<Final Report>

I completed a 10-month of study abroad program at Rose-Hulman from last August. Therefore, I am going to report the experience.

About classes

I am going to share one of the classes called ESL102 (Advanced English class) that I took during the spring quarter. The class mainly focuses on academic writing, and I worked to write paper-style writing throughout the class. Also, I think my writing skills improved dramatically through this class. I received a very high grade from my professor for my work, which gave me confidence in my writing skills. I also developed my reading skills at the same time because I read papers every day in order to cite information. I believe that the knowledge I gained in this class will be quite useful in writing my graduation thesis at the University of Aizu. Also, there was an assignment in this class where students in pairs had to lead a 50-minute class in place of the professor, which was quite challenging but also very rewarding.

About Living

As for my daily life, not much has changed since my last report. However, I made a lot of friends by joining a student group called λXA. There are many student groups at Rose-Hulman, and students can interact with them in various ways. I became friends with some of the members at a party organized by the student group and became a member. I was also able to join a short-term study abroad program for students from the University of Aizu, and I was able to participate in many activities, such as trips, for free. One of the activities in the program, which is teaching Japanese culture to American elementary school students, was especially memorable.

Finally

If you decide to study abroad, I recommend you consider a 10-month program. As a whole, my study abroad was great!

<Interim Report>

It's been a half year since I came here at Rose-Hulman as study abroad, and I would like to report and share my current situation.

1. Classes

I took 2 ESL classes and 1 math class in fall and winter quarter, The amount of home work of them were too much, and the level of difficulty of them were also difficult. The contents of the classes, however, were so interesting, and I was always looking forward to taking the classes. I especially like English classes because the classes mainly focused on discussions, and I had a lot of opportunities to speak in English.

2. English skills

I would like to write here how much my English improved. You may think what English skills are, but this time, I would like to focus on speaking and listening skills which are necessary for conversation. In conclusion, I would say both skills significantly improved. When I was in Japan, to be honest, these skills were almost nothing. Therefore, I had hard time at first. For example, I could not understand what other were talking to me, and the conversation went to wrong way because of my lack of listening skill. Even though I could understand it, then I could not tell what I was thinking, and conversation was going to be boring. However, I tried to ask what they said to me again and again while using gesture, and I manage to live in USA. Of course, the reason why my English skills improved was the fact that I was in USA, but main reason was because of my friends. I have been making some close friends through my study abroad, and my English skills has been improving as talking with them. This is because they adjusted their speaking speed and word level. Also, I don't have to be nervous, and think if my English is wrong or not when I talking to them. However, it is still hard for me to understand English perfectly. For example, the English Singaporean who was my roommate was using was so difficult for me to understand until the end.

3. Living

I am satisfied with living at Rose, and I study like homework on weekdays, and I hang out with my friends on weekend. In addition to those, I always work out for 3 hours every day. I started workout seriously after I came here. In USA, it is common for people to work out regularly, most of the Rose students are using big gym of Rose. I was inspired by that. Now, I am growing like it is difficult to find people who are bigger than me in the gym. I got dream that I would win in the muscle competition in the future. I have to appreciate workout that gave me new dream and friends that I made through gym.

4. ETC

While I am just writing report about study abroad in USA, I could have been in Japan now. This is because I was planning to stay for half year because I thought half year is enough for me. Also, I thought many things then like I year was too long for first study abroad, I might repeat yere In Japan, and there are people around me who go to study abroad for I year. But I changed the period to 1 year while thinking about repeating year just before going to USA because I thought I wanted to stay longer In USA as study abroad which is hard for me to do again in the future and precious opportunity for me. Looking back now, the decisions was good for me. Of course, if the study abroad was for 3 or half months, I would be satisfied. But I have things that I could not get from study abroad for 3 months, and I would get things that I do not have right now after 1 year.