Let's Learn!
Teaching (Classroom)
Although I was an exchange student participating in the ACAP program, I was advised by my teachers to take additional Japanese-medium specialized courses, such as Structural Dynamics of Buildings, and to take additional Japanese courses on my own to accelerate the improvement of my Japanese language skills.
Japanese Language Learning Classes
In my personal opinion, the Japanese language program at TUT is highly recommended. The school system evaluates the Japanese language courses required for foreign students based on the Japanese language level exams and arranges appropriate and challenging courses. For example, three months after I arrived in Japan, I passed the N2 level exam and was promoted to a more difficult Japanese course, where I learned about presentation language and pitch training, which helped me to improve my language skills and professionalism in line with the research needs of Sato's research lab. The following pictures are classroom books for reference.
English Learning Classes
In addition to Japanese classes, I also recommend the English classes at TUT. Not only are the teachers very strong, but the atmosphere in the classes is even more enjoyable.
Maybe some people will laugh at me:
"How can anyone learn English in Japan? It's ridiculous."
"Japanese people don't speak English anymore. Do you want to go there to learn Japanese English?"
At first, I was skeptical, but thinking that I might need to publish in English in the future, or to write essays or international journals in English, I decided to try to understand the subject through the classroom first, since I had never written an essay in Taiwan. I had no idea that my attempt would change my impression of Japanese English classes.
- Writing CoursesThe course was taught by a foreign male lecturer, who spent one semester on the course, from the abstract to the conclusion, from the textbook to the practical examples, and finally helped to correct the whole of my graduation thesis, with great care.
- Publishing CoursesI was amazed by her concise, powerful and to-the-point presentation, which had a great impact on my future presentations and speeches. In addition, she had group discussion activities, which made the class not rigid and made me laugh and learn. Because of the small size of the class, she puts a lot of effort into each student, which is my idea of an ideal university English class.
Majors
Besides the Japanese course, the most important course is my major course. Although I was an exchange student, I took most of the required courses for my master's degree, such as Structural Dynamics, Vibration Control and Isolation, and other related structural courses, together with my lab mates. During the program, I found that most of the assignments were related to program language. Therefore, if you know a little bit of programming language before you come to Japan, you can reduce your academic burden a lot.
One of the assignments that gave me a headache for a long time was the creation of a solenoidal loop diagram. Luckily, I met a very capable Taiwanese PhD student in the classroom. After several discussions, we finally succeeded in using Matlab to run the graph, which was a task that even our lab staff could not accomplish. Looking back, I am really thankful for the help from that senior.
Overtime (seminar)
Perhaps in Japanese research laboratories, one often hears Japanese people say:
"I'm sorry, but I have to leave now."
Or say:
"We're screwed. We don't have the data for Zim ready yet..."
I was so dumbfounded that I didn't know what they were talking about, so what exactly is "ゼミ"?
What is ゼミ?
ゼミ is actually the abbreviation of ゼミナール, which refers to the mode of learning in universities and other institutions of higher education in which a small number of students, under the guidance of professors or lecturers, carry out in-depth research or discussion on a specific topic. In Japanese, it is also known as "研究会" or "セミナー".
The key features of the Seminar are set out below:
- Small class sizes: Usually it consists of about 10 to 20 students or less. As a result, students are closer to their professors or lecturers, and it is easier to engage in lively discussions and Q&A sessions.
- Themes are explored in depth: In-depth research is conducted on specific topics through literature surveys, fieldwork, and experiments. It may also be the subject of a graduation thesis or master's thesis.
- Active Learning: Students take the initiative to advance their learning, and develop an attitude of independent thinking and learning through presentations and discussions. It is not just a place for knowledge transfer, but also a place for honing thinking and presentation skills.
- Close relationship with Prof: Due to the small number of students, students are closer to their professors or lecturers and can receive detailed guidance on individual students' learning progress and problems.
To put it simply, this "ゼミ" is actually an activity similar to a seminar or book club in Taiwan. There are many different kinds of activities, depending on the professor's area of specialization and research topic. In addition, some seminars require students to give presentations, write reports, or do group work. They play an important role in deepening professional knowledge and enhancing research skills in university life.
Sato Laboratory's Zemi
There are two types of ゼミ in the Sato Research Laboratory:
- Book Club Zemi
- We read books on vibration science together, assign specific chapters to be organized into presentations, and take turns reporting on them each week.
- The other is programming and software learning, such as Fortran95, ANSYS, and Matlab.
- Teacher's discussion of ゼミ
- The teacher points out each student's research question, confirms the progress of the research, patiently guides mistakes and adds new knowledge.
