I took the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU) in November last year, and Hitotsubashi University's special screening test for foreign students in February. I was admitted to Hitotsubashi University's Faculty of Social Sciences on the basis of these exams. For the EJU, I took the Japanese as a Foreign Language, Mathematics and Japan and the World (covers politics, economy and society; geography; and history) subject tests in Japanese. The university's special screening test was a reading comprehension test of a research paper written in Japanese.

I am interested in the mass media, and I would especially like to study this theme at Hitotsubashi University. As for the future, I would not mind working in either Japan or Korea so long as I can apply what I have learned. Of course, I am just starting my university studies, so I think I will keep my mind open.

I wanted to study a foreign language other than English when I was in middle school, and so I studied very basic Japanese without giving it much thought. Once in high school, I was too busy studying for the university entrance exam that I did not have any time to study Japanese. All of my high school days were spent studying for the entrance exam because I wanted to get high scores and be accepted to a good university.

However, I got sick at the beginning of my senior year and was hospitalized. It made me very depressed. My friends were all busy studying for their entrance exams, and there was nobody that I could talk to. It was when I happened to be looking through a Japanese textbook from my middle school days that I realized that this was what I wanted to study. Until then, I did not have any real personal dream. I just thought that if I studied very hard and got good grades, it would allow me to get into an even better university.

I started studying Japanese again, and I found it very interesting. It provided me with a joy of learning that I had not experienced when studying for the university entrance exam. So, I asked my parents if they would allow me to go to Japan to study. When I was hospitalized, I had been weakened both physically and emotionally. My parents saw that I had pulled out of it and knew that I really wanted to go, so they agreed.

I chose to study at Takushoku University's Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students because the program was carried out within the university and had a very sound curriculum. I thought that it would be most appropriate as an environment for studying to go on to university. I knew someone who took this program at Takushoku University and then got admitted to Waseda University. That person now works for SoftBank, and I consulted with this person about a lot of things and decided to take the same program.

At Takushoku University's Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students, I took mathematics, history and geography, and contemporary Japan as electives in addition to the compulsory Japanese language, Japanese society and culture, and English courses. I did not want to place too much of a financial burden on my parents, and I studied very hard so that I could be accepted at a national university (like Hitotsubashi University) where tuition is not very high.

I had already passed the Level 2 Japanese-Language Proficiency Test in Korea, so I came to Japan somewhat confident of my Japanese language abilities. However, I found to my shock that I could not carry on a conversation here in Japanese. People have different accents and the speed at which they speak is also different. Men and women also talk differently. I could speak in Japanese, but I had a difficult time understanding what was spoken to me. In fact, I was once asked at a convenience store if I needed a plastic bag for my purchases. I thought the person was asking me if I needed a plastic straw and said, "No." I ended up having to carry a lot of items home with me in my arms. It was since that experience that I started studying very earnestly.

What I found very beneficial in my Japanese-language studies was the use of the Internet. If I heard a word that I did not know, I would type it into a search engine like Yahoo! That way, you see a lot of different sentences using that word. I would read all of them to learn how and when that word was used. I also kept the television on at all times, and I tried to imitate the way women, such as female announcers, spoke.

I was envious of students from China and Taiwan because they were already familiar with Kanji characters and could learn how to read and write Japanese relatively quickly. We rarely use Chinese characters in our daily life in Korea, and we do not have many opportunities to learn it. Therefore, it was very difficult for me to learn written Japanese. However, when it comes to conversation, it seems that Koreans have an advantage because the grammar is similar. I was glad to have been born Korean in that respect.

What I thought was good about the Intensive Language Program for Overseas Students was the way the classes were conducted. The professors taught us by repetition, repeating the same content many times so that foreign students could understand it. I personally like revision and think that reviewing something you have learned is very important. The professors reviewed with great care those things that we could not review on our own.

At Hitotsubashi University, I will be studying Japanese as a second foreign language. I want to increase my Japanese vocabulary and make it possible for me to express what I am feeling or thinking in Japanese just like a Japanese person. I also want to be able to discuss and debate things in Japanese as well.