LSAJ

Life in Japan as graduate students

Being a graduate student in a Japanese university is very challenging and interesting in terms of both new learning and living environment and conditions. This is due to the fact that many of us study in a foreign university for the first time where the education system and teaching and learning methodology are more or less different from Laos. Also, some people are married graduates whose families are with them in Japan or live in Laos while others are single who have or do not have a lover back in Laos. In addition, location and type of a university either public or private influence the way of life of graduate students. Therefore, different graduates in different universities have different experiences during our dedicated time studying in Japan.

Studying at a master level is different from a bachelor level. A graduate student is more independent and self-motivated. We should be more open-minded and adoptable to a new learning style. This involves a few lecture and seminar classes per week with active participation and writing an individual or/and group report together with the presentation. It is also noted that some subjects require students to take examination. The rest of time is for self-study and research. Again, different courses and lecturers apply different approaches. Therefore, it is important for us to study the course outline and syllabus carefully and ask for advice from our senior fellows before registering a subject.

Another important point to make here is about a supervisor. We should make a regular consultation with him/her in order to facilitate the writing of our final report or thesis. S/he will provide useful advice and guidelines for our research on a step-by-step basis together with a writing task. This will help us a lot in terms of keeping on track and collecting and analyzing data for our research topic. It takes some time for most of us to adjust ourselves into this new environment and system in order to be able to follow lectures and catch up with other classmates because of our educational background.

With new surroundings and language barrier to communicate with Japanese people, it is unavoidable for us to feel lonely and homesick sometimes when we are alone and under pressure of our studies and living conditions, especially those married and single graduates whose loved ones are in home country. In this context, it will be very helpful to make good use of university facilities for our study while keeping good health. These include, among other, common study rooms, computer labs, a big and modern library with extensive collection of publications, sport facilities, health clinic and counseling service. In addition, it is of great importance that we talk and share views on every aspect of life in Japan with our Lao and foreign friends when we encounter problems so that we can help each other to find the way out and make our life as graduate students in Japan a very happy and fruitful one.

It is hoped that with this brief description of graduate students’ life, you can have a better understanding and be well-prepared to experience new challenges and opportunities of life in Japan. All comments and inputs in this section are warmly welcome.

March 10, 2008