The way Japanese and Americans see "dating" is different.
They hand it out at the beginning of the class. I gotta try to make it for that.
Hey guys and girls it's Cathy Cat.
Today we're gonna hit the streets of Tokyo and ASK
the students here, what studying in Japan is really like and what
struggles there are. Let's go and Ask Japanese.
I am Japanese and studying in the USA. Right now I am visiting Japan.
Where are you studying? - It's a language school.
We're studying towards the TOEFL exam.
The TOEFL is an English level qualification.
Do you all have to pass it?
Yes that's a must.
Why did you decide to study abroad?
I wanted to be able to speak English properly and also....
I wanted to learn about the fashion over there.
Doing an exchange gave me the chance to do both, that's why I do it.
What's tough for Japanese when studying the English language?
The pronunciation is hard!
There are so many pronunciations that don't exist in Japanese. Those are hard.
The "TH" sound as well as "L and R"? - Yes those.
Where are you studying right now?
I am studying at a college in Los Angeles.
What's tough about studying there?
The classes there are super difficult.
It's hard to follow them.
Fashion classes? - Fashion merchandising classes.
I am studying marketing, you see.
If it was just fashion design it would be a lot more fun but...
But the terms used for marketing are really difficult...
It's not just about fashion but the back of the industry.
Learning that is really tough.
I assume the culture is really different too
What's tough studying abroad?
Love and relationships.
The way people think about these things is very different...
The way Japanese and Americans date it probably very different.
What's different? - First, men don't say "Please do out with me." in the USA.
It happens naturally.
After going on several dates, you might end up going out with each other.
In Japan, one will say "I would like to go out with you" and when you say yes it starts.
But that doesn't seem to be a thing in the USA.
"We have been dating a while... are we going out?" that's a thing (in Germany).
Asking that question is a bit scary in itself. Is it like that?
It is.
I get that.
We are asking people about their student lives. What did you study?
Electricity and Maths.
What maths? - I studied Education.
What's the toughest about studying at a Japanese university?
The amount of jobbing and club activities I had.
What does that mean? - I didn't get much time to study.
Thinking back, I didn't really go to the university to study.
How much % were you studying, jobbing and doing your club?
I studied 20% and then then job and club got about 40% each.
I didn't study.
What job and club was it?
Basketball club and jobbing at a cafe.
Did you WANT to job or HADTO?
I had to job to make enough money for commuting fees.
You did it yourself? - Yes I paid my commute and school fees.
What was tough about your student years?
Getting up early.
Being able to make it to class in the morning.
It was important to attend those classes.
I tried to get up early in the morning...and maybe sleep then.
When did you get up "early"
The classes were from 9:00... not at all early ...
But as student we party a lot. Stayed up all night and try to get to class in the morning.
I tried to make it on time for when attendance was taken. Then sleep during class.
Everyone did that.
You're allowed to sleep during class?
We are not allowed to, but our teachers were not that strict.
But it was important to be there at least for attendance.
Was there a strike out system in case you're late?
They hand out a card you have to sign if you're attending.
Needs to be in your handwriting.
If you don't sign it, it counts as a missed class.
They hand it out at the start of class and I tried to make it at least for that.
How did you do? - Tried my best to make it.
How often were you working a week? - 5 Days.
You did a lot of work! - I did.
How often were you doing your club activities. - 4 times a week.
How often did you study then?
Well... like ... not at all. Just before the tests.
What was the hardest study?
I studied science so the final research was the hardest.
What did you have to research?
Transceivers and similar.
Also the wireless connection of mobile phones and such.
I didn't quite understand it all while studying and didn't know more when I graduated.
So your dissertation was about that?
I mainly just copied and pasted things I found and at the end added my research.
The director laughed so hard, the camera what shaking.
(director) I get him.
The director seems to get what you did.
I was a lazy student.
I studied education and the subject was about sports and movement.
I was playing baseball. I tested pitching just with the arm in comparision to
using the whole body to see what ball was faster.
What if I use just the hand, the arm or the whole body...
I threw the balls by myself and saw which balls would be faster.
Was the final dissertation hard?
I can't really say it loud, but I basically just copied and pasted it...
The seminar's teacher was really kind.
So I pulled half of the dissertation from somewhere else. It wasn't hard.
Did you learn anything vital as student?
When you start working, knowing math is helpful after all.
I think I can calculate faster than the average.
Is there some math that helped you recently?
How to calculate using % and such is helpful.
Have your studies helped your current life?
Being honest, the ability to teach others is a helpful skill.
I was also jobbing while studying and joined a club.
I connected and communicated with many people. That's a skill I got too.
Those were our questions. Thank you.
So many Japanese students don't seem to study much during their student years...
Well well well, is that news to you or are you familiar with that?
To be honest, when I was in Germany,
I studied so hard, we had constantly tests, it was a nightmare ... when I went to the UK...
I still studied very hard but I saw that depending on which subject people were choosing
... they didn't study as hard... or they left it last minute and still somehow managed to pass
Wherever you go, studying can be slightly different however
in Japan, what I have seen, because the universities are quite pricey
They are rivaling around the money that you pay in the US
for certain universities.
Parents seem to be saving up most of their children's lives
in order to make it possible for their children to go to university.
Because it can be quite pricey.
There are private universities which are so expensive that barely anyone can afford it.
They also have public universities which then are really hard to get into
because everyone wants to enter those and the tests are really tough.
Again the whole situation of trying to get into university can take people
up to years to make it into. The (entrance) tests are tough
there is lots of rivalry and you have to pass a lot of tests and sometimes they happen
at the same time so you can't even apply at several universities at the same time.
Quite tough. It's actually very hard, I've mentioned this on my channel before...
Especially when you wanna go into medicine and similar.
Very prestigious subjects.
Yes also because the majority of people seems to graduate here in Japan with a university
degree, it's kind of frowned upon if you come to Japan and you don't have a degree
Generally the majority of Japanese people I know owns a university degree
it's just a thing to do there. There is not as much apprenticeships for example as you would
find in Germany. Which means generally I would always recommend you guys if you wanna come to Japan
and live here for a while, to have a university degree.
The general question is: What makes you more employable than a Japanese person?
And if you havent' that...
20-30 years back (people will still ask you about it)
It seems to be a big issue and seems to show what kind of person you are.
How hard did you work, what university did you get into? What did you study?
People will still ask you that for years to come! So bring a university degree
when you wanna live here for a longer time.
I hope this helped you guys. If it did, don't forget to subscribe and
also leave a big... bag... A big like.... big fat like on the way out.
I catch you soon for more stuff here from Tokyo coming out to you. Thank you! Bye!