Spring Break
Japanese language program immerses international, UA students
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: Life & Style
Japanese exchange students have confirmed a universal sentiment: class is boring. For these 26 students, class takes a back seat as they comb the UA campus for real-world experiences.
The Kanto Gakuin fall exchange program is a partnership between the UA and Kanto Gakuin University in Yokohama, Japan. Kanto Gakuin students enroll to spend three weeks in the U.S. at the UA.
"Each year, the students come for a program of three things," said program director Leyah Bergman-Lanier of the Spring International Language Center. "One is cultural immersion. There's also language immersion in relation to campus life and family. [It's] conversation- oriented, mostly listening and speaking."
Bergman-Lanier compared the students' English education to U.S. students' Spanish coursework in that "we have a lot of language in our heads, but we've never used it.
"In three weeks, the third goal is just to unearth all that, get all that language that's stuck in their heads out and functional," she said. "One of the big goals for them is developing confidence to use what they have."
The intensive language program includes English coursework in the mornings and various events that explore Fayetteville in the afternoons and evenings. Service Learning, which recently was added to the program, is a weekly volunteer activity at charitable organizations such as Lifestyles, the Arkansas Foodbank Network, and the Boys and Girls Club.
Tagging along to most events are the students' conversation partners, who serve as campus peers to the group.
"Conversation partners are current University of Arkansas undergrads," said Alannah Massey, sponsored programs coordinator. "These are students who have either expressed interest in Japanese culture or just international culture. Some of them have traveled to Japan before, [and] some of them are current Japanese students in Japanese language classes.
"They're mostly volunteering their time to spend three intense weeks with the Japanese students," she said.
The Kanto Gakuin fall exchange program is a partnership between the UA and Kanto Gakuin University in Yokohama, Japan. Kanto Gakuin students enroll to spend three weeks in the U.S. at the UA.
"Each year, the students come for a program of three things," said program director Leyah Bergman-Lanier of the Spring International Language Center. "One is cultural immersion. There's also language immersion in relation to campus life and family. [It's] conversation- oriented, mostly listening and speaking."
Bergman-Lanier compared the students' English education to U.S. students' Spanish coursework in that "we have a lot of language in our heads, but we've never used it.
"In three weeks, the third goal is just to unearth all that, get all that language that's stuck in their heads out and functional," she said. "One of the big goals for them is developing confidence to use what they have."
The intensive language program includes English coursework in the mornings and various events that explore Fayetteville in the afternoons and evenings. Service Learning, which recently was added to the program, is a weekly volunteer activity at charitable organizations such as Lifestyles, the Arkansas Foodbank Network, and the Boys and Girls Club.
Tagging along to most events are the students' conversation partners, who serve as campus peers to the group.
"Conversation partners are current University of Arkansas undergrads," said Alannah Massey, sponsored programs coordinator. "These are students who have either expressed interest in Japanese culture or just international culture. Some of them have traveled to Japan before, [and] some of them are current Japanese students in Japanese language classes.
"They're mostly volunteering their time to spend three intense weeks with the Japanese students," she said.
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