Reviews

Culture and Emerging Economy Program

The entire two weeks of the program was conducted well beyond my expectations. In addition to being informative and relevant to what I am currently studying, the trip exposed me to a completely new environment. Whilst this may, typically, be quite an overwhelming experience, the very kind people at Abroader made us feel at home and ensured that we were on track with the program from day one. Thanks for the great memories and see you soon:))

Pros: Friendly local buddies, food

Vietnam Immersion Tour

The trip was extremely unique, guided by locals to ensure as “local” and authentic a trip as possible. Our tour was diverse and having left Vietnam I feel as though I have, because of this tour, a genuine grasp on Vietnamese culture, society, food and way of life. This trip has allowed me to make amazing friends I never thought I would and for that I am most very grateful. I would suggest to anyone who is unsure about embarking on a tour such as this one … take the step, you will find as I did that it will be well worth it

Pros: Authentic experience, diverse activities, make new friends

Cons: Quite busy days

About work: I enjoyed my internship with UEF university. Our supervisors were really supportive and explained to us about teaching templates a lot. One of the challenges was the language barrier when I communicated with my teachers and also with students. Quality of students depends on classes. Sometimes I got confused and didn’t know if the students understood the lesson or not because students didn’t respond or react in class. So I use pictures, using simple japanese to teach and try to be more patient with them.

ABROADER side: We think ABROADER’s level of support is great. However, we suggest that they inform us while updating information on Japanese entry requirements and making sure the information is accurate.

About work: I think it’s good. We have enough work. I have to make a presentation once or two times a week. My supervisor is so great. He always cares about us. I feel I can communicate with students.

About host family: Alright with host family but I didn’t talk with my family. I sent contact only in Zalo. For a reason Me and Takafumi are hang out with our friends and go back home little bit late so we can’t make time so I never mind to talk with host family

About work: I spent a great time at UEF. My university teacher asked for some slides such as Japanese grammar and Japanese culture. Also, we fix the Japanese sentences which were written by Vietnamese students. My supervisor whose name is Mr. Quyền supports us a lot. For example, if we want to change or check about the schedule, he changes the plans which we want as soon as possible. I communicate with Vietnamese students by teaching, playing, and chatting, like eating dinner together.

About host family: We don’t have enough time to talk with the host family because I often go to dinner with Vietnamese students. However, it’s comfortable for me every day. For this, I don’t have any complaints about them.

ABROADER side: We think ABROADER’s level of support is great. However, we suggest that they inform us while updating information on Japanese entry requirements and making sure the information is accurate.

About work: I feel that teaching Japanese to students at HIU is a very valuable experience. There were many problems that I didn’t think about when I was in Japan, but I think my internship was very good thanks to the two people who are assigned to the same school. Not only do I teach my students, but I also have work to do after class, which gives me a sense of accomplishment. Students have various levels of Japanese, and there is an image that they are extremely divided between those who can speak and those who cannot speak. In order to be able to handle both of these two patterns, I try to have conversations in English and use simple Japanese.

About host family: They are very kind. We usually eat dinner together. I often eat breakfast and lunch by myself, and on weekends I go out to eat with my host family. My host family can only communicate in Vietnamese, so it was very difficult for me who can only speak English and Japanese, but it was an opportunity to learn simple Vietnamese.

About work: I got a great experience at the host university. I realized that it is difficult to teach Japanese to students who can speak only Vietnamese, but I will make an effort to teach it and I will make my own class without a professor this week to next week. My supervisor often supports me. I always communicate with students in English or Japanese.

About host family: I sometimes talk to my host family, because they’re so busy

About work: As a Japanese student, I came here to teach Japanese language and culture, but I also have a lot to learn from students’ questions. Also, I am happy to be able to interact with students who have become friends through classes and try many things in foreign countries. At first, I was full of anxiety, but thanks to the support of the people around me, I had a good time for about two weeks.

About host family: The host family is very nice to me. They always support me kindly and cook for me. My English ability is not good enough, so the conversation may get awkward, but I can only thank my host family.

About work: My host university is really great for me! Like teachers always support us so much and they try to get to know each other more! So usually we all hang out together! For students as well! I basically hang out or study with two groups of Japanese department students! We’re pretty close already 😁 I really like their atmosphere!!!

About host family: My host family is also kind and good enough. And we sometimes share our daily life. Not everyday but for me it is pretty comfortable so far.

ABROADER side: We think ABROADER’s level of support was great. We really enjoyed the hotel we stayed at on the first day of the program. However, we acknowledge that due to varying schedules, it is somewhat challenging for ABROADER to meet us during the program to check in. So, if it’s possible, come check us out at our university and see what we’ve been up to at work.

