Carmen
GSICCS
I decided to sign up for the ICC Language & Culture Exchange program when I first came to Waseda because I did not have a chance to study much Japanese before coming to Japan. Unfortunately, I could not join a language class in my first semester here, so the ICC exchange program offered a perfect opportunity to still practice my Japanese. I also really enjoyed meeting someone from a different cultural and academic background and making a new friend.
My exchange partner is an undergrad student in biology, whereas I’m in the humanities, so it was very interesting to talk to someone with very different interests. Since we take classes on different campuses, we had a lot of fun showing each other around our campus and trying out different cafés and restaurants in the area.
My partner wants to study abroad in Germany in the future but has only recently started learning German. Since we are both beginners, we use a mix of English and German/Japanese when we meet up. We really enjoy talking about each other’s cultures and exchanging interesting facts and stories about growing up and living in Japan/Switzerland. Since Switzerland is not such a well-known country, I also enjoy explaining some of the cultural and linguistic differences between Switzerland and Germany.
When we meet up, we usually teach each other simple grammatical structures and useful words and phrases for everyday life. I especially appreciated receiving a lot of support from my exchange partner when it came to dealing with administrative work related to settling in Japan since my Kanji-reading skills are not so good yet. One of my favorite memories was when we tried to teach each other tongue twisters in Japanese and German and had to laugh at our failure to pronounce them even in our own native languages.
The relaxed atmosphere of just meeting with a friend helped a lot in overcoming my initial embarrassment at speaking a foreign language and making lots of mistakes. I really recommend joining the ICC exchange program to anyone who is interested in learning about a language and culture outside of a classroom environment. It is a fantastic opportunity to challenge yourself while also having fun and getting to know new people. I greatly enjoyed making a new friend and learning about life in Japan. My partner and I will continue meeting and helping each other with Japanese/German while enjoying the many options for lunch and dinner around Waseda.
