After graduating from university in Taiwan, I was in the military for one year for compulsory training after which I enrolled in Takushoku University's Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students. I studied there for one year. I am going on to the university's Graduate School of Commerce in April.

I became interested in Japan through the Japanese singer Namie Amuro. I like her very much and used to sing her songs a lot.

I learned about Takushoku University's Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students through my next door neighbor's son. He completed the program and then went on to study at Takushoku University. After graduation, he joined a Japanese company that is involved in overseas trade. I would like to find employment at a similar type of Japanese company after completing my graduate course. I applied to Takushoku University through the university's Taiwan office.

Japanese language, Japanese society and culture, and English are the compulsory subjects. You can also take other subjects that are necessary for enrolling in a university as an undergraduate, but my objective was to go to graduate school, so I just studied the compulsory subjects.

Classes were held five days a week, from Mondays to Fridays between 9:00am and 4:00pm. Fortunately, I was able to get into a student dormitory located close to the university, so after classes were over, I would go back to my dorm once, eat dinner, and then go to the university library and study there until about 9:00pm. That was how I spent all my weekdays. I did my own cooking.

The good thing about being in the Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students was that I could use not only the library but also the computer room, cafeteria and other facilities at the university. You can also get a student discount for train passes, etc.

The professors teaching the Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students were all highly qualified and very good. I did not do any part-time work, and there were no Japanese students at the dorm, so my only opportunity for learning Japanese was the classes. Other than that, it was what I studied on my own at the library. Even so, I went from not being able to understand spoken Japanese at all when I first arrived to being able to understand it pretty well now. I am happy that I can go shopping or ask for directions on the street using just my Japanese. I no longer have any language problems if I catch a cold and visit the doctor for treatment. I recently went to a real estate agent by myself--I was moving out of the dormitory and needed to find my own apartment. I did not have any problem finding my new place on my own.

I took the Level 2 exam for the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JPLT) in December and passed. I then started studying for my graduate school entrance exam, which was on January 27, and passed that as well. I primarily used two books to study for the graduate school exam, but I would never have been able to understand those two books if I had not taken classes between April and November in the Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students.

To students who are considering going to a graduate school in Japan, I recommend that they take and pass JPLT Level 1 before the graduate school entrance examination. This is because JPLT Level 1 is a prerequisite for taking the graduate school entrance exam at most universities. I was allowed to take the exam with only a Level 2 because I was going from a university program to a graduate school program within the same university. I think that to be able to pass Level 1 through studies in a language program for overseas students, you need to have studied a bit of Japanese beforehand, so studying some Japanese before you even come to Japan would be a good idea.