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 Series
No. 1: Kwan Eisaku
Arrived in Japan in September 1999. Studied Japanese under the Japanese
Language School of the International Students Institute 18-month course.
Enrolled in Sophia University's Faculty of Science and Technology,
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering in April 2001. |
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My father studied in Japan when he was
young, and after returning to Jakarta, he established a trading company
that imported machine parts. He succeeded in making it a well-established
company. He named me "Eisaku" (note: a Japanese name) out of gratitude
to a Japanese person who was his guarantor when he was a student in
Japan.
Because I grew up in such a household environment, I naturally started
thinking that I would someday study in Japan, too. I am interested
in electronic engineering so that is what I came to Japan to study.
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Around the end of my senior year, I went to the Association of International
Education, Japan (AIEJ) in Jakarta and asked where I could study electronic
engineering in Japan. They referred me to many universities, but they
also told me that I would need strong basic academic abilities in
order to pass the university entrance examinations. They additionally
told me that the University of Indonesia offered preparatory Japanese-language
courses with the cooperation of the International Students Institute.
A teacher of this course told me in detail about the preparations
I needed to make as well as about university entrance examinations.
I thought that if I was going all the way to Japan to study, I might
as well make sure that I enrolled in a good university. So, I decided
to first enroll in a preparatory training institute in Japan that
also taught basic courses for university entrance. I submitted an
application to a school that my teacher referred me to, and was fortunately
accepted. I enrolled in an 18-month course that began in October 1999.
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I was not as worried as students who
had not studied Japanese at all before their arrival since I had already
learned how to write Hiragana and Katakana (note: different types
of Japanese alphabet) as well as simple Japanese phrases. However,
learning how to read the Kanji (note: Chinese ideographs) with their
Chinese-derived pronunciation as well as in their Japanese pronunciation
was very difficult. There is obviously a lot of Kanji used in textbooks,
so there were Kanji tests every day. I got tired of it, but I knew
that learning it was very important if I wanted to enter a university
of my choice, so I studied very diligently. Thanks to all the hard
work, I was fortunately accepted at Sophia University's Faculty of
Science and Technology, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. |
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I had already studied about Japanese
culture and customs at the Japanese-language school in Jakarta. I
had also watched Japan's NHK satellite broadcast every day, so there
were very few surprises after my arrival. I also did not experience
any problems making friends in Japan since I was living in the school
dormitory. |
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I think they should study Japanese before
they come to Japan. They should at least learn simple phrases like
greetings, as well as Hiragana and Katakana. I think that students
should have the equivalent of at least a Level 3 of the Japanese Proficiency
Test before they go to Japan if they want to be accepted at a Japanese
university quickly. There are many Japanese-language schools in Jakarta,
so if you live in the area, I think you should visit the Association
of International Education, Japan (AIEJ) or the Japan Foundation in
Jakarta so that they can refer you to a Japanese-language school. |
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Uploaded on 3rd September 2001
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