AIU TOPICS
AIU Voices
Student Voice: Chang Ling-Erh, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Academic Experience
In my first semester at AIU, I took Japanese, Korean, Music and Performance, and Physical Education at AIU. I’m planning to stay for the Winter Program and Spring Semester, too.
For Japanese, I was in Intermediate Japanese 305, and I’ve improved a lot in just my first semester. At that level, the whole course is taught in Japanese, so my listening skills, especially, have gotten much better. Our classes also have a lot of speaking opportunities, from conversation practice at the beginning of class to taking turns giving a 1-minute speech on topics of our choice.
Extracurricular Activities: Travel and Onsen
Hiking to a waterfall amid autumn leaves
(Photo courtesy of Chang Ling-Erh)
My friends and I travel a lot on weekends. We rent a car together and so far we’ve traveled to Sendai, Morioka, and Oga, as well as to several onsen (hot springs).
So far, I’ve been to four onsen. I’d never been to anything like that before, where we have to get naked in front of other people, but now I don’t really think about it. One of my favorite onsen was right by the beach, so I could watch the sunset from the baths.
I haven’t been to Akita’s famous nyuto onsen, with the white mineral water yet – I’m saving that one for when it starts to snow. I’ve never seen snow before.
Campus Life
Ling-Erh with friends selling “Negi (Green Onion) Pie” at the AIU Festival
(Photo Courtesy of Chang Ling-Erh)
One of my favorite things about AIU is that you never feel like a stranger here. There are many international students from around the world and the Japanese students are not afraid to speak to international students in English, so it makes for friendly community!
Academic Experience
In my first semester at AIU, I took Japanese, Korean, Music and Performance, and Physical Education at AIU. I’m planning to stay for the Winter Program and Spring Semester, too.
For Japanese, I was in Intermediate Japanese 305, and I’ve improved a lot in just my first semester. At that level, the whole course is taught in Japanese, so my listening skills, especially, have gotten much better. Our classes also have a lot of speaking opportunities, from conversation practice at the beginning of class to taking turns giving a 1-minute speech on topics of our choice.
Extracurricular Activities: Travel and Onsen
Hiking to a waterfall amid autumn leaves
(Photo courtesy of Chang Ling-Erh)
My friends and I travel a lot on weekends. We rent a car together and so far we’ve traveled to Sendai, Morioka, and Oga, as well as to several onsen (hot springs).
So far, I’ve been to four onsen. I’d never been to anything like that before, where we have to get naked in front of other people, but now I don’t really think about it. One of my favorite onsen was right by the beach, so I could watch the sunset from the baths.
I haven’t been to Akita’s famous nyuto onsen, with the white mineral water yet – I’m saving that one for when it starts to snow. I’ve never seen snow before.
Campus Life
Ling-Erh with friends selling “Negi (Green Onion) Pie” at the AIU Festival
(Photo Courtesy of Chang Ling-Erh)
One of my favorite things about AIU is that you never feel like a stranger here. There are many international students from around the world and the Japanese students are not afraid to speak to international students in English, so it makes for friendly community!