schools in Japan

[Kei_Shugojin]

I'm a kid taking pre-requisite courses at a local community college. When I learn the Japanese language/writing system to a good enough level, I want to move to Japan and go to a university there. Not as an exchange student, but as a full normal student.

I was wondering if anyone here knew of any good universities for Mechanical/Biomechanical Engineering in Japan, and if so, if you could post links to the web sites of the universities stated.

[Mike Cash]

This is going to sound harsh.....

If your Japanese isn't at the level that you can use www.google.co.jp to search for that information, then you're far enough from attending Japanese university that any info we might give you would be years out of date by the time you actually got ready to start on this project.

[Kei_Shugojin]

well, I was mainly curious so that I could start looking. That's all. I know my Japanese isn't at that level, yet, but I'm trying to get there.

anyway, thanks for your advice.

[Mike Cash]

Thank me when I say something useful. As much as I normally enjoy being a butthole, I didn't get any joy from the response I gave you on this one.

I don't know how your Japanese studies have progressed so far, but if you're thinking of going into a Japanese college as a normal student upon completing your work where you are now (which I assume is two years, correct me if I'm wrong), just keep in mind that you will need sufficient Japanese proficiency to pass JLPT1.

That's not necessarily an impossible task, by any means. I just wonder about what opportunities you will have in your area for active practice in listening to and speaking/writing Japanese. Sometimes people who study really hard outside Japan and attain one of the higher levels of JLPT find their actual listening and speaking skills trailing the level that the test indicates they have attained, due to not having had sufficient real world practice. Still, they do come out of it ready to hit the ground running and catch up on those parts.

[Kei_Shugojin]

well, I'm not just your run of the mill "I wanna live in Japan" type kid, okay. I'm seriously considering it.

Now, I do appreciate your advice. However, I was wondering if you could help me out with something.

I want to learn how to read kanji/katakana/hiragana, but I don't have access to a Japanese language course very easily. Could you give me reccomendations as to the best books on the subject of learning Japanese?

[Mishima_Kazuya]

can u speak it fluently ?

[Yukipenguin]

Whoa. You need to atleast learn hiragana/katakana and some kanji before considering setting foot in Japan. In my opinion. And you have to have the first two down perfectly before moving on to Kanji.

[den4]

Ok, so you are seriously wanting to live in Japan and go to university as a normal student. The question is why? And what's wrong with being a foreign exchange student? The latter is much easier to accomplish and far less stressful with dealings in proficiency tests and the like...
I can understand the wanting to live in Japan, but why bother with the normal student part?

[CorDarei]

well, I'm not just your run of the mill "I wanna live in Japan" type kid, okay. I'm seriously considering it.

Well, a lot of people seriously consider it. It's whether you actually go through with it that counts. With that said, if you ARE serious, I recommend (if you really don't want to or just can't go to a university in the US with a Japanese program) the Nakama series or the Genki series of textbooks. Study hard, and find as many sources of spoken and written Japanese as possible to practice on. Learning enough Japanese to be able to get into a Japanese university is not going to be easy, or quick. I've been studying for close to three years now, and can (maybe) pass the JLPT Level 2. (Results in the spring.) So you might want to seriously consider forgetting about undergrad and study to get into a Japanese graduate school. Anyway, good luck, and check out the Nihongo forums here, they're a really good source of help with Japanese (most of the time.)

[edit] Forgot to mention, the University System of Georgia has online Japanese courses, if you live in Georgia you can take them. Non-residents MIGHT be able to sign up, I don't remember.

I can understand the wanting to live in Japan, but why bother with the normal student part?

Something wrong with going to a Japanese university? I agree it's not the easiest thing to do, but that should hardly be a reason to decide on what to do with your life. If you have enough Japanese to do it, and do want to live in Japan (and haven't gotten a degree yet), I would say it's an excellent choice. Study abroad/exchange study is just for people who don't meet one of the first two criteria.

