Untitled - Tohoku University

1
目次
はじめに…………………………………………………………………………………… 3~4
研修日程…………………………………………………………………………………… 5
参加メンバー……………………………………………………………………………… 6
参加学生感想文…………………………………………………………………………… 7~35
PHOTOS………………………………………………………………………………….. 36~38
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はじめに
1.プログラムの趣旨
語学力だけでなく、コミュニケーション能力やチャレンジ精神、積極性、行動力を身に
つけること、また学内で身につけた専門性をもとにそれまでの学習成果を確認し、課題を
見つける。
現地研修をより充実させ、目標を達成するために出発前に学内で実施する研修に参加し、
異文化適応力や危機管理について学ぶ。帰国後は、報告会に参加することによって、研修
成果を学業生活にどのように生かしていくのかについて参加者とともに考える機会をもつ。
2.プログラムの特徴
クラスは１７のレベルに分かれており、自身のレベルにあったクラスで英語の４スキルを
集中して学ぶ。クラスには多国籍に学生が集まっていることから、授業中、授業後の課外
活動を通じて国際交流する機会がある。プログラムには、多国籍の学生と一緒に参加する
フィールドトリップがある。滞在は、ひと家族日本人一名の割合でホームステイにはいり、
生活する中で自身の英語力を試し、イギリス文化に触れることができる。Student Union 企
画の課外活動が予定されており、シェフィールド大学の学生とも交流できる。
3.プログラムの概要
Sheffield 研修
研修期間
H26 年
3 月 1 日～30 日
参加者数
14 名
参加費用
30 万円程度
単位
2 単位
滞在先
Sheffield でホームステイ
旅行形態
団体で渡航
語学要件
TOEFL ITP 500以上、国際交流経験のある学生
4.学んだこと
○英語、授業
スピーキングに主眼が置かれており、日本人特有の文法、リーディングができるが話せ
ないという弱点に焦点があったため、毎日英語を話すことにより短い期間ながらも英語を
話す事への抵抗をある程度なくすことができた。ただ、ネイティブ同士の会話になると話
についていくのに精一杯であったりし、まだまだ足りないものを感じた。
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○ホームステイ
直接生活の中に入らせていただいたことで、文化の違いを肌で感じることができた。ま
た、こちらのペースに合わせて会話ができたので何か疑問があればすぐに質問でき、毎日
の会話から多くの情報を得る事ができた。
○課外活動
日本語専攻の学生と仲良くなれたことはとても良い経験であった。彼らは毎日日本語に
触れ、授業もほとんど日本語で行われるため、2-3 年しか日本語を勉強していないのに流暢
な日本語を話す人がたくさんいた。なので、どのように外国語を勉強すればいいのかとて
も参考になった。
また、多くの留学生と話す機会が何度もあり、それらを通して英語での会話に慣れてい
っただけでなくいろいろな国•地域の価値観や考え方というものを知る事もできた。
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研修日程
5
参加メンバー
No
氏名
学部
学年
1
内山 愛理
歯学部
4
2
池上 沙穂
農学部
3
3
冨田 翔子
理学部
3
4
市村 友哉
工学部
3
5
澤村 昌幸
工学部
3
6
加島 遼平
経済学部
2
7
深井 祐希
経済学部
2
8
加藤 秀平
文学部
2
9
石川 瑠奈
医学部
2
10
永井 惇
工学部
2
11
森山 純
農学部
1
12
三浦 萌実
文学部
1
13
池田 正俊
医学部
1
14
蓼沼 阿由子
教育学部
1
6
参加学生感想文
7
As A Leader, As A Leaner
Airi Uchiyama
1.
Essential Experience in England
It was leadership that the most important things of which required to me at most and I learned at the same
time, because I was a ‘Leader’ in this program, and I learned a large amount of things not only what
necessary for leader but also had important experiences through this program. I believe that people
without any experience of a leader oversee cannot understand importance of it.
Firstly, I learned two essential things below required to leadership from one incidence. One is that
leader sometimes must have responsibility to the future courses of events of all students in your group.
The other is that if you wanted to make their future bright, you have to have flexibility and ability to make
a quick and appropriate decision; otherwise all students in your group would lose some chance and start
not to place confidence in your behaviour. Let me describe a bit of a lot of my experiences. Before flight
from Japan, I’d considered a lot about this program; how I can make good atmosphere, how I can do to
have all of the students in this program to be satisfied as possible. And I decided to try to achieve two
things below; to decide to make decision justly as possible, and to be kind for everyone equally more than
usual. No sooner had we started classes in ELTC in University of Sheffield than the first problem
occurred to us. We made slides using power point and presentations about Tohoku University, lives of
university students in Japan, and Japanese culture, and nobody believed that our presentations had had to
be within five minutes per a group. I was so astonished and confused; ‘What should I do? What can I do
to make presentation within five minutes? I made presentation and arranged it staying up all night the day
before the flight from Japan, having thought that our presentation must be twenty minutes. I should have
made presentation with flexibility.’ And of course at the same time I thought the chance to give
presentation with fairness. ‘If only one group gave the presentation, it must be unfair! But what if I forced
all thirteen students to make it shorter? I have to force them. Both of them are what I don’t want to do
definitely.’ Although I thought that our efforts to give presentations were going to be waste of time. So I
asked them, and we resulted in losing the chance to give presentations. What decided us not to give
presentation at most was the atmosphere in the Conversation Club, which was held at the OASIS in ELTC
after classes, and also which was the place not to listen someone giving presentation but to enjoy just
‘Conversation.’ I still have been regretting not to had been able to get chance to give presentation, but it
was impossible for me then to come up with any idea immediately to get it with English mode in my
brain at that time. And for a while after that incidence, I couldn’t answer instantly when I was asked from
students in the same program.
Secondly, I learned it important to throw away the sense of feeling atmosphere and state what you want
to say clearly if it might strike home and to get as many friends as possible to cooperate during your stay
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overseas, as a leader. This kind of sense is specific for Japanese, and sometimes has pleasant effect in
Japanese culture, though it has no more than bad influences on them in foreign countries. For example, I
really regret not having recommended them speak in English when they speak with Japanese friends.
Since having finished SAP last autumn, I have been thinking that one of the best ways to help you
improve English speaking skills is to chat with your Japanese friend not in Japanese but in English. Also
the Japanese is one of the minor languages, so speaking Japanese in England would make English people
around you uncomfortable. Especially, in the ELTC, where people from different countries study in the
same classes, you should speak in English at any circumstances. That is why I suggested that you speak in
English even if the listener were Japanese. But it required a lot of effort, because students from other
university were speaking in their own mother tongue. At first, I was trying to make atmosphere which
make you to speak in English controlling this special characteristic of Japanese, but I failed because of
lack of help and because I could not make them do it. If only I had won it, I would have been able to
improve English more fluently and accurately. I should have get helps from much more people, because
this SAP was vital and last chance for me to improve English skills.
Thirdly, I believe what is important at the most is that everyone enjoys the program. As I’ve mentioned,
I really struggled at those points, but I could see everyone’s lovely smiling faces, without any horrible
accidents and tragedies. This point is important the most, because every student remains incidents in this
program as one of the most important, unforgettable memories. I wish it is sweet one for every student.
Finally, let me summarize my opinion about what is the most important among my experiences in SAP.
It definitely was leadership and I’d divided it into four points; responsibilities, some abilities such as
flexibilities, throwing away Japanese ‘sense’ and make participants enjoy this programs.
2.Relationship between This Program and The Hospital
How can I use what I learned? I can do many things using a large amount of knowledge and experience
I got in this program. No one is perfect. I might not be good at being a leader. But I can be a good leader
now, and I believe that I can make the most use of it when I become a dentist or an anaesthesiologist in
the future, because cooperation and leadership is essential for health care staff. Not only leadership, but
actually I learned cultures, languages and characteristics in England, and I noticed that people speak in
almost the same language in the UK and in the US, but everything was different. So I think I can be more
acceptable for foreigners who can speak English, and work together as one of health care staffs.
