This program incorporates both English language training and cross-cultural experiences. New Zealand is known as a notably peaceful country in the world and many international students gather there to study. At The University of Waikato, in addition to English grammar, conversation and listening, there was a class about Maori culture. Each class had 20 students maximum, and was held in a small classroom. Since the class size was small, the communication between teacher and students was very active. Student-centered classes were comfortable to me. One of the attractive points of The University of Waikato is that you can interact with many people through events such as sports competition.

What felt the most new to me during this program was home stay. Before leaving Japan, I wasn’t worried too much because English was my favorite subject. However, as the program began, the “English only” environment made me anxious. It was hard to express how I feel in English and I couldn’t make smooth communication. Still, the host family talked to me a lot, so it helped me to improve my communication skill. Although three weeks were not enough to become a fluent English speaker, I strongly felt I want to improve my English ability to express myself better and to have a hearty talk in English. After coming back from New Zealand, I’ve been studying English harder because I do not want to repeat the same mistake again when I go abroad next time. I learned the importance of challenging something new from this program and I became mentally stronger. It’s terrifying to imagine what if I had not participated in this program. This was surely a life changing experience for me.

Challenging something new may sound scary. However, it is worth trying especially because you have never done it before. If you try, life will surely change!

(Updated: November 9, 2017)