Graduate School

Guests:

1. Ms. C.G, graduate student from China

－Hello. Congratulations for passing the entrance examination for a graduate school of a state university. I’d like to ask your advice on language learning and the circumstances regarding the examinations. First, could you tell us about your experience from the moment you arrived at Japan?

C: Hello. I am C from China. I began studying Japanese during my time as a junior college student in Shanghai. Since I was interested in the Japanese language, I watched Japanese soap operas, movies and animation. I have relatives living in Japan, so I could easily obtain information on various aspects of Japan. After graduating from college, and mailing back and forth with some Japanese companies while looking for a job, I thought studying the Japanese language could become my weapon and that’s what brings me to Japan as an international student.

－Did you immediately think about the university entrance examinations?

C: First, I entered a Japanese language school. After consulting with an agency in China, I decided to study the language first and only then take the examinations to enter a university. I studied Japanese language in Shanghai and although I passed the third level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, I thought taking lectures together with Japanese students would be difficult. Therefore, I first took a 1 year and a half Japanese language course and while I did this, I got used to life in Japan and slowly searched for the universities of my preference. I then gathered information about the entrance examinations, and was transferred to a private university as a third year student.

－Why did you decide to become a transfer student?

C: After considering time saving and my current academic level, I decided on becoming a third year transfer student.

－The university you are attending is known to be quite difficult. Isn’t it hard to transfer as a junior after studying Japanese for only a year and a half?

C: The pressure was great. The examination for transfer students was a short essay, an English written test, and there were also interviews in both English and Japanese. After being admitted, I was placed together with Japanese students in the same classes, therefore I could not keep up with the speed of professor's speech, so I struggled through the first two months. At the beginning I would take notes of everything the professors said. (laughs)

－We often hear about hardships in the first 6 months of studying abroad.

－Now, your field of study is business administration and management right?

Since my field of study is business management, I am interested in enterprise management, organization structuring, international financial affairs, and marketing tactics. If we look at it from a global point of view, in Japan there are plenty of excellent corporations, therefore I felt I wanted to study the secrets of their success and their characteristic ways of thinking.

－In other words, you firmly decided to follow a road towards your own field of interest. After graduating from the university, what type of approach did you take to proceed your studies in a graduate school? Was your professor introduced to you by anyone?

C: Before entering the university, I received a pamphlet regarding graduate students. Inside it there was an introduction to every major subject's professor. During my time as an undergraduate student, I had already attended lectures by the professor in charge of my major subject. This is why I could directly speak to my professor, get his contact address and communicate with him. I think I got lucky.

－Which aptitudes do you feel were the ones which led you to pass the graduate school entrance examinations?

C: I think it's important to have the will, a serious attitude and Chinese, Japanese and English language abilities. I made considerable preparations for the interview. The competition among undergraduate students, workers, and overseas students was tough. There were also many research students willing to proceed to graduate school. Their advantage is that during research, they get to improve their technical language.

－I hear that English language ability matters a lot, but is that really so?

C: Well, not really. Japanese language ability is very important. Lectures are imp

arted in Japanese; therefore if you cannot comprehend Japanese you cannot follow the lectures. Also, because there are textbooks written in English, English language ability is also essential. In other words,

both English and Japanese are important.

－What is the greatest difference between being an undergraduate and a graduate student?

C: The great difference is that as a graduate student, there are presentations on the content of your research topic. When speaking in front of people, it is important to facilitate understanding for everyone. I am still not used to make presentations. However, having lectures with workers and other people was a lot of fun.

－Do you have hopes and dreams for the future?

C: Before coming to Japan my desire was to be admitted to a Japanese university, go on to graduate school, acquire working experience in a Japanese corporation and then return to Shanghai to work there, but now I am thinking of founding my own company in Shanghai. I wish my field to be related to the service sector. It is still vague, but I want it to become a reality.

－I think this is a wonderful objective. Please do your best. Finally, please offer an advice to overseas students who wish to go on to graduate school.

C: It is important to carry a purpose, an objective of your own. I believe, it is not just about studying abroad and hoping you would learning something. If we have goals and objectives, we can head towards them and do an effort, right?

－Thank you very much for your valuable opinions based on your real-life experiences.