Japanese summer program satisfies hunger for growth

For students who want to experience more than the typical college experience, UTM offers a variety of Travel Study and Study Abroad programs, one of which is the Seinan Four-Week Intensive Language Program.
“There are some students who cannot afford a semester or a year in Japan, but they want to do more than 10 days. Our partner universities don’t offer a summer intensive program [like this],” said Kyoko Hammond, a professor of Japanese at UTM.
The Seinan Four-Week Intensive Language Program is a program that offers students the opportunity to experience Japan and the Japanese language in a natural environment at Seinan Gakuin University. The program lasts from June 26 to July 27  in Fukuoka, Japan, allowing students to learn while immersed in the culture.
“They come back with a positive experience,” Hammond said.
“In general, it’s good, and they (the staff) treat our students and their partner students equally,” Hammond said.
Many students find it to be a growing experience.
“As I accelerated into the end of the [Japanese] program [at UTM], I noticed that I reached the limit of growth … and became interested in further advancement of my knowledge and experience in the language and culture [of Japanese]. I still feel that it was by chance that I found the link to the Seinan program growing in southern Japan,” said UTM Communications graduate James Buchanan Jr. who first found the program in 2010.
“I have made many lifelong friends from different parts of the world. We’ve studied together, cooked together, traveled the cities on our itinerary and learned of each other’s cultures. Our bond is very strong to this day,” Buchanan said.
The cost of the four-week program is $2000 and includes tuition, accommodation, textbook fees and rental futon fees for the month. What the fee does not cover, however, are air tickets, meals and medical insurance. Scholarships are available to those who qualify.
“Students can apply for the SGA scholarship and are also qualified for the Gillman scholarship,” Hammond said.
Despite the positive feedback, there are no current plans for a partnership to be formed between Seinan and UTM. However, Professor Hammond remains open to the possibility, and the program will continue as it is for now.
“If Seinan approaches us, something might happen. We have to keep our two partners active, and I just have enough students who want to study abroad every year. And everybody wants to go in the summer, so in a way, it’s a good balance,” Hammond said.
For those who want to learn Japanese in other ways, students can also take part in a select number of Japanese courses available at UTM, such as Elementary Japanese 111, 122 Intermediate Japanese 222, and advanced 300 courses such as conversation, intensive reading and composition. Also, there are several other travel studies available.
“We have two partner universities, Hirosaki and Hiroshima Jogakuin University. Hiroshima is a women’s college, so it’s only available for female students,” Hammond said.
Both colleges offer students the choice to study abroad for either one semester or two; however, neither have summer intensive programs.
“We take our group of students to Hirosaki, our partner university. We may start having a travel study to Hiroshima where the other partner university is located, but we haven’t done it yet,” Hammond said.
“You have be open to new experiences. Remember dreams become realities when you’re dedicated to what you love. If you are still hungry after absorbing all you can for your university, the world abroad has a wide range of opportunities to feed your growth,” Buchanan said.
For more information, contact Hammond at khammond@utm.edu.