Sessions

Pre/post study abroad learning in the local community

Pre/post study abroad learning for college students does not have to limit itself to classrooms. Given the current situation in Japan, with an expanding foreign resident population, a new opportunity has presented itself: Language exchange between college students and foreign residents in the local community. A preliminary trial called Kokubunji Local has been conducted in Kokubunji, Tokyo. It is a weekly Japanese-English language exchange among people in the Kokubunji area that include college students. It has 37 members from 12 nations. There have been 24 meetings as of February 18th, 2020, with 7 participants for each meeting on average. One meeting usually lasts for 1 hour, half spent on English conversation, the other on Japanese conversation. Kokubunji Local provides college students with opportunities to have casual talks with the participants from diverse background, many of who speak fluent English. Students who plan to study abroad are especially benefited as foreign participants often talk about the cultural differences between Japan and their home countries. Students often realize that not only their English needs to be improved a lot prior to their study abroad but also they should bring conversation topics and entertain the participants. For students who have come back after study abroad, Kokubunji Local provides an opportunity to put their improved speaking skills into practice. A list of suggestions will be presented at the end of the presentation for a further trial at a bigger scale. These will include suggestions regarding how to draw participants, venue, time, facilitators, etc.