I have always been interested in foreign cultures and languages. Therefore I decided to participate in this exchange program with Curtin university. I would like to put importance on improving English skills, feeling some differences between Japan and Australia and interacting native speakers. Regarding English, I want to get some skills that I can talk in English with specific terms fluently. And also, I want to learn cultures or way of thinking which I can’t learn in Japan through the club activities, life in dormitory and conversation. Lastly, my final goal is to find what I want to do in my future. I have a dream that I want to make connections between Japan and other countries as my job by taking advantage of my English skills and experiences. However, it is too abstract. Therefore, I want to define my future dream through this study. And also I want to make this exchange program worthy.

It’s been about half a year since I arrived in Australia and I’m at the turn of this exchange program now. In the begging, I started by getting used to their English. I sometimes got a hard time in classes and daily conversations because Australian English is a bit different from American English, which I was used to hearing. Also since most of the students are international students, I had many opportunities to listen to English spoken by people from various countries. After I got used to this environment, I had less trouble in classes and conversations. Outside of school life, I feel that my personality has changed. In the begging, when I had opportunities to talk with others at events, I rarely tried to talk to them. It might have occurred because of my lack of confidence in my English. However, after living here for couple months, I became more confident in my English and began to talk to other students. I believe this kind of experience is hard to come by in Japan, so it was definitely good experience for me. From now on, I will also do my best to make my last semester an opportunity to train my English as well as review myself more.

My exchange program in Australia has ended, and I feel that not only have I improved my English, but I have also grown as a person. In terms of English, I was unable to understand anything in my first classes at university, because the Australian English was unfamiliar to me and was spoken at a native speed. However, through repeated classes, assignments, and conversations with friends, I was eventually able to understand almost everything. I also feel that my personality has changed from my previous self, and that I have become more proactive in many things. I think the reason for this is that there are far more opportunities to express my opinions and make presentations during classes than in Japanese universities. At first, I was a little nervous , but I realized the importance of expressing my opinions, and I feel that this has made me more confident . Finally, my future goal is to convey the good points of Japan to the world, which I had set before studying abroad, and I would like to use the English skills I have acquired from my study abroad experience to contribute to the management of accommodation facilities aimed at tourists, mainly from overseas. Many of my friends also traveled to Japan during my stay in Australia, and from there I felt a strong sense of the value of Japan as a tourist destination, and I began to feel that I wanted foreigners who visit Japan to have a better experience. From this, I would like to be able to convey the charm of Japan in a place where I can closely interact with people from overseas.