I studied at University of Montreal in Quebec, in the east of Canada, from September 2014 to May 2015. When you hear “studying abroad in Canada,” you may imagine that I took courses in English. That’s not right. I took them “in French.” In Quebec, some conflicts between France and Britain happened several times over the interest of Quebec. The historical cause exercised a great influence on the establishment of “two official languages -English and French-” in the whole Canada. However, in fact, people in Quebec always speak French.

Before leaving Japan, I didn’t particularly try to take a lot of French language proficieny exams. Instead, I saw French grammar classes at the university as the most important part of preparation because it’s evident that learning grammar is the best shortcut to become a fluent speaker for people who learn languages in addition to their mother tongue. Nothing is more important than the basis. I made it a rule in Japan to review French grammar.

I went to French language school on campus in the first semester abroad, and I took some classes with regular students in the second semester, namely “The Theory of International Relations” and “The European History in the 18^th and 19^th Century.” In the class of “The Theory of International Relations,” the teacher usually picked up China and Japan as an example when talking about Asia. Moreover, students often asked the teacher some complicated questions related to China and Japan. When I was in Japan, I couldn’t believe in the news that the action of China and Japan is always the object of the whole world’s attention. However, taking classes outside Japan enabled me to trust that the news is true. Reviewing Japan from outside interested me greatly and gave me a new way of thinking, for my major is international political science at Kanazawa University.

All you will acquire during study abroad is not only improvement of your language skills. During my stay in Montreal, I improved the abilities to analyze problems from different viewpoints of culture, race, people and language, to imagine others’ situations and to analyze myself objectively. In addition, I’m really sure that these abilities are necessary in Japan as well as in other countries.

With the friends at French language school

 

(Updated: October 16, 2015)