Unfortunately it seems to be difficult to work as a dentist in England for me, but now I know what is
important and necessary to be a leader, I believe that I will be able to have opinion for a leader or against,
knowing a position of a leader.
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SAP Spring 2014 in Sheffield
Saho IKEGAMI
1.
Visiting UK where I have longed to go
What I have known about UK before I visited there? Bad weather, tasteless food, tea imported from
India, red double-decker buses in London and Harry Potter. I had nothing more or less; moreover I knew
almost nothing about Sheffield, the city where I have stayed for 4 weeks. The simple reason that made me
to apply for this program was my strong admiration for the country, UK itself. I was eager to visit there,
but Europe was too far to travel individually so that I leaped at this chance. However, because SAP was
the program for study; not only for sight-seeing, I had to learn more about UK and Sheffield before my
departure. Then, after preparing and visiting there actually I found that my image of England was the
so-called stereotype.
Erin, my tutor and teacher at English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC), said that people in England
had very gentle and quiet personality so that they tended not to express their complaint or opinion directly.
It is difficult for them to do so, and they try to use indirect expression to talk. Hearing that, I felt
something like sympathy with British people in my mind. Their personality is partly common to ours,
isn’t it? Actually most of students I met at the university were always calm and quiet, and so were my
host parents. Sometimes, that made us silent in pauses of our conversation, however those intervals
seemed not uneasy but quite natural for me. Generally, it is said that Japanese people are more serious,
quiet and shy than those who are from other countries; furthermore, even these are defects in Japanese’
character. Yet, I think that being shy or quiet is neither peculiar nor weakness, because I enjoyed my stay
with my friends in England and was happy to be treated kindly. With this experience, now I don’t feel
inferior about being shy when I meet someone new and talk to him.
Other interesting differences between my image and actuality were about food and weather in England.
Before I left Japan, many have said to me that it was always rainy or cloudy in England, or British
cuisines were unappetizing. So, I haven’t expected too much of these two, and the reality made me
surprised. During our 4-week stay, it rained only few times and hardly last long when it did. As for food, I
could enjoy eating meals everyday although it took a few days to get used to different eating habit. I
guess one reason that many people think British cuisines are not tasty is limited food material. I might
have far more than enough green peas and less green vegetables in this March. However, I repeat it again,
it didn’t taste bad. How important it is to see whether the story someone told me is true or not for oneself;
that is one lesson that I learned in Sheffield.
2.
After coming back to Japan
Now, I came back to Japan and to the reality of my usual life in university. I will be a fourth-year
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student and must write a graduation thesis as well. It seems slightly boring for me after experiencing the
life in Sheffield, however I learned that it depends on myself that whether my life would be exciting or
tedious. If I spend my days without any goal or enthusiasm, it can easily be dull even in UK. Actually, I
felt less sense of fulfilment when I gave up to grapple with my task in the class or to do my best while
talking with others in English. Just visiting or staying in England is not my goal, though one of my
dream; being to UK was eventually realized. I need to continue making effort to improve my English
skills to make my final dream come true. So in here, I would like to emphasize that the object of my life
is to be a person who represents Japan in my special field; agricultural economics. Until the day I achieve
that, I will never forget the memory of this March. I always remember the experiences of one trial and
error after another to encourage myself.
Thinking of my near future, from July in this year my new, completely new life as an exchange student
would start in Sydney. I have considered this stay in Sheffield as a prelude to that. I met many students
who stayed in Sheffield as exchange students and talked with them. They all told me that it was not easy
to get used to live in foreign country and manage their study well, but they were happy to have chance to
challenge it and I might be able to enjoy studying abroad as well. Then, now I am quietly but also
certainly more confident than ever of being in foreign country or communicating with people from other
countries. It is a matter of course that studying abroad should be a series of failure and difficulties. It can
be about language, communication, lecture, or life style. Yet I am sure that even in such situation, I would
not be shocked or depressed so much. The reason is that; because I know really well no one can avoid
facing such difficulty. I am not being pessimistic but just having both high ideal and readiness in my mind,
and I suppose that this thought would be a great help for me in the second half of this year.
In closing, I would like to appreciate having such an invaluable chance to go abroad and study. Also, I
feel like praising myself who decide to join this study abroad program as well. What I can do as a
returned favour is to continue studying harder and challenging. So, I promise to keep making effort to
study. Thank you so much everyone in Tohoku University, the University of Sheffield, ELTC and
Sheffield.
11
My Precious Time in Sheffield
Shoko Tomita
1.Introduction
Four-week stay in Sheffield was precious time in my life. Experiences in Sheffield brought me a lot of
things. Some made me strong and brave enough. Some changed my thoughts. Each of them including
difficulties has affected me a lot. In this report, I'd like to write four impressive things: international
exchanges, experiences with my host mother, food in the UK and finally my future.
2.International exchanges
During my stay, I had a plenty of time to communicate with people from other countries. I could
exchange opinions with my classmates or know what was happening in other countries through the
classes. Three times a week after school, I participated in conversation club and talked with people not
only from the UK but also from China, Malaysia, Korea, and lots of other countries. Through those
international exchanges, I really realized that it was quite important not to classify people into nationality
or some kinds of group. I’d had some images of each nationality. However, I realized those stereotypes
would narrow my view. I believe that if I see other people as an each person, not classifying them into
categories, I can accept what they are telling me as it is. I’m sure that it can broaden my view. In the
future, I’d like to make friends with people from various countries. Whenever I meet people for the first
time, I’d like to see them as an each person without any stereotype.
3.Communication with my host mother
While I spent time in my host mother’s house, I sometimes felt nervous because I couldn’t communicate
with her well. It was just after my arrival in her house. She told me some rules during my stay. One of
them was that I had to take a bath as early as possible at night in order to dry the bathroom and not to
make a noise. However, on that day, we arrived at home a little late around 8:30pm. I intended to ask her
if I could take a bath that night or if I should do the next morning. However, my English was maybe
wrong. She realized that I would do the next morning. I couldn’t notice the misunderstanding until after I
got out of the bath. She was very displeased with my action. I apologized to her that I couldn’t tell my
idea correctly. It was the first day so I was really worried whether I could build relationship with her well
after that. However, the next morning, she said, “Good morning.” It seemed to me that she didn’t care
about it anymore. There were some other misunderstanding caused by a lack of communication but each
of them hasn’t affected our relationship. We laughed together when watching some funny videos. She
taught me a lot of English. I really thank her for everything she has given me.
4.Food Culture in the UK
It was the first time for me to visit the UK. Before my departure, I had heard that food in the UK was
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not so good. They often have Fish & Chips and aren’t interested in eating. However, my stereotype was
changed after I stayed there. In Sheffield, there were many kinds of restaurants, for example British,
Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and so on. It seems to me that people in the UK have taken in various food
cultures in other countries. Some people love Fish & Chips but some prefer to have foreign food. My host
mother, who was from Malaysia but live in the UK for thirty years, cooked Asian food for me many times.
One of my friends who studies Japanese in the university often makes “obento”, Japanese lunch box.
While enjoying food from other countries, people in the UK really cherish traditional British culture,
afternoon tea. My host mother was also one of them and she prepared tea and biscuit for me when I came
back from school. In my opinion, they widely accept various food cultures from foreign countries with
keeping their traditions
5.After my stay in the UK
Only one month stay in Sheffield was not enough but I could experience countless things there, which
have affected me a lot. Whenever I met new things, I used to feel scared and unconfident because I
couldn’t imagine what would happen. At the beginning of my stay in Sheffield, everything was new so I
was quite nervous. I had to go to the University all by myself. On the first day of school I was really
worried whether I could get there alone because of my poor sense of direction. I had some other
difficulties but after overcoming each of them by my effort, I could gain my self-confidence. Many
challenges in the UK made me brave enough.
My major is physics and I’m interested in the start of the universe. One of my dreams is discussing it
with the physicists around the world. However I didn’t have enough confidence to tell my opinion in
public. Also my English was too poor to discuss physics. That’s why I applied for this studying abroad
program. I wanted to change myself. One month stay was too short to improve my English dramatically
but I could remove obstacles to speak in English. Now I’m willing to use English. I’ve got lots of chances
from this stay. I could make some friends in Sheffield. Communicating with them is a great practice to
improve my English so I will keep in touch with them. Also I’d like to participate in international
exchange events in Tohoku University and find more opportunities to speak in English. I believe
continuing to practice English is necessary to make my English skill better. Even if my stay in the UK is
over, my effort to improve my English will never end. I will continue to study English to make my dream
come true.
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Trough Studying Abroad Program in Sheffield
Tomoya Ichimura
1.Classes in ELTC
I expected this program would be a very good program in terms of studying English because our classes
in Sheffield are consisted of students from various countries. And actually what I expected was realized.
We had 4 students from Tohoku University, 2 or 3 from other Japanese universities, 4 Chinese, and a
Korean. Our classes went without any Japanese. We took a placement test to be assigned to proper level
class.
My classes in the morning were focused on talking, discussion, speech. Sometimes we used textbook.
Through these classes I got used to discuss. Our teachers and classmates taught us how to discuss.
Discussion forced us to talk a lot so I think this is very good way to practice to talk fluently and
reasonably. Also, we were required to suggest our opinions without being asked and it made us more
aggressive for the classes. In the later days of this program, I came to suggest my opinions spontaneously.
Sometimes topics in the classes were about Britain and they were interesting and good for understanding
British English. All tasks required to work in a small group so I found it easy to make friends and to talk a
lot. But sometimes I couldn’t understand why I should have done those studies like reading because I
thought it was easier and clearer to do by myself. We had 2 classes in the morning. Doing everything in
English was more tough than expected and I was exhausted in the end of the second period. The classes in
the afternoon were called Social English, and we had some discussion, games, and role playing. In the
early half month, there were only Japanese students in the class, but during the rest of the month, we had
some Korean students. In this class it was important to speak a lot like the morning classes.
I realized that intelligence and English skill are irrelevant and we should not study abroad just to study
English. I can study English in Japan but I can’t study my main subject engineering good enough in other
countries because of the wall of language. If I understand English and foundation of engineering good
enough, I want to study abroad. But I lack both of them. So I decided to study engineering in Tohoku
University.
2.Communication except the classes
Mainly we had 3 chances to join conversation club in a week. We had Conversation Club on Tuesdays,
Japanese Society’s tandem on Wednesdays, and One World Café on Thursdays. And a society “Give It a
Go” suggests variety of wonderful events.
On Tuesdays, Conversation Club is held in Oasis Café in ELTC. So we could talk with those who study
English like us but I felt other students spoke English more fluently than us. We could talk with students
in Sheffield University as well. So there were many nationalities in the club.
On Wednesdays, Japanese Society has tandem at a pub called Common Room near the university. All
members in the society study Japanese and required to study in Japan for a year. Some of them can speak
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Japanese fluently. Also, they are interested in Japanese culture and talking with Japanese students. So it
was easy to talk. And luckily they took us some pubs after the tandem.
On Thursdays, we had One World Café in the Student’s Union in the main campus. As its name suggests,
there are various nationalities. They have some events occasionally. One I participated in was Go East. It
focused on languages in Asian countries. Students from each country taught other students their language.
I studied Korean there.
What I found very nice were events from “Give It a Go.” They held a lot of events for example dancing,
bouldering, foreign cultures, and trips. I took part in Chocolate Tasting and we went to a chocolate shop.
Two exchange students from Japan happened to be there. But I guess there would be mostly non-Japanese
students in the events. We could enjoy the events and made some friends there. In this society’s events we
would have more chance to talk English so I should have participated in others. During we were staying,
they had Oxford trip and London trip. Both of their tickets were sold out so we couldn’t attend. I suppose
they are good trips.
3.Daily life in Sheffield and trips in the UK
I stayed with a family and foreign students. At first there was a Japanese high school student but he left
within 10 days since I went to Sheffield. 2 weeks before I went back to Japan, a British man who studies
something medical came.
ELTC was located on the host mother’s way to work, so she took me to school. I always did something
after school and went back home around half past six. My host mother and father cooked very well so I
didn’t have trouble in dinner. We always got lunch at TESCO which is very popular supermarkets. Some
of their products like bread are cheap but some like sandwiches were expensive and nasty. Normally food
prices are much higher than Japan. But I could find cheap and good pubs or restaurants.
I traveled in York, Edinburgh, and London. Edinburgh is my favorite. Edinburgh has the old own and the
new town. They were listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. There were museums, Edinburgh castle,
Whisky museum, some big churches, Holyrood Palace, an observatory, shopping streets. And many
bagpipe players were playing the instrument around the city. It was so traditional and beautiful city. In
addition, Scotland has several traditional foods and I enjoyed Haggis which is made from meat and
organs of sheep. I stayed at a hostel near Waverley Station and it has a good pub on the ground floor.
Many British came to the pub and we talked a bit. I enjoyed the 2-days trip in Edinburgh so much.
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Stay in the UK
Masayuki Sawamura
1.The importance of environment
Through studying in the UK, my thinking of how to learn English changed a lot. Before going to the UK,
I thought I was a good English speaker since I had a good TOEFL test score. In addition, I could speak
English better than other Japanese people in English conversation club in Sendai. These experiences gave
me too much confidence in English. But I lost the confidence in the UK. To be concrete, I was
disappointed with my listening skills and speaking skills. When teachers and host family spoke to me
with natural speed, I couldn’t listen to anything. When people who are both from English-speaking
countries talked with each other, I couldn’t cut in at all. So at that time I found I had been full of conceit
about my English ability in Japan. Then if I had been a good learner, I would have managed to have
chances to contact with native speaker, but I’m ashamed to say I didn’t feel motivated to do such a thing
in the first few weeks.
I think most of non-native speakers including me had little trouble only if living daily life in the
English-speaking countries. Even if we have a little vocabulary, native people would understand what we
want to do and help us. In a worst-case, we can disguise our poor knowledge with a laugh among
Japanese students. I totally depended on such situation.
But I found one very simple and significant thing even in the situation. It is “the importance of
environment to study”. Traveling alone in London let me change my idea about learning. The travel was
completely conducted alone, so I must do anything by myself. I remembered exactly that my motivation
of studying was much different from the previous days in that day. I was filled with enthusiasm to learn or
use English. I managed to make chances to talk English. Also, when I met unfamiliar words in the
museum, I looked up the words in my dictionary then and there. At that night I thought the amount of
knowledge I got today was larger than whole former 3weeks. What I want to say here is to put myself in
the environment which force me to do anything by myself is very important in order to study something.
The situation makes me feel motivated to learn. Although this kind of things can be often seen in
reference book, I’m sure that this experience is very beneficial for all learning in the future.
2.Future View
I have a plan to study in Indonesia from this September for 1year. I believe the experience in the UK is
very helpful in studying in other countries. I could notice a lot of my immature point during this stay, so I
would like to make the most of the discoveries and prepare for studying in Indonesia sufficiently. To be
specific, I am going to raise consciousness about the following 3 points until going there. Firstly, I will
put myself in tough environment as I mentioned before. It is very important in order to keep on studying
English every day with high motivation. Secondly, I am going to improve my vocabulary. In the UK I met
so many unfamiliar words I didn’t know in Japan. They are what you call “slang”. I joined football club
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in Sheffield University and people in the club always said slang. So I sometimes couldn’t understand
them correctly and build good relationship. At that time I decided to learn a lot of slangs through
communicating with foreign students in Tohoku University. Finally, I should acquire knowledge about my
major. Actually I am going to change my major from studying Indonesia, so I need to learn many things
in the new field. When people cannot listen to English, the reason is sometimes not for a lack of listening
skills, but lack of background of the field. I realized that in the lectures in Sheffield University. We had a
various field of lectures every Wednesday. If I couldn’t listen completely, I could guess relevant
information if the lecture is in my field. But if the lecture is outside my area of expertise, I couldn’t
understand many things. It seems me that I must acquire knowledge about a new major. In addition to
these 3 points, there is another important thing I should change in mentality. It is “aggressiveness”.
Basically Japanese people are very shy and I am also not exception of that. We tend to hesitate to give our
opinion even if we have profound discernments. I was very surprised at one Iraqi’s aggressiveness in
conversation club. I’m sorry to say but it was obvious that he didn’t have enough knowledge about the
discussion theme. But he didn’t hesitate to tell his opinion, and it is also obvious that he kept things going.
He always tried to interact with other people. I should follow him
At last part, I will write about the largest discovery in this studying abroad. Although this Sheffield
program is aimed to improve English skills, I found the most important thing that is irrelevant to English.
Maybe you know, the UK is famous as mother country of football. There is the strongest league around
the world in the UK. Actually I went to watch 2 football games during this stay and I could touch the
genuine atmosphere. I was so excited. Not only the professional league, but also there were a lot of places
people can play football. I thought the UK is made of football. The environment and atmosphere made me
feel motivated to practice hard in the football club of Tohoku University and also made me decide to take
part in football in some way in the future.
I had a lot of time to think about my future in this stay. I think studying abroad is good chance to think
ourselves.
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My experience in Sheffield
Kashima Ryohei
1.Introduction
I had studied English in Sheffield University and stayed with my host family for 4 weeks. I could learn
not only English, but many things, culture, people and country, in this program. I’d like to explain details
of these things. First I will describe how my stereotypes before I went to Sheffield have changed. Next
I’ll talk about what I felt the most important through this study abroad program. Third I’ll explain about
impressive story with my host family. Forth I’ll show how I will use this precious experience.
2.My stereotypes were mostly wrong
Before I visited the UK, I thought England was a country which doesn’t have any tasty food, has good
scenery of old buildings and many similar points to japan. I also thought people in this country are kind of
cold charter. After I had spent time in Sheffield, I got answers whether these images are true or not: just
one of my stereotypes of scenery is true.
I usually ate my dinner with my host mother. She gave me various foods, such as Curry, Fish-and-Tips,
baked-potato, pies and pizza. I just knew Fish-and-Tips as a traditional British food and I thought British
people often eat it. However host mother told me it’s not true. In the UK, we can eat many countries’ food,
especially Indian, Chinese, Irish and Turkish. From these countries, many people immigrated, and now
their foods are popular in the UK. In this country immigrants’ food cultures are mixed, and now we can
eat various tasty food.
Certainly, the UK has many similar points to Japan. Both of them are surrounded by the sea and small
countries. As I said, Japan and England have similarities, but I also found many differences. For example,
there are many old buildings in the U.K. My host family’s house is living was built 100years ago. My
host mother said it is usual that houses are older than 100 years in England. I was surprised because in
Japan we mostly cannot live a same house for 100years. Most English houses are made of stone, but
Japanese ones are made of wood. I also noticed transportations of Sheffield are not so accurate for time.
Japanese transportations are mostly punctual. From these different points, I felt they are characters of
countries, and I accepted these differences.
Before I went to England, I had thought British people are cold. However I noticed my image was not
true. I felt my host mother and teachers in ELTC and local people I met are very kind people. For example,
I lost my way on train, and confused which train I should get into, one woman stranger for me asked if
she could help and she told me how I should do next. It’s hard for me to talk stranger, so I thought she
was a very kind person. My host mother was also kind full person because when I ate breakfast and
dinner, she usually talked with me during eating meal even if she finished her meal. British people I met
were very kind, so I got image British people are kind.
3.The most important thing for studying in the U.K.
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Certainly we just took just language classes, but we could understand what is important to study in the
U.K. My teacher said U.K. has many seminar classes and we don’t have time to be shy. Japanese students
are usually shy, so we could lose any chance to speak in class if we don’t speak voluntary. I noticed that
shy is not good character for achieving good grade in this country, so we need to be active in our class. I
think this attitude is also important in the other countries and we can learn more than by passive attitude.
I’d like to continue this attitude even in Japan.
4.The most impressive story with my host
My host family was not family but just mother. She lives by herself and she has a lot of experiences as
host mother. She told me a lot of story of her experiences as host mother. It was the most impressive event
with my host. I herd many story of her experience, and I felt she made stereotypes of foreigners through
homestay students. From her story, I thought homestay students are one of representatives of their
countries. Before me, she had a Korean homestay student. She asked him whether he smokes and told
him he should smoke outside if he wants to smoke, and then he answered he doesn’t, but after few days
host mother noticed he smokes inside of house. My host mother told me Korean is lire because of her
story. From this story, I strongly felt homestay students are kinds of representatives. We shouldn’t act
badly because host family looks our countries through us.
5.My plan after this program
I could learn many things from this program, but the other students who didn’t join cannot get any
benefits from this program. I’d like to share my precise experience and I want to be a kind of pipe of the
U.K. British meal aren’t bad taste any more, and British people are not cold people but kind. I’m
belonging to English club in which I do presentation in English. There are many people who are
interested in foreign countries in this club. I’d like to do presentation in this club, and want to change their
stereotypes of England. I’m going to study in the U.S. from this September. I practiced my presentation
skill mainly in this program, so I’d like to use this skill.
6.Conclusion
I got valuable experience in Sheffield in terms of language, culture and etc. I shouldn’t just use for
myself, but I should share for the other students who cannot go there. I’m going to study in the U.S. from
this September, so I’d like to use this precise experience to do well in the U.S.
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Studying Abroad for Future
Yuki Fukai
1.New knowledge
Now, after coming back to Japan from England, I feel the difference between my way of thinking about
living in foreign country before studying abroad and that after studying abroad deeply. I misunderstood
living in foreign country. I thought if I want to live in foreign country I must be able to use English well.
This was wrong. I stayed in England for one month indeed and I understood that if I could not use
English well I could manage my life.
When I could not convey my thought to other people, using
gesture they understood my explanation. When I could not make correct sentences in English or come
up with proper English vocabulary, if I express my intention to communicate with each other in English,
people exerted effort to understand what I meant.
I noticed that English let living in foreign country
more comfortable, however I did not have to master English in advance. At the same time I noticed a
difficulty of living in foreign country.
Everything was different between England and Japan, for
example meal, greeting, price, how to get on bus and how they spend their weekends. I understood that
living in foreign country was embracing other culture and this required patience.
It is so hard to change
way of life which I have learned since I was born. I think adapting to foreign culture takes so much
effort.
2.Episodes
I got some great experiences in England.
Firstly, I visited London. In London there were many
museums and galleries such as British Museum and National Gallery. At British Museum I could see
many exhibits about various regions for example Egypt, Greece, Africa and Asia.
Of course,
explanations about all exhibits in British Museum were written in English, so only reading them polished
my English skill and understanding them expanded my knowledge. Especially, when I saw Rosetta
Stone, I felt impact beyond description and intelligence that made progress in decipherment of hieroglyph.
At National Gallery I saw some Van Gogh’s painting as represented by “Sun Flower” and many works of
Claude Monet who are my favorite painter. London had other famous museums and galleries except for
British Museum and National Gallery, and I thought that London was the center of European culture.
Secondly, I joined Conversation Club. In this event, I could enjoy conversation with many people
who came from various countries in English. Unfortunately, this event was held once a week, so in last
week I made many friends and I had to say “bye bye” to them. One of them from Malaysia knew
Japanese culture as well as Japanese, especially Japanese comic, and when I communicated with him I
really enjoyed talking with foreigner. Honestly, until I met him I felt that talking in English was training,
but I noticed that I could enjoy talking with foreigner in English. This experience gave me confidence in
living in foreign country and enjoying communication with foreigner in the future.
Lastly, I joined a party held at accommodation of The University of Sheffield. I met a Japanese
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student who was studying abroad at The University of Sheffield from Tohoku University for one year.
She invited me and some SAP students to a party which would be held at her flat.
In her flat, there were
two French people and they would cook French dishes and Japanese people including me would cook
Japanese dishes at the party.
We decided to make “Temakizushi” and teach how to make it her
roommate. On the day we tried to collect ingredients for “Temakizushi”, however we found it was
difficult to gain raw fish in England. We bought only boiled prawn, smoke salmon, egg and cucumber
instead of raw fish for example tuna or porgy because we could not find such raw fish in some super
markets.
Fortunately, rice, laver and vinegar were arranged in her flat by her roommate in advance and
we started to cook dinner. We finished making “Temakizushi” very well and her roommate really
enjoyed this Japanese dishes.
By turn, her French roommate cooked French dishes, meat or cheese and
blue berry on sliced baguette and fruits salad and served them for us. They were so delicious and we
enjoyed nice dinner and conversation with French in English. I learned many things about France and
now I want to visit France.
3.Applying experiences
In the future I want to get a PhD in economics at American university, so I have to take lecture of
economics in English and understand it. Additionally, I have to be able to write report in English and
participate in discussion about economics in English.
That is why I participated in SAP.
After
finishing SAP, I think I need more preparation for getting PhD. At The University of Sheffield we took
professional lecture once a week, but I could not catch up with speed of lecturer’s talking and I could not
understand what he meant perfectly. I must polish listening skill much harder. Thus, I decided to
participate in exchange program.
program.
I think participating in SAP was good preparation for exchange
While I stayed in Sheffield, I got knowledge of living in foreign country and I practiced
speaking, listening, reading and writing in English. I think these experiences will help studying in
exchange program absolutely. I hope that I will apply experiences in SAP to exchange program and my
exchange program will be more fruitful and I will apply experiences in exchange program to PhD
program.
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What I learned from the experience
Shuhei Kato
1.How we form an image of other country
During my stay in United Kingdom, I had met a lot of people from various countries. Through the
experience, I found it difficult to form a right image of other countries. When we meet a person who
comes from a certain country, we tend to generalize the image of the country from his/her behavior. For
example, when I met a rude and selfish man from Iran, I had a bad image of Iran and I had tried to avoid
talking with other people from Iran. Of course, this way of thinking was wrong. The truth is that there are
many different kinds of people in Iran, and I extremely simplified a characteristic of the country. After I
talked with other people from Iran, I found them very pleasant people and felt sorry for avoiding them.
We should make a point of remembering this tendency, or we may form a wrong image of other countries.
Recent years, some Japanese people have had a negative image of South Korea or China because of
political conflict between these countries and Japan. They often denounce these countries’ people and
some of them even commit a hate crime. Now, I can understand why they act like this: they unfortunately
formed a biased view against these countries because of biased media that tends to report scandalous
news. As I really felt how wrong these images are, I want to let other people know how we fail to form a
right image of other countries.
We tend to form an image of other country from those who come from the country. From different
point of view, this is why we should act with an awareness of being Japanese, especially in foreign
countries. While I stay in Sheffield, I had made friends with local students and often been said that
“Japanese people are polite as I expected”. I think this statement imply a few important things that tell us
how we Japanese should act in other countries. At first, the word “as I expected” means that people in
United Kingdom (at least, those who I met in Sheffield) has a positive image of we Japanese; very polite
people. This is what we can be proud of, and I thank other Japanese for being polite in the foreign country.
I think this preconception about Japanese helps me to be accepted by British people and this is clearly an
advantage of us. According to social psychology (my main subject in Tohoku university), human being
tend to believe an information that confirms their beliefs and this tendency is called “confirmation bias.”
In view of this psychological phenomenon, it can be said that our polite behavior can leave an impression
on foreigners’ mind easily. Therefore, I think we Japanese should act as polite as possible in order to keep
the advantage. Of course I haven’t only enjoyed the benefit, but also succeeded in reinforce that. The
reason why I was said the above statement is that I had tried to speak polite English in Sheffield (for
example, I aimed at saying “could you~?” or “would do~?”). I learned how such a small effort makes it
easy to communicate with local people.
To summarize, I want to say that we should pay attention to the way how people form and keep an
image of other countries. Even if we meet bad person who come from certain country, we mustn’t assume
that other people from the country is as bad as him/her. On the contrary, we also have to remember that
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our behavior can easily affect the image of Japan.
2.Students’ Union
In University of Sheffield, what I surprised the most is its Students’ Union. This is an organization run
by
students themselves and they own a big building that has many cafes, restaurants, shops, bars, and
meeting rooms. They elect their president annually, and the service they provide is so great that it cannot
be compared with a cooperative or students’ self-government association in Tohoku university. Such an
organization is characteristic of University in United Kingdom, and students are proud of being a member
of their Students’ Union. As I made friends with local students, I’ve got to think that Japanese student
(especially in Tohoku university) should take their attitude as a model. It is because there is a big
difference between Tohoku university and University of Sheffield. In Tohoku university, I think students
are likely to complain of Presidents’ or university governments’ decision (ex: repairs of main library), but
they usually don’t start independent action to solve the problem they are complaining about. On the other
hand, in University of Sheffield, students often make plans for anything they think they should do. For
example, during my stay, I sometimes looked an advertisement of meeting for black students which aim
to talk about racism or discrimination against them. To give another example, we could see a group of
people who administer a charity anytime in front of Students’ Union building. In addition to this, they
also organize a day trip, make original goods and sell them, and even provide a professional advice about
regal matters. They can do these things because they had a big Students’ Union, therefore they love their
Union and University. This is why they cooperate with each other under the name of Students’ Union:
they are really proud of being a member of them.
If there was an organization like Students’ Union in Tohoku university, it would be wonderful.
However, unfortunately, we don’t have one like that and it beyond my ability to establish them. Therefore,
I am willing to acquire British students’ “attitude” toward any kinds of problem: take action at first.
Before I went to Sheffield, I had never been active so much. However, now I want to think about
emerging problems (especially about my career design!) seriously, and take action to solve them. I believe
this attitude may help me to solve difficult problems in my life.
23
My Precious Life in Sheffield
Runa Ishikawa
1.The purpose of my visit
That was my second time to join in SAP. I went to UCR last spring. It was really good experience for
me to improve my English and learn multiculturalism. And I thought I would like to go other countries
and learn about them, so I decided to take part in SAP this time.
There were two main reasons to choose
University of Sheffield. First, I longed to study abroad to improve my English again. And I wanted to
learn more practical English. Second, I have never been to Europe so I knew little about European culture
and history. I wanted to experience them and broaden my horizons. I thought this program was a little
high level for me but I made up my mind to participate in it.
2.The life in Sheffield
All the days I spent in England are unforgettable for me. I could learn not only English but also
different life styles and ways of thinking from Japan. First, I would like to write about classes in
University of Sheffield.
Before my fist class, I really I feared that I could keep up with the classmates and I was nervous. In my
class, there were many foreign students like Chineses, Iraqis and Koreans. They were very friendly and
talkative. My feeling of tension disappeared without notice. We debated a lot of subjects in classes and I
was disappointed with my poor English. Most of the students could describe their minds immediately.
However, even if I came up with some ideas, I needed the time to say in English. So I was sometimes left
behind for a first few days. I tried to think anything in English as much as I could and take the floor. At
first, my English was not good, so I was asked again. While I repeated that, I felt better and had
confidences. I could enjoy debating and talking with them. In break time, I was taught Chinese and
thought Japanese in English. I felt English is the best method to make the connection with foreign people.
And I made up my mind to study harder to communicate with them more smoothly.
Next, I want to write about my host family. The family was three people, father, mother and brother.
They were really kind for me. They made a lot of chance to talk with me and taught a lot of things about
England. Also they asked me many thongs about Japan, for example politics, history, geography,
education and so on. I noticed that I didn’t have any knowledge about Japan. I couldn’t explain them
enough. I was ashamed that as one of Japanese. This experience made me be interested in my own
country. I have to study about Japan more to perform internationally.
But I also found some good things of Japan. One of them is dietary life. We think diet is most important
one to stay fit and healthy. So we try to eat more flesh vegetable and fish than meat. And also we take on
the color of dish. But in England, a lot of people think breakfast is not a meal and eat just serial. They
don’t eat flesh vegetable often. I think it is one of reasons why the average life span of Japanese is the
24
longest in the world and Japanese diets are becoming more popular now. I think I couldn’t found that if I
stayed in foreign countries. I want to try finding more differences and know not only good points but also
problems in Japan.
And I could visit some cities in England for the month, York, Manchester, Edinburgh and London
and feel different atmosphere of them. York was one of oldest cities in England and it was surrounded by
castle walls. I hadn't had any idea about British history but had some interests. I was impressed with the
row of houses and streets. It was a lot of differences from that of Japan. I could learn the history and
know the old life in there. One the other hand, London was the new city and there are many foreigners. I
heard Spanish, French, German, Chinese and so on. I was excited the situation because there are no place
I can experience such situation in Japan. I thought it was remarkable to reflect multicultural and
international society.
3. To make good use of this experience in the future
I could get a lot of knowledge and improve abilities. I feel my English became better than before
especially listening. I hadn't had a lot of chances to listen natural English conversation in Japan. So in a
first few days in England, it was too fast for me to understand what British were talking. I couldn't join
conversation. However I felt better little by little and tried to talk with many people. There are many
international students and I noticed they had different intonation depend on their countries. It was fun but
I realized we have Japanese English too. I have to know my way and make it be real English. And I think
I came not to be afraid of challenging something through this one month. I don't have any anxiety for
speaking English and challenging new things. Now I can enjoy doing that. The experiences in England
made me grow. I will never forget the precious experiences and awesome people I met there. I would like
to continue studying English. I would like to work internationally in my major by using English in the
future.
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What Staying In Sheffield Gave Me
Shun Nagai
1. First impression
At Sheffield, I was surprised by so many things. And firstly I would like to write about how our teachers
contracted our classes. They usually have us introduce ourselves each other. Next, we could begin the
main content of the class. We did checking the vocabulary, pronunciation or grammar. Then we moved
onto reading article, discussing and summarize. This series story is really effective to study efficiently.
Probably, I am going to use such contraction of a class someday when I have to teach something.
Through speaking English with other people, I felt that I should be careful about when to say my first
word. In detail, we usually make some non-sound time (we can say, 間) in Japanese. On the other hand, I
noticed that it is not necessary to speak English. Until another speaker finish his talking, I think the next
theme or next word to respond. Then, he stops his talking and I begin chatting soon. After noticing this
theory, my English chatting went so well. Probably, if I do this in Japanese, it does not work so well.
That’s because without non-sound time, the speed can be too fast.
At the same time, insistence is one of a key factor in English conversation. In conversation or discussion,
we have to define our opinion, try to persuade others and lead one conclusion. When we insist something,
we should grab opinions of others. For this, firstly we should listen to other’s opinion so carefully and be
respectfully for other’s position.
2 .What happened in my host house
During my home stay, for example, the amount of dinner was so large. At the beginning, I challenged to
adopt their ordinary amount. My host mother had me eat so a lot. But several days later, I tried to refuse
her recommend and reduce the amount of meal. Then she accepted my opinion so easily. It was surprising
for me. Actually, I said that YOUR style is having a lot amount of dinner and that’s OK too. Maybe I
could describe respect to them there and they understood me.
It is also the episode in host family. In second week of my stay, we have to accept 2 French persons, a
man and a woman for 3 days. She used English but he didn’t. 1 morning, I had to have a breakfast with
the man. You know, just silent. Later, she told me that some people use more than 3 languages; in her case,
French, English, Danish and Fin. I really felt that why was I satisfied to be able to use only Japanese and
English!? I really think that language is very very important since that breakfast, and I started learning
Spanish.
3. Impressive differences between the UK and Japan
During my stay, I was really shocked that a lot of shops close at 4 pm or 5 pm. We hardly went to café or
shopping in city center after school. I clearly remember that my friends and I said “Why don’t they open
26
their shops even though it was good time to catch customers?” Though I couldn’t understand soon, but I
predict that they have their private time and they stop working earlier than Japan. They probably think
that they should spend an amount of time with their friend, family or for their hobby. For evidence, we
found people drinking in pub from 5 pm in weekday. I was able to be shocked by another culture that time.
Of course we shouldn’t mock the custom soon and easily, but I felt that spending time for private things is
also important as well as job.
Now, skill for chat is also important. As I have written in 1st paragraph, I was really careful when I
should say the first word, voice. It could really effective to contract good conversation. Then I thought
what to be the good topic. This question was easy. As same as Japan, having people to talk about them
was great idea. First, I started talking about myself a little, if it is possible, I talked about topics which can
be their hobbies or their interests. And then they responded to the topic, talked about them with smile.
Only one difference I found is I needed to talk about myself more than in Japan. People from other
countries seemed to know person who is talking. On the other hand, in Japan, I am usually only a listener,
just have my friend to talk about him/her. Eventually I was lucky in England, because I have played
football for 10 years and I had a lot of topics about football.
4. In the future…
After the breakfast with a French man, I really feel that I should learn the third language. Though, in
Japan, being able to speak English is just great, some people in the UK really could use more than 3
languages. For example, my friend in Sheffield, host parents and a friend from Korea did. I mean it is not
impossible. Now I just started learning Spanish. That’s because I studied in the first year in the university.
In addition to it, I am interested in French too.
Next I should be more flexible to think about my future. In detail, I was able to imagine to work as a
researcher for chemistry in the past. But now, I gained some visions for other field. It means working for
international relationships or for a trading company etc…
Finally, I am able to say that this program was really precious experience for me. That’s because I could
communicate with people who have different culture, put myself in a circumstance which has different
culture and gain wider vision for my carrier.
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Experiences in Sheffield
Jun Moriyama
1.Changes of impression on UK
There are two impressions that changed after the stay in Sheffield. One is about the food. A lot of people
may associate U.K with terrible food. When I told my friends that I would study in U.K for a month,
almost all of them said, “there are no delicious food in U.K and you will miss Japanese food soon.” But
having stayed there, I realized it was an old-fashioned idea. U.K has accepted various food cultures
introduced from other countries. And also they have their own traditional delicious dishes such as the one
called Yorkshire pudding. In the U.K, there ware a lot of kinds of restaurants. I think we can enjoy as
many kinds of food as Japan.
The other is about the characteristic of British people. It is often said that Japanese people are very kind
and think the harmony is very important. So actually, I thought there were less kind people and more
selfish people in U.K. But my image wasn’t correct. I was helped many times by people in U.K. When I
used the bus for the first time in U.K, I didn’t know how to pay and asked the driver. He noticed that I
was not a native English speaker and explained in easy English to me. When I got lost on the way to
school and asked a man which way to go, he told me very kindly even though it was Monday morning
and he must have been in a hurry. I come to think British people are very kind.
2.What is the most important
I have thought the communication ability is the most important thing to work on something with foreign
people and this thought didn’t change even after the program. I realized again its importance and through
the program, I got a new idea on communication. It is that this ability can be divided into three parts.
The first one is the ability to talk in a logical way. I had many chances to share opinions with other
students in the classes. During the classes, I strongly felt the importance of talking logically. I mean to
clarify your idea and give your opinion with reasons, sometimes with examples so that your opinion will
be grasped easily. It sounds simple but especially when you use language that you usually don’t use, your
remark tends to be illogical. So it is important to gain the ability to talk logically.
The second one is the ability to ask questions. When you found English words that were new for you
and couldn’t understand what the speaker wanted to say, you should ask. Before going to U.K, I often
hesitated to ask questions in conversation with international students. It was because asking questions can
interrupt conversations and I didn’t want to bother them due to my poor English. However, taking classes
with students from other countries, I learned that asking questions is something that I must not avoid.
Since the purpose of communication is to understand each other, you must not hesitate to ask questions.
The third one is a positive attitude toward communication. I used to give up to give my opinion when I
could not find appropriate words to describe my opinion. I think I was very passive toward
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communication. What I have to do when I face the situation that I don’t know suitable words is try to
explain in the different way. That’s what I mean by a positive attitude.
3.What the cultural difference taught me
During the stay in U.K whose cultures are different from Japan, I found good points of British customs
that Japan should learn from. I have two examples.
One example is about atmosphere of stores. In the stores in U.K, shop assistants are very friendly while
in Japan, they only say what they have to say. When I went to a supermarket in U.K, shop assistants were
chatting with customers. I hardly see the scene like this in Japan. When I went to a convenience store, I
was talked to by a shop assistant. I think to talk to customers is a good way to show their welcoming to
customers.
The other example is about British people’s kindness to strangers. I think they are more willing to help
strangers than Japanese people. When I was in a tram, a baby started to cry. His mother tried to let him be
calm, but she couldn’t. Then people around her began to humor the crying child. I’m sometimes faced
with a situation that a baby starts to cry in the train in Japan, but people don’t help in the way that British
people did.
Also, being out of Japan, I noticed how wonderful our cultures are, especially, appreciation for food. I
have an experience that let us realize it. It was a dinner time in my host family. I had a 14-year-old boy in
my host family and he left unfinished and threw it away without any hesitation. I was surprised at what he
did. What was more surprising for me was that his parents didn’t say anything about this. It seemed that
they didn’t have any sense that we have for food. I thought that Japanese sense of appreciation for food
could be one of our identities and that it was what we should be proud of.
4.What I’d like to do based on the experiences
So I learned a lot about communication and experienced cultural differences in this program. Thanks to
these experiences, I became more confident in working on something with international students in other
countries. I’m planning to study biochemistry to help people in need all over the world using its
technology in the future. I think experiences in U.K will be of great help to realize it.
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SAP Report
Moemi Miura
1.My Ideas about the UK before departure and after my activities
The UK plays one of the most important role in the world and is also a great partner of our country.
According to our learning before departure it seemed the country shares a lot of similar points as Japan in
the aspect of culture or economy. They respect their tradition, politeness and the currency has a great
power in the world.
However I found that the UK has more connections and relationships with other
countries around it in its long history. You can see it in the wide variety of their roots or backgrounds, and
their way of thinking about other countries and its people.
2.Classes and lectures
We had classes every day and lectures once a week. Although it was a pity that all the classmates in my
class were from Asian countries, it was a good opportunity to use English to communicate with each other
and discuss about academic topics such as climate changes, world history or cultural differences. In all
the classes the emphasis was put mainly on speaking activities such as presentations, discussions and
debates. It was helpful for me because we have few opportunities to speak and listen to English
comparing with the grammar in Japan.
What was the most helpful and also difficult was “interrupting”. Since in our country we believe
interrupting is rude, it seemed very difficult to ask questions or give ideas while others are talking.
However in the UK it is needed to interrupt respectfully, which makes discussions fruitful. First of all I
had to change my idea of interrupting and try not to let the speaker finish his story. What I realized here
was I had never think anything and had been easily convinced when I had listened to others. During the
discussion activities we sometimes run out of ideas. That was because we couldn’t think critically and just
agreed. I knew this is often described as a typical character of Japanese and at that time I really
understood it’s true. In addition I learned that I don’t have to wait for others to finish as long as I respect
them.
3.Other activities
There were some events provided by ELTC or Students Union in which we could enjoy conversation
with international students and my tutor recommended me to participate so that I can use practically what
I learnt in the class.
Conversation club was one of them. The theme can be anything from your hobby to “What we can do to
save our energy.” Talking with one person seemed easier for me but group discussions were also good
practice to improve my interrupting skills.
Another opportunity was an event called Tandem held by Japan society. Since it was like a weekly party
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I could try to use the “mingling and introducing” skills, learning how to do it from other people. There
were also many Japanese members and I got some information about studying abroad as well.
Moreover the biggest event during our stay was Japan Day. Fortunately I could work as a volunteer at
craft room on the day. When we did some preparation in my friend’s house I was very surprised to see as
many as seven traditional costumes of japan including yukata and furisode. She was a big fan of fabric
and she knew more than me about Japanese clothing. To be honest I had known little about traditional
dyeing shibori, which we had a workshop of on the event day. I really feel sorry and ashamed about
knowing my own culture less than foreigners. I have to study more not only from books but also through
my own experience. The other thing which interested me was that many people from different countries
interested in kanji even if they don’t know the meanings. Some asked me where I learnt calligraphy and I
answered I did in my schools. I had never imagined before that this skill could be such a tool of
communication. Learning these things at schools is a good opportunity to know about our own traditional
arts and they should be taught next generations.
4.Living in the UK
Since the life in the UK was basically same as in Japan it was comfortable to live for me. I guess your
greatest concern is the food. In the classes our teacher always said British food has too much oil, salt and
sugar. In addition they eat vegetables but they are usually too soft and muchy, as she said Brits cook
vegetables “to death.”
Another thing I found different was about halal food. You can see the stickers that shows they provide
halal food in the university cafeteria, junk food stalls or some restaurants. That is partly because of the
diversity of the people in the UK but Japan also have to prepare these kind of things for the coming
Olympic games in Tokyo.
The other point about food is fair trade. It seems common in this country especially in the forms of
coffee and chocolate. According to my research after coming back, the logo I saw in our campus is
FAIRTRADE Mark, which 89 per cent of UK public trust . There is a non-profit organisation called The
Fairtrade Foundation and it licenses use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products in the UK. Although it is
becoming popular also in Japan we should promote it more as a developed country.
5.What to do with this experience
Through all the activities including the classes, the greatest thing I leaned was how to make a good
communication and what is important to cooperate with others no matter it is in Japanese or in English.
Although it depends on the situation how I should behave, I can apply the basic ways I learned here.
These should be helpful when I work with other Japanese and international students or participate in any
discussions.
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My Experience in Sheffield
Masatoshi Ikeda
1. What was the most important thing?
There were a lot of people came from many countries in Sheffield University. Because of the cultural
background, each person has each way of thinking, so there were many ways of thinking. Therefore, I
thought it was the most important thing to receive each culture, way of thinking. By thinking so, it was
not so hard for me to communicate with other people and I was able to know the thinking I had never
thought before. However, if I had not do so, I could not talk with them smoothly and know the thinking.
For example, a student came from Iraqi told me that when he was in a police office in the UK, he felt
scared. This was because in Iraqi, a police office is one of the places that people who want to do deadly
bombing attack. Therefore there are four or five walls in front of a police office to protect from that. In
the UK, however, there is no wall, so that’s way he became scared. I was really surprised about that
because I thought that a police office was one of the safest places. I was lucky to know this kind of
thinking because I had never imagined like that.
2. How did I feel about Britain?
Totally, Britain was really nice place. I was amazed that most of the buildings were made of bricks. I had
never seen such buildings and scenery in Japan. That was really beautiful. Besides this thing, I changed
my images of Britain from three aspects; traffic signal, cigarette, and food.
First of all, people do not care about traffic signal when they walk across a road. People only care about
whether cars were coming or not. Therefore, it was not until cars stop that people knew traffic signal
changed to green. I had not known that British people act like this, so I was really surprised.
Second, many people smoke a cigarette. In Japan, if you see someone smoking, you do not feel good I
think. In Britain, however, many people smoke and there are many cigarette butts on a road. You cannot
but breathe secondhand smoke. However, there was one interesting thing. Though many people smoke on
the road, they never smoke in a building. I was able to know one different culture about cigarette.
Finally, the food in Britain was good. I heard that British food was not so good, but I could enjoy all the
meals and never felt bad about that. But one thing I want to say is about ‘rice’. When I said I wanted to
eat rice, my host mother always gave me long, and not sticky one. Therefore I really missed Japanese
rice.
There were a lot of differences between Japan and Britain and I was lucky to know them!
