Messages from Course Students

China/History Major

The teachers were really kind and fully supported me in preparing for my Master’s course application, through revising my research proposal and practicing for interviews. Academic Japanese language proficiency is necessary for learning specialized knowledge and taking specialized subjects in graduate school, and the Pre-Master Course enables you to gain them. You can also audit classes from the graduate school. Through the Pre-Master Course, you can enjoy a fulfilling study life while making friends in Japan.

China/Economics Major

Before enrolling in the Pre-Master Course, I hadn’t learned enough about academic Japanese and was feeling anxious about going on to graduate school. However, through my study in the Pre-Master Course, my language proficiency improved, and I was able to use Japanese better than before. In addition, as well as academic Japanese, I also learned Japanese that was often used in everyday life. The Pre-Master Course taught me academic methods of expression such as research proposals and essays, how to use honorifics, how to give presentations, and communication skills. I’m really grateful to the teachers in the course.

Uzbekistan/Psychology Major

I’m from Uzbekistan and graduated from a Japanese university, but I had no experience in writing academic papers or giving presentations in Japanese. In this course, I learn all four skills of advanced Japanese proficiency: reading, writing, listening and speaking, in a well-balanced way. In addition to learning the necessary knowledge and skills for writing my research proposal, I also receive individual guidance on academic Japanese. It’s very impressive that I can get a support about my research from the professor in the graduate school.

China/Literature Major

The Pre-Master Course has classes that are essential for graduate students, such as thesis and report writing, skills for making communication smoother and interview preparation. By participating in my classes, I was able to overall improve my Japanese speaking, listening and writing abilities. In addition, as well as Japanese study, you can also learn specialized knowledge because you are able to take classes in your area of specialization. The teachers were also very kind and my classmates would help each other out in our study. In such an environment, my anxiety about studying abroad completely disappeared, and I was able to improve my Japanese language skills even more than I had expected. I’m really glad that I did the Pre-Master Course.

Vietnam/Education Major

When I graduated from university, I was thinking about entering graduate school. At that time I had JLPT N1, but I still struggled with writing the research proposals necessary for entering graduate school, as well as solving past questions on the graduate school entrance exam. That was because the Japanese I had learned was different to academic Japanese. On my teaching advisor’s recommendation, I decided to enroll in the Pre-Master Course. During the course, as well as learning academic Japanese, I enhanced my thinking about my research and had many opportunities to have discussions with students researching in a diverse range of fields. I’m currently writing my Master’s thesis, but for me, everything I learned in the Pre-Master Course is an important weapon.

Mongolia/Education Major

When entering a Master’s course, it’s common to enroll as a research student, but in this case, you create your research proposal and prepare for the entrance exam by yourself or with your teaching advisor. When undertaking research activities for the first time, it’s easy to imagine that there are numerous times when you stumble. However, Okayama University has a Pre-Master Course, and by learning in that course, you can gain fundamental knowledge such as setting your research topic and how to write academic papers. My time studying in this course was good preparation for my research activities in graduate school.

China/Chemistry Major

In the Pre-Master Course, you study academic Japanese and other subjects at Okayama University as a research student. For international students in humanities, even if you understand Japanese, research in graduate school will be difficult if your academic Japanese communication is not on the same level as a Japanese person. For that reason, half a year or a whole year of studying academic Japanese is necessary. For science major international students, even though the necessary Japanese proficiency isn’t as high as humanities, it is still necessary to learn how to interact with professors and other students, how to give academic presentations and how to read academic papers. In the Pre-Master course, you can learn these kinds of academic Japanese for these occasions systematically.