Hello everyone. In a few days I will be travelling to Japan and will be staying there for a month with a host family. During that time I will attend a Japanese highschool for a few weeks and I'm a bit worried about how it'll go because my Japanese are not very good. I studied Japanese for 2-3 years and have passed the N5 exam but I'm still not that confident that I can understand and communicate at a decent level. Any thoughts or advice?
by Viamazonios
7 comments
It’s true that N5 is pretty barebones, but it means you at least understand the basics of the language and have a grasp on some common vocab/expressions.
You’re only going to be here for a month though. The time will pass *very* quickly. You will learn a lot. You will probably struggle a lot too. Being with a host family will help you practice Japanese outside of school.
Don’t worry too much. It’ll be a great experience.
One thing to remember is that you’re almost certainly not the first person to do this at that high school. It’s a bit (a lot? extremely?) unusual for high schools to allow random overseas students to study there, meaning that there’s probably a whole special program in place at that school where homestayers from different countries rotate in monthly. It’s not likely just some random school that’s never had an exchange student before.
Which is to say that even if you’re nervous about it, the people at the school will “know the drill”, so to speak, and know how to make you feel comfortable.
Are you on a student exchange program? Wonderful!
To be honest, it’s true that level N5 is not sufficient to keep up with the classes as well as the local high school students do. But think again, the main purpose of your 1-month program is not to force you to do exactly the same as others without making any mistakes, but to let you experience and explore a different culture, customs, community, and people.
Please do not take everything too seriously. Don’t feel too embarrassed even if you don’t understand everything people say; the program doesn’t expect students to be perfect all the time.
But never forget to stay positive. Learn many things throughout your stay by keeping an open mind.
I hope you fully enjoy your life in Japan!
What a great opportunity! Enjoy the experience and embrace the differences. A good translation app can also help , but don’t let it replace learning a few things!
A lot of club activities happen during the summer. Can you play drums? Are you good at Basketball? Can you sing? ( I can draw but that didn’t get me too far )
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I had a lot less than N5 and was fine. I am assuming you are not taking classes for credit at your home school.