3. My best memory with my host family
Everyday we talked a lot and watched TV. From that I learned many things such as the difference
between British accent and American one, also Sheffield accent, and why a police sometimes ride on a
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horse and so on. Especially, my best memory with my host family was “Pancake Day”. My host mother
told me that it was a day to spend all of the eggs, milk, and sugar. This was because from the next day,
people usually eat brief meal and do not eat luxury, and enjoyable meal for forty days. This was religious
thing and in Britain, people used those things to made pancakes, so it was called “Pancake Day”. At that
day, 4th in March, another exchange student in the house learned about that day in class and started to
cook pancakes. My host mother sometimes helped him but mostly let him do by himself. That was his
first time to cook it, so he sometimes got panic but he finally made it. He threw a pancake in the air,
turned it, and caught it by a pan! Cool!! While he was eating it, I tried to make one. It was really difficult
to throw a pancake in the air. It was like sticking to the pan. After trying several times, however, I was
able to throw, turn, and catch it! It was really exciting. At that day I learned one of the British culture.
Moreover, I felt really happy and enjoyed a lot!
4. What will I do next?
In Sheffield, I had a lot of discussions and also chats with many people. I was able to improve my
English skill because I had to think things and told them in English in order to have smooth conversation.
But I think the best thing I got was not that. Because I speak English every day, I did not hesitate to use it
in any situation; in conversation club, restaurant, to ask someone to know a way to somewhere. This
sense was the best thing that I got from the stay in Britain. Therefore, what I want to do next is to keep
using English and find chances to do so. For example, I am doing “Rarejob”, one kind of
conversational-English using Skype, so keep doing it every day, and join EZ, like an English club in
Tohoku University. In rarejob, I can read current news and discuss about that and also learn new
expression by using some texts. In EZ, I can discuss in English and also find friends who want to study
English. By making friends with them, we can help each other to improve our English skill. I will try hard
to do these things so as not to stop using English!
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My first experience as an exchange student
Ayuko Tadenuma
1.introduction
I studied at The University of Sheffield for a month. I would like to write my rewarding and exciting
experience and impression. I will divide this report into 5 parts.
1. introduction
2. different culture
3. home staying
4. Japan day
5. Conclusion and my aims
2.Cultural differences
As a beginning, I consider cultural differences. I would like to focus on not only the U.K. but also many
countries because I had chance to study with student who came from various countries.
During my stay, the most interesting cultural difference was the manner. We discussed manner with my
classmate. From the discussion, I found that each country has own manner and each way to express
politeness. For example, in the U.K., people hold the door opening for next people. Also when they bump
into a stranger in the street, they always say “Sorry”. For the first time I experienced it, my heart was so
warmed because I thought it was very thoughtful. My Korean classmate said that people in her country
usually did not do that. I thought it was same as Japan. In the other hand, people from other countries
sometimes impressed Japanese bow. My teacher told me it looked so polite. I have not thought that. That
is because it was a part of custom for me.
From my experience, I thought about the follow things. First, we cannot compare which manner is the
most polite. I could discover the good aspects both in British manner and Japanese one. This is only
differences of way to express politeness and thoughtful. Moreover, we should respect them in order to
understand each other. Also if we do not understand them well, we should discuss deeply.
3. Staying with my host family
I stayed with host mother and a college student from Saudi Arabia. This experience gave me an
opportunity of learning real conversation of English. Before starting my stay, I had been concerned
whether I could communicate with them because of my English skill, in particular pronunciation. But my
host mother soon got the hung of my pronunciation and understood what I wanted to say.
From my stay,
I would like to bring up a subject about grammar. It is “negative question”.
My host mother always asked me “Aren’t you hungry?” However I was full, I answered, “Yes”. In fact,
how to answer negative question is completely different between English and Japanese. This difference is
confusing for not only Japanese students but also many students speaking other languages except English.
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I could not be used to answer it.
In reverse, my host mother said that she could understand what I wanted to say by my face and gesture.
Language is very important tool for communication. But in addition to it, we have many ways to express
our feeling.
4.Japan day
Next, I would like to write Japan day. It was an event which was held by Japan society at The University
of Sheffield. I took part in it as a volunteer.
I worked in Yukata section and showed how to wear it to people. But in fact, I didn’t know the detail of
Yukata. Moreover I haven’t tried to explain Japanese culture in English. So I could not deal with
questions of people who were interested in Yukata and Japan. I realized that my talk and explanation
made their image of Japan. I was so sorry for them.
Before this event, I tended to be with an eye toward only other countries. It is clear how important to
focus on other countries. But at the same time I should make a chance to understand my own country. If I
do not do that, however fluently I can speak English, I cannot tell people attractive point of Japan.
5. Conclusion and my aims
Finally, I would like to sum up my report and write my aims after going back to Japan.
My stay for a month gave me a confidence to communicate with people who have different culture.
Before my stay, I had been insecure about my English skill and kept well away from face-to-face
communication. But many people in Sheffield show me how to make friends with people who come from
other countries. It was more exciting than I thought. So I will try to exchange many words with such
people also in Japan. It will lead to broaden my horizons.
In the other hand, I found my week point in English. It was shortage of vocabulary. During my stay, I
had many things to tell others, for example, my gratitude, excitement and problems of my life. I always
used the same phrases to express my opinion. Although I could listen to something, I could not
understand the meaning of it. I have to take it one day at a time to brush up vocabulary. Also I would like
to become better at my speaking and listening.
And at The University of Sheffield, I met the exchange student from Tohoku University. Her name was
Mari and her major was the same as me. Her talks was impressed me. She said “If you see exchange
students who have problems, please help them. I’m glad that you regard them as me.” This was my first
experience as an exchange student but I could have great time. This is because so many people were kind
to me in Sheffield. Without their help, I was not able to enjoy it. So I will try to do same things for
exchange students in Japan.
Also teacher and friends at Tohoku University also support my staying. I appreciate people who helped
me from the bottom of my heart.
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PHOTOS
Classroom
←授業中の様子
私たちが行ったシェフィールド大学
English Language Teaching Center
では、初日の試験結果に応じてクラス
分けされて、自分に合ったレベルの授
業を受けられるようになっています。
写真では、左が東北大生、右が中国か
らの留学生です。
教室→
授業内容はクラスによって違い
ますが、どこでもディスカッシ
ョンやスピーキングが多いため
教室には円形のテーブルが並ん
でいます。タッチパネルのプロ
ジェクター等もありました。
←Lecture
週に一度、様々な分野の教授陣が ELTC の学生向けに専
門分野について講義をして下さる Lecture がありました。
この内容をもとに翌日クラスでディスカッションを行っ
たりもします。私たちは、材料科学、風力発電、薬草学と
いった内容の講義を受けることができました。
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Extracurricular Activities
Japan society
シェフィールド大学には日本学専攻
があり、そこの学生を中心に Japan
society という日本が好きな学生が集ま
ったサークルがあります。週一回の集ま
りのほかに、日本料理店でのワークショ
ップや遠足を企画するなど、アクティブ
に活動しています。
JAPAN DAY 2014→
私たちの滞在期間には、彼らが
企画する JAPAN DAY という大き
なイベントがあり、我々もボラン
ティアとして参加しました。着物
の着付けや折り紙指導などを通し
て日本文化を伝えました。
O
One world café & Conversation club
これらは週に一度 ELTC、もしくは
Students’ Union で行われるイベントで、
留学生とイギリスの学生が会話を楽しむと
いうものでした。こういった機会を通じて
多様な文化・価値観や世界各地の「ナマの
英語」に触れつつ、友達もたくさんできま
した。
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Warwick Castle
ELTC では、月に 1 度ほど全校生徒で遠
足へ行きます。私たちは Warwick Castle
というお城へ行きました。千年を超える
歴史を持った、イギリスでも貴重な歴史
的遺産です。
Others
←Students’ Union
シェフィールド大学の大きな特徴は、その学
生団体(Students’ Union)であり、その規模は
イギリス随一です。彼らが所有するこの建物に
は飲食店や売店、総合案内所のようなものが多
数あり、学生ならではのユニークなイベントが
毎日開催されています。
(左下)ロンドン旅行！他にも色々と旅しまし
た。
(下)ホストファミリーと。お別れの日です。
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