About work: I would say that I am having great experiences with teachers and students at my host university. My teachers are so friendly and cheerful, and they always have some Vietnamese cuisine for us. They also take us to many places and provide us with new experiences. The students are also very friendly and eager to learn Japanese and interact with us, which I am really appreciating. They always invite us to hang out and take us to so many different places, so I would say I am able to interact and communicate with both teachers and students well.

About host family: I sometimes find difficulties in communicating with my host family. Since my host family consists of a woman who can speak English very well and her parents who speak only Vietnamese, there is a big language barrier between her parents and me. When the woman is home, she’s going to be a translator for us, but when she’s not, I use a translator when I talk to them. but it doesn’t work smoothly and sometimes I feel uncomfortable. However, aside from the language barrier, I am staying with my host family comfortably.

ABROADER side: We think ABROADER’s level of support was great. We really enjoyed the hotel we stayed at on the first day of the program. However, we recommend providing everyone with information. At first, the Program Assistant only sent Shintaro the program overview as he asked her, so we believed it would be great if everyone could access the information.

About work: Life at HUTECH University is great! All the teachers are kind, lovely and very lively, and they help us a lot to find meaning here. They give us lots of advice, help us observe classes and do practical work. Outside of class, they feed us Vietnamese food and sweets every day and give us the opportunity to wear yukata and ao dai. They also invited us to play with them on holidays and we went to school almost every Saturday and Sunday. It was the best and the best thing that I could have done under such teachers and I am really grateful to them. I also played with the students almost every day. Every day my schedule was full and after school, everyone took me on the back of their motorbikes after school to have dinner and talk at my friends’ houses. They helped me a lot because I didn’t understand Vietnamese, and they contacted the Grab people to help me get home safely, and they translated my food and told me what I wanted to eat. Some of my friends promised to meet me when I came to Japan in the future and said we would keep in touch when I returned to Japan, so I was really happy to have come here.

About host family: In terms of my relationship with my host family, I was sometimes confused at first because of the cultural differences, but they were very kind to me, worrying about my return and eating with me. They took me to places where I could learn about Vietnamese customs and Vietnamese history. I took everyone’s advice and made my opinions known to them, which made them respect my ideas. They probably think of me as their sister. I think I have a very good host family, they communicate with me, they worry about my health, they help me when I’m on my mobile phone. In a way, I had a good cross-cultural experience.

ABROADER side: We think ABROADER’s level of support was great. We really enjoyed the hotel we stayed at on the first day of the program. However, we think it would be better if ABROADER worked more closely with APU and the host university. We didn’t have a class schedule at the beginning of the program, so it was hard for us to prepare for teaching classes.

About work: The rule was not strict and I felt free to live. I was so satisfied about it because all the teachers took care of us and they tried us to do the things which we wanted to do. Support from UTT for us was very good. Students always helped us to eat lunch and dinner and sometimes hung out with us. Also, the classes were fun to join and it made students’ motivation to study the language.

About the host family: Everything is alright with the host family. Recently, I go back to my house a bit late but I can see them in the morning and I have some conversations every time.

ABROADER side: They were so kind and friendly so they removed my nervousness and I could feel relaxed. Everything was fine for me so I think there is nothing to change.

About work: They always told us the schedule, so we can focus on our job. On-the -job they gave us opportunities to communicate with the students. Off-the-job they invited some events, so we could have great experiences.  I could understand how to teach Japanese because we joined the class, not just watch. Sometimes the schedule changed suddenly, so we wanted to know the correct schedule.

About host family: Almost all right but actually, we cannot see them because our lifestyle is different from the host family. They go out before we wake up and we come back after they sleep. They are too busy to make dinner, so we have to go out to have dinner. That’s why we come back late. I understand this situation and they are so kind even if we cannot see, they text us, so I think my host family is good.

ABROADER side: Ms. Julie took us to dinner.

About work: Before coming to Vietnam, I was supposed to create a whole class but we created only activities for 30 minutes and this was not every time. However, members of Japanese classes and Japanese clubs and us could be good friends because we had so much time together after school. And their Japanese skills have improved. They gave us the great opportunity to have a lot of friends because there are only 30 students who take Japanese classes. UTT welcomed us so much and they were so kind to us but we knew the schedule so late that we were a little bit hard to prepare.

About host family: My host family, Chisato and I have so many different schedules so we can’t see them in the house. But we don’t care about this and we have good relationship I think

ABROADER side: Julie always share everything and help us so much with using Zalo

About work: I am really satisfied with what we did. Because compared to other universities, they let us have a lot of classes and some classes in which we can do what we want to do. So I had a sense of accomplishment. Workplaces are amazing. We can stay there comfortably. We can communicