Intensive Japanese Course and GSEP students hold joint poster presentations for academic year 2024
International students completing their Intensive Japanese Course and students in the first year of the Global Scientists and Engineers Program (GSEP), Science Tokyo's English-language bachelor's degree program, shared their views and interests in Japanese at a joint poster presentation event on Ookayama Campus on January 16. The event was hosted by Science Tokyo's Institute for Liberal Arts.
Giving the final presentations of their respective courses at the event were fifteen international students. These included five Japanese government-sponsored students and one master's program student who had immersed themselves in Japanese language and culture five days a week for four months in the Intensive Japanese Course. Joining them were seven GSEP students who had studied similar topics twice a week for an entire year, as well as two more advanced students who wanted to improve their Japanese for admission to the Institute’s master's program, and who had studied the language prior to coming to Japan. Together, the students represented nine countries ― Thailand, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Canada, Pakistan, and France.
During the event, each student explained the content of their poster in Japanese, demonstrating the results of their hard work. Topics, which were freely chosen by the participants, ranged from the history and traditional culture of their home countries and towns to unique contemporary culture. Many Science Tokyo faculty, staff, and students dropped by to listen in, including Executive Vice President for Education Hidetoshi Sekiguchi, host faculty members, friends from the laboratory, and senior international students who had completed similar presentations in previous years. Topics covered included the following:
- Big Indian weddings
- My hometown of Chiang Rai, Thailand
- Pakistan
- Istanbul
- Ukrainian culture and traditions: Cuisine, dress, and geography
- Paris 2024 Olympic Games — How the event contributed to the city
- Unique characteristics of Thailand
- Canada — A nation of immigrants
- Modern Thai fashion
- The Komodo dragon, the pride of Indonesia
- Thai musical instruments
- Sightseeing spots in the UAE
- Strange Thai foods
- The Turkish city of Konya
- Thailand’s floating markets
Other visitors were also present. Approximately 130 fifth and sixth graders, and their teachers, from Senzokuike Elementary School joined the event. Science Tokyo's international students had visited the school recently to deepen international exchanges, and the youngsters happily returned the favor. Four members of the Kanagawa Systematized Goodwill Guide Club (KSGG), a volunteer group that guided the international students around the historical city of Kamakura as part of the Intensive Japanese Course, were also present.
During the event, Sekiguchi welcomed the elementary school students and offered words of encouragement to the international students. Principal Satoshi Ito and a student representative of Senzokuike Elementary School also spoke to express their appreciation for the invitation and impressions of the presentations.
Comments from participating international students
- I was so happy to see the guests being excited to view our work.
- Great experience presenting with a small group of people.
- It was a nice event. One particular thing I will remember is the students playing the rock-paper-scissors game to decide who would answer my question. It was so cute.
- The presentation was a great experience. It helped us to speak Japanese at the level we had learned to date. I enjoyed it. I had such a great time!
- Even though my presentation was a bit long, the kids were trying to stay interested and asked some questions. During the second presentation, I did try to create more interactions by also asking questions and making a small quiz in the middle of the presentation. It was fun!
Science Tokyo’s Intensive Japanese Courses
Science Tokyo's Intensive Japanese Courses, held twice a year, are aimed mainly at Japanese government-sponsored international students looking to progress to graduate-level studies. Other students are also invited to join if capacity allows.
These courses aim to develop Japanese proficiency among beginner-level students who have just arrived in Japan. By the end of the course, each international student will have acquired sufficient language skills to make an oral presentation in basic Japanese. ILA's Japanese Section functions as "a hub for meeting and learning" for students from different cultural backgrounds, and a safe place where international students can exchange information about life in Japan.
Encounters with Japanese culture and people are important components of the courses. International students visit places such as Kamakura City, art museums in the metropolitan area, and Sona Area Tokyo, an experienced-based learning facility for disaster prevention. Intensive Japanese Course students also conduct active exchanges with elementary school students in Tokyo's Ota City.
Global Scientists and Engineers Program (GSEP)
GSEP is an international, four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree program offered by the Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering. It allows qualified international students with little or no proficiency in the Japanese language to pursue an engineering degree at Science Tokyo as all required components are taught in English.
The Japanese language course for first-year GSEP students, designed for those with beginner-level Japanese ability or no prior experience in studying the language, aims to develop a certain level of proficiency among students. The course focuses on speaking and listening to boost communicative competence so that students attain an understanding of basic Japanese used in daily life.
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Contact
Japanese Section, Institute for Liberal Arts (ILA)
Email intensive-contact@js.ila.titech.ac.jp