Guide Study Abroad Student W who applied for graduate school (preparatory course of monks) passed the Kyushu University monk last month. The following is W's personal study experience. I hope to give a reference to students who are majoring in Japanese language and who plan to study for graduate school in Japan.
1. The bumpy road to study
I chose a Japanese major after graduating from high school. My initial idea was to study in Japan. But this road was not so smooth.
I graduated from university in June 2021, and after finishing N1 in 2019 (I felt that there were still many opportunities at the time, so I was not prepared to take the naked exam directly, and I overestimated myself and failed the 91 points). After the outbreak of the epidemic, it was difficult to get a seat in the Japanese proficiency test. I didn’t expect that that time would become my last chance to take the exam.
So after that, N1 was not taken, I considered J-TEST to use Japanese and achieved a grade B score. After that, I finally got N2 and got 168 points. However, most Japanese schools pay great attention to whether they have N1 scores, so the application road afterwards was very bumpy.
At first, the teacher in the study abroad program applied for me to be a graduate student in sociology at Kanazawa University, but the final interview result informed me that I was not qualified. After
, I applied for an interview for sociology at Tsukuba University. As a result, a professor from Tsukuba University came up and told me to teach in English (I was very disgusted with English, so I didn’t take TOEFL 4 or TOEFL 4. After passing the second CET 4, I didn’t take a CET 6.) So Tsukuba was not interested in me, and then I applied for an interview for education at Okayama University, but the interview failed.
once wondered if his ability was really not good, and he really had no chance to study abroad.
About a year after graduation, during which I tried to apply to a Japanese school while preparing for the domestic postgraduate entrance examination. In the end, the Japanese translation scored about 380 points but failed to win the domestic postgraduate student. Almost at the same time, good news came from Japan, and the interview at Okayama University and the graduate (preparatory) at Kyushu University were both qualified within one month! I decided to study abroad at Kyushu University.
2. Study and life as a graduate student at Kyushu University under the epidemic
was originally admitted as a student in April 222, but due to the epidemic, I studied in China for a period of time. The teacher guided me to apply for the N1 exam in July in Japan, and thanks to this exam, I passed the N1 exam (the teacher will ask you about your Japanese language ability during the monk exam interview). Thank you to Teacher Zhang for your guidance.
In China, you only need to attend the research meeting of the laboratory (ゼミ) every Wednesday afternoon. I thought it would be enough to just listen to it, but the teacher said that in order to exercise Japanese, the graduate students also published it, so the first time I published it in China (super nervous).
came to Japan in June 22 because of the epidemic and started studying in Japan. I initially applied for a school dormitory (the dormitory is really cheap. If you can apply, it is recommended that you apply for it for a few months). When I went there, I was told that I could only live for 3 months (it is logical that I can live for half a year). After
, I started preparing for the monk exam (around August 20th). In the past two months, I have been studying. Our laboratory needs to take three subjects and does not require English scores, but we must take English (English Day). Even if you get TOEIC , you have to take this exam. Although you can check the dictionary during the exam, it doesn’t take long for you to check it, so the accumulation of English words is very important. There are two professional courses, mainly memorizing a lot of content.
Because I often go to the laboratory, I soon met the seniors (Chinese) in the laboratory. They were very enthusiastic and gave me a lot of review materials and help. Therefore, it is recommended that if you have the opportunity, you can go to the laboratory as much as possible, you can meet seniors, or meet Japanese seniors to ask them to practice speaking.
Because I can only live in the dormitory for three months, I started contacting the real estate agency (Japanese) to help me find a house. Because I don’t like to share a house with strangers, I found a house where I live (it’s much more expensive than sharing a house).
After moving home in early August, then take the monk exam around August 20th. The written test can only be done by myself. For the interview, I signed up for the interview course to guide the way abroad. The teacher helped me make a wish and helped me practice the interview. The interview mainly requires understanding the questions asked by the teachers. If you can understand and express what you want to express, it’s okay to be stumbling, but you’re the only thing you dare to say is that you’re fine. Finally, I'm qualified! I would like to thank all the teachers who guided me again for their guidance and help!
Some foods from the nine major canteens:
My dormitory: move in with your bag and stay alone. らし
Rice sent by the school
(the school will occasionally send some food for you) I will catch up with the rice this time~
3. Suggestions for friends who plan to study abroad in Japan
Whether you are a Japanese major or self-study Japanese or enroll in a class, try to get out of N1 and N2 as early as possible to practice good listening skills. Try not to throw away English, because even if you can’t use it when applying for school and work in Japan in the future, the company will require you to have tutorial grades. Don’t be discouraged if you fail the interview. I have interviewed many times, but in the end I was admitted to a good school. Treat each interview as a valuable opportunity to practice. Even if the school doesn’t want you, you can gain valuable experience and lessons.
If you can go to Japan, as a graduate student, you will be more positive and go to the laboratory more. You can try to participate in some activities, part-time jobs and other things to train your speaking. When completing various procedures, it is recommended to go and exercise your listening and speaking yourself.
Finally, I wish you all success in your studies and smooth sailing!
It is a coincidence that the guide to study abroad is very close to our school. The first time I heard from my seniors, it was an institution that specializes in studying in Japan. Therefore, studying in Japan is more professional and reliable than those familiar large companies. And not only helps apply to schools, but also helps with guidance on the research plan. Then I went to the on-site visit. Teacher Zhang was very kind and explained very clearly, very good.
The most important thing about
is that the payment written in the contract is separate. After completing one stage, paying part of the fee, and then paying the next part of the fee, which is very safe. Thank you again for your guidance and help from all the teachers who guided me!
Finally, some photos I took casually:
