Going to Japan as an exchange student in college.

[teal nexus]

Well I’m not totally sure if this has been asked before and is totally not related to refold but I just feel like asking.

Anyone here is or has been an exchange student in Japan? What about the financing, work, process and learning Japanese?
I’m asking for I have been studying abroad for 9 years and that has improved my English exponentially, so I thought taking a similar approach to Japanese due to me wanting to experience Japan as a whole and still study and learn the language. Therefore I thought why not going as an exchange student in 3 years time. (I’m going to start official BME college in 2 to 3 years so)

[drifting marten]

I have no been an exchange student, but I had friends who have and I lived in Japan on and off for 7 years. I had a very unconventional experience and method for doing this, so some things I just may not be able to help with but what questions did you have specifically?

[teal nexus]

@drifting marten sorry for not responding but I was a bit busy. Was is the general consensus to go and study there? How can I support myself financially over there?

[drifting marten]

If you can swing it, I would highly recommend it. However, IMO, it's best to go when you have a bit of a foundation in the language. At least a year (stage 2C or so). To get the most out of it. If it was me I would wait till stage 3, but everybody's different

I'm pretty sure there are student visas that let you get a part time job while you are there, but evrerybody I know had financing squared away and did not work while they were there.

I was a freelance writer when I lived there, so I didnt have to worry about work so sadly I cant help much in that sense.

[teal nexus]

I see. I might look into the mext scholarship to see about that but I’d like to work to do I save up some money while I’m there when I return to the US

I think I might start in the US until I get a decent amount of Jp

While I did drop it since I started studying in August now with this possible opportunity I might study harder

Basically to get to Japanese fast is to do everything in JP right?

[nova cradle]

More than doing everything in Japanese is about doing the things that you actually feel that are working for you in terms of study and inmmersion, there are specific activities that are recommended, but I personally feel that is always better to go in a pase that won't make you want to quit in a few months.

[drifting marten]

Kind of, but you need to make it sustainable. the more exposure you get to the lnaguage the better. The more quality that exposure is the better. But some activities just arent worth doing in the other language early on because it is to training on your mental strength

so like I would never attempt to do my taxes in Japanese just to get more exposure. and I'm not a huge fan of things like "change ur phone in the language early on" etc

because these things just interfere with my daily life too much to be worth it which drains me and makes much higher-quality immersion less effective