[Rio Lee]

I'm a kid taking pre-requisite courses at a local community college. When I learn the Japanese language/writing system to a good enough level, I want to move to Japan and go to a university there. Not as an exchange student, but as a full normal student.

I was wondering if anyone here knew of any good universities for Mechanical/Biomechanical Engineering in Japan, and if so, if you could post links to the web sites of the universities stated.

What do you mean by Biomechanical? is it the study of mechanics of a living body? or the study of mechanical applied to a living body?(Bioengineering), because i can't seem to find a major associated to Biomechanical in my "Index of Majors in Japan" book. But theres plenty on Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biological Functions and Engineering, if any of those major interest you, I would be happy to list all of the Universities here plus the website, and no, i don't know which of them are the best in the field I mention above or whatever, sorry. The only field of studies I know about is either robotic eng or A.I. Tech. :p

Rio

[den4]

Something wrong with going to a Japanese university? I agree it's not the easiest thing to do, but that should hardly be a reason to decide on what to do with your life. If you have enough Japanese to do it, and do want to live in Japan (and haven't gotten a degree yet), I would say it's an excellent choice. Study abroad/exchange study is just for people who don't meet one of the first two criteria.

Didn't say there was anything wrong with going to a Japanese university...just wondered why bother? Or, perhaps, if you prefer, what is the motivation behind going to a J university through the normal means like the native Japanese? Sure it can be an excellent choice, but, and this is just my view, at this particular moment (subject to change without warning or with warning), what is the motivation? Is it the challenge? The prestige? Personal pride? Because it's there? I'm just curious behind the motivation...just seems like a hard way to go about getting to enter a J university...unless there is a particular reason to enter a particular university that requires this particular method of choice?

I simply don't know and this is why I'm asking....

[CorDarei]

Didn't say there was anything wrong with going to a Japanese university...just wondered why bother? Or, perhaps, if you prefer, what is the motivation behind going to a J university through the normal means like the native Japanese? Sure it can be an excellent choice, but, and this is just my view, at this particular moment (subject to change without warning or with warning), what is the motivation? Is it the challenge? The prestige? Personal pride? Because it's there? I'm just curious behind the motivation...just seems like a hard way to go about getting to enter a J university...unless there is a particular reason to enter a particular university that requires this particular method of choice?

I simply don't know and this is why I'm asking....

Maybe he just wants to be Japanese. I'm joking, but it might simply be a desire to integrate himself into Japanese society, and since he's going to college anyway, why not in Japan? I'm sure those other things are there to some extent, but I think that if you want to live in Japan, and are thinking about attending a university, a Japanese university seems like a natural option. At least to me. Of course, in his situation, I think an exchange program would be much better. Nothing wrong with considering, though, and as for his particular motivation, I can't say, of course.

[den4]

I wonder if they give that bloody stupid engrish entrance exam to foreign students too? I thought some of the questions were hard enough to make the US Income Tax rules look like a piece of cake.... :D

[Mike Cash]

I wonder why he doesn't participate further in his own thread if he is actually so seriously intent on this plan of action.

I wonder why over the years not a single one of the people I have encountered on the net with a similar goal has ever actually accomplished it....

[BrennaCeDria]

Clarification on the University System of Georgia courses:

These are online courses offered through the Georgia Technical Institute. You must (from what I was told when I inquired) be a student of a Georgia University to apply to both GA Tech as a transient student as well as have both your university and the Online Education Languages Department (or whatever they called it) at GA Tech approve the specific class seperately. It's not one of those online courses where you just log in at any time of day and get your info, either: You must log in at the same scheduled time every day and must have a microphone minimum to participate in class discussions. When I checked a few months ago, the Japanese program was a set of three courses, each of which you must not only pass to get to the next one, but also resubmit all applications (GA Tech, your university, and the language dept at GA Tech) every semester for each new course.

Unfortunately, because I haven't attended Armstrong Atlantic in over a year and wasn't passing when I was, my school wouldn't approve me for online study with GA Tech this semester.