Are you embarrassed to mess up speaking Japanese? Ever had a question that you were too shy to ask to a stranger? Do you know how to speak at least one language? These are pretty much the basic prerequisites of my CIP.<\/p>\n
When I first came to Japan, I set a goal for myself to speak to as many Japanese people as possible before I leave. I\u2019m not insane so I didn\u2019t start talking to every stranger I either ran into or sat next to on the bus, so maybe the guidelines for this goal wasn\u2019t as well established as I had thought. Regardless, when it came time to consider what my CIP should be, I still knew I wanted to (to the best of my ability) achieve this goal. When I found out about KLEXON, I realized this would fit my needs perfectly. I spent the majority of my time speaking in Japanese, though since the program is a \u201clanguage exchange,\u201d one could speak entirely in English. At KLEXON, you engage in a type of \u201cspeed dating\u201d conversations, discussing anything from Japanese culture to favorite foods.<\/p>\n
KLEXON is very much a \u201cyou get what you put in\u201d kind of CIP. If you want to spend the entire time just having small talk, by all means. If you\u2019d like to ask about the much more complex, cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan, you can do that too. One of the most interesting cultural differences that I\u2019ve noticed between Japanese and English is the latter\u2019s abundance of slang. When I asked what kind of slang Japanese had, many people struggled to give more than 3 examples. Although I don\u2019t doubt that there isn\u2019t slang in Japanese, it seems like most \u201cslang\u201d comes from the various dialects spoken throughout the country.<\/p>\n
If I had to mention a failure, and unfortunately, I do, it\u2019s my inability to speak Japanese. I\u2019m only half joking, but in all seriousness speaking with people in Japanese for 2 hours straight, I\u2019d find myself unable to convey certain thoughts without the help of Jisho.org-sama. Looking at it from a different lens, I think this kind of failure really motivates someone to do better, or to look up a certain grammar point that I may have forgotten. KLEXON really helps you learn your strong and weak points when it comes to speaking, which is admittedly a bit embarrassing, but helpful nonetheless.<\/p>\n
For any of you considering studying abroad in Japan, you might have the notion that you\u2019ll be spending most of your time with Japanese students. How I envy you. While certainly some students of KCJS do this, making friends with Japanese people is much more difficult than it might seem. This isn\u2019t a dig at Japanese people, but rather more of a comment on the reality of studying abroad itself. Think about how hard it is to make friends normally, now add to that a language barrier. \u00a0Especially for those of you who haven\u2019t studied Japanese for very long, this language barrier certainly hinders one\u2019s ability to make friends with locals. Now, as to how this relates to KLEXON, the program makes it quite easy to meet new Japanese people on a daily basis. Over time, you\u2019ll meet people you share a genuine connection to. KLEXON also hosts parties, making the whole friend making process a whole-lot easier. If making friends and talking incessantly sounds like your cup of tea, I would recommend this program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Are you embarrassed to mess up speaking Japanese? Ever had a question that you were too shy to ask to a strang … \u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080