- After each discussion, the time for the next overtime is scheduled and the teacher's free time is marked on the whiteboard, so that students can ask questions at any time when they encounter problems.
Since Mr. Honda and I are co-researchers, he always accompanied me during the discussion, which made the discussion smoother. The following are the notes I took when I was trying my best to understand the syntax of Fortran95, but later I felt that I was not smart enough, and since the original code of Mr. Honda was related to Simulink, I chose to use Matlab to finish my research.
Academic Societies (Academic Societies)
In addition to research, publication of results is also crucial. The Sato Laboratory regularly participates in the Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ) twice a year, once at the national level, where students from all over Japan travel from all over the country to attend the designated venue, and once in the Kanto region, which is mainly for local students.
National Architectural Association
Together with Mr. David, I gave a presentation in English on the theory and application of seismicity. We divided the work into two parts: David presented the theoretical part, and I presented the applied examples. The lab provided us with a full subsidy, including airfare, hotel expenses, and daily meals, totaling more than 60,000 yen for the four-day, three-night trip, which was very generous.
Although it was a hot day, everyone wore suits to the ceremony. After the presentation, they changed back to casual clothes and joined the celebration banquet.
little reminder
For reimbursement, you will need a round-trip ticket stub, a club membership ticket, and proof of lodging (on a school-specific form to be completed by the hotel).
Kanto Branch Architectural Society
The March 2017 release is actually where all that I've learned in my exchange year comes into play.
a year ago
I remember the first time I was ゼミ, the professor asked me:
"Do you want to write your paper in English or Japanese?"
At that time, while I was still thinking, Mr. Honda, the senior next to me, said:
"Now that we're in Japan, let's try using Japanese."
I said hesitantly:
"Seriously, I only know the Isuzu and basic grammar, and I haven't even passed the Japanese test yet..."
The schoolmaster added:
"In Japan, if you write an essay in Japanese, we can help you to correct the sentences accurately. On the other hand, if you write in English, we are not native speakers, so we can't say with confidence that all the sentences are correct. Now that you're here, you should learn the best parts. I believe in your qualifications, there is no problem!
At that moment, I was actually very skeptical, but in that atmosphere, I just blurted it out:
"I've decided to write my thesis in Japanese! I'd appreciate your help!"
First time overtime
I handed in my weekly Japanese newspaper with fear and trepidation and tried to express my research results in Japanese. The teacher said at the end of the class:
"This Japanese is too much like a schoolboy. No."
At that time, I thought to myself:
"Oh, shit. I think I'm gonna get read to again."
The teacher suddenly laughed:
"In Japan, because of the fixed sentence pattern, the term 'the world's writings are a big copy' is just a substitution of nouns. Come on, let's fix it."
I didn't realize that my professor was slowly teaching me how to write Japanese essays:
- Sentence Vocabulary: You have to read a lot of essays first, copy good sentences into your own notes first, and then learn to revise them into your own sentences later.
- Specific typesetting: the font and figure size need to be corrected one by one, adjusted according to the thesis regulations, and standardized.
- Background Knowledge: Read relevant books and ask your seniors or teachers if you don't understand.
On that day, they stopped to help me with the knowledge of vibration-free construction that I didn't understand. In this way, the three-member, three-hour seminar was over, and I was very tired but I learned a lot, and I had to squeeze two years into two months to learn, which was very hard, but I felt the excitement of growth in a short period of time.
As for Mr. Honda, every time I talked to a teacher's ゼミ, he would first let me rehearse with him, listening to my report while helping me to revise the weekly report word by word.
One year later
One year later, I was able to present my Japanese thesis at the Kanto branch meeting of the Architectural Association of Japan. The twelve-minute presentation of my Japanese thesis was, frankly speaking, a very hard practice but I learned a lot.
After the announcement, a few teachers asked some questions. In fact, my Japanese ability was still not good enough at that time, and I did not understand some of them, and some of them could not answer fully even though I did understand them, so I could only say that I would continue to explore the topic and end my session.
Even so, after the presentation, teachers and older siblings came up to me and said, "Your presentation was really great!
Although I was not able to achieve one hundred percent, because of this, I was motivated and decided to continue my graduate studies in Japan.
The Value of Learning
Participating in the Institute is not only a platform for presenting research results, but also an important opportunity to communicate with other schools and expand my network. Through these activities, I have learned how to make professional presentations in English and Japanese, and with the increase in the number of presentations, I have been able to present myself confidently on different international stages.
Related Resources
- Nihongo Talking Room ILA Japanese Language Center
- Student Support Center - Institute of Science Tokyo
- 2016 General Meeting of the Architectural Society of Japan [Kyushu]
- (Kanto Branch Information) FY2017 (88th)
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