to the Japanese language classes we took everyday and the conversations and consultations we had with our teachers, our skills rapidly improved. We knew from the outset that making an individual effort everyday was important, so we always spoke Japanese amongst ourselves and our self-confidence grew as we got to know each other better.

In terms of the curriculum, it was hard in the beginning to find enough time of our own to review and practice, but subjects like Grammar, Kanji, Oral Presentation, Interview, Formal Japanese, and Discussion were very helpful for our own research. We discovered very early our true skills and shortcomings in these subjects and for that reason were sometimes downhearted or insecure, but we did not give up and we all did our best to succeed.

In the classroom, we were placed in small groups and so were able to study intensely without any problems, but we couldn’t escape from answering questions and doing practice exercises! Still, it was enjoyable to study together with good friends, sharing our difficulties with learning Japanese as well as the funny side of learning a foreign language. Together with our tutors, we talked about how best to conduct our research, and received valuable advice during our individual consultations. All of our teachers worked very hard to help us, especially when it came time for us to write our reports and prepare our oral presentations. They read our drafts and corrected them many times, and were always there for us whenever we needed help.

However, the life of our group wasn’t all study and research. Over the course of the eight months, Tajiri-cho and Rinku Town became our personal universe. We took a lot of photos of memorable moments, and everyday took walks through the town, and little by little in that small place that at first seemed empty, we found beauty.

Learning about Japan

While at the Institute, we had the chances to experience various aspects of Japanese traditional culture. Through experiences like the tea ceremony, making ikebana, practicing shodo, seeing a sumo basho, wearing kimono and making traditional sweets, we discovered for ourselves the feel of the culture of this country. At times we were so busy with our research that even though we wanted to participate in every activity offered, it was not possible, but in spite of this we experienced all kinds of cultural activities that an ordinary tourist could not. Sometimes we experienced “culture shock”, but all in all we had an experience that left us with everlasting memories.

During these eight months, we visited so many beautiful places. From the time we arrived in Japan, we traveled to Kyoto and Nara, and took in their immortal landscapes, to beautiful Hiroshima with its delicious seafood, we made ‘washi’ and picked strawberries in Wakayama, and visited many interesting neighborhoods in Osaka. We definitely saw many sides of the exquisite beauty of Japan during this eight month course.

It’s not about studying all the time

It goes without saying that this was not a full time study program, and we had time to travel on our own. We traveled to nearby Kobe, or to even further places on the weekend or during holidays, or we went out in Osaka, and ate delicious Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki (and sometimes, not so traditional foods like hamburgers or pasta). All the while we used this time to speak with Japanese people on a personal level and improve our real-life communication skills.

We had great time with the people of Tajiri; going to izakaya or karaoke, and spending a relaxing time together. Outside of class, life at the Institute was really fun! For instance if you wanted to sing karaoke at any time of the day or night you could do so just by reserving the 24 hour karaoke room. For those of us who liked sports, we had our choice of tennis, badminton, volleyball or table tennis, and we could use the gym in the Institute any time we liked. From time to time we also cooked for each other and threw birthday parties, or just spent time together hanging out.

Whenever we wanted to just take a walk, we went out to Rinku Town and Tajiri. For going shopping, we went to SEACLE, AEON or to the Rinku Premium Outlets, when we wanted to cook we did our shopping at the 24 hour Max Value supermarket, and if we wanted to buy movies, music or books, we went to BOOK-OFF. We spent so much time in these shops that we can still remember every advertising jingle they played in the stores!

Let’s carry on our research!

One of the most important goals of this program was to enable us to successfully carry out our research. To that end, we spent a lot of time in the library of the Institute: here we found many interesting books related to our specialties, be it Japanese pop culture, art, business, architecture, philosophy, or religion. When reading Japanese proved to be too difficult, there were many books available in English, Spanish, Italian, Korean or Chinese so we could read books, magazines or newspapers in our own language.

Every week, we had consultation time with our advisors. That time was not only to confirm that we were using our time wisely, but also to talk about our own research and receive useful advice about which books we should read, and which teachers and experts in the Kansai area we should contact.

We also had the opportunities to travel to many different places in Japan for our research. During the two Intensive Research Periods in January and April, some of us traveled to Tokyo and Sendai, while others went to Kyoto, Nara and even as far as Hokkaido! We used this time to meet some of the experts on our specialty, and to network and build important relationships for our future. We all learned a great deal from that research experience, gathered valuable research materials and had many interesting discussions with experts in our fields.

Each time we traveled we had to fill out expense and travel reports before and after each trip and we all thought that they were a real hassle, but in the end they proved necessary in order to confirm our appointments and to prepare adequately for our research. Our teachers helped us so much to fulfill our planning and schedule deadlines, and of course, we are continuing to work hard even now to be great researchers in the future.

We learned from each other!

We will always remember what a fantastic group dynamic we had. It was not just because we were from so many different countries, but because of the communication we shared across national boundaries. We always spoke to each other in Japanese (our only common language!), and we had many funny discussions about various Japanese topics. Whether in class or during meals in the cafeteria, we happily laughed together, and talked about the things that astonished or amused us that day. While we carried out our individual research we took care of one another, and talked about books or magazines that might be interesting to each other. Through this camaraderie, we really felt that we were in a tight-knit group of researchers.

These eight months have been an experience that we can hardly forget. We will all nurture these friendships into the future, not forgetting all that we learnt and experienced together. If we continue working as hard as we did at the Kansai Japanese-Language Institute, we will surely be great researchers in the near future.