Hello!
i’m going on exchange to Sophia University next year and i was wondering if any previous students had done the japanese intensive track? I can choose between either the regular or intensive track and i don’t know what’s more worth it.
I’m only going for a semester and have heard that the intensive track leaves you without a lot of time to explore. Is this true? I’m not required by my university to take any courses on top of the intensive track, however. Do people recommend the regular or intensive (for both time able to explore and Japanese learning)?
I really want to see everything but i also want to make sure my japanese improves a lot!
3 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Sophia university intensive track**
Hello!
i’m going on exchange to Sophia University next year and i was wondering if any previous students had done the japanese intensive track? I can choose between either the regular or intensive track and i don’t know what’s more worth it.
I’m only going for a semester and have heard that the intensive track leaves you without a lot of time to explore. Is this true? I’m not required by my university to take any courses on top of the intensive track, however. Do people recommend the regular or intensive (for both time able to explore and Japanese learning)?
I really want to see everything but i also want to make sure my japanese improves a lot!
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Hi there! I’ll study abroad at Sophia starting in September, so I’m facing the same decision of whether to choose the regular track or the intensive track.
A classmate of mine studied abroad at Sophia from September 2022 to February 2023 and told me the following: The intensive track covers 10 x 100 minutes of class each week, plus homework and preparations for projects like presentations, speeches, discussions and essays. He estimated that you will spend six hours a day (Monday through Friday) preparing the lessons, attending and doing homework. Most people who chose the intensive track and stayed for a year ended up switching to the regular course after the first semester.
On the other hand, you have to take into consideration that he chose the regular track and wanted as much free time as possible. Getting good grades or improving in class wasn’t his priority.
I’ll probably take the intensive track because I really want to boost my Japanese while I’m there. If you can organize yourself well and are dedicated to the class, you could even have the entire weekend off to go exploring. It depends on what priorities you have for your study abroad 🙂
I just got back from a semester there a few weeks ago, definitely do not do the intensive track. the intensive course at all levels runs through period 1 and period 2 which is 9:00-12:35 everyday. this means you’ll be waking up at around 6:30-7:00am so you can make the commute on a packed rush hour train to campus. Japanese classes at sophia also don’t cover speaking, only grammar and writing so you’ll end up covering 4 classes worth of content in 1 semester but not being able to use it practically in conversation. Taking the regular course covers enough (2 semesters of college classes worth) but also leaves you with enough free time to be able to actually explore Japan and practice what you learned. the only issue is your home school might only count the regular track as one level of Japanese, but if they do that they would also only count the intensive as 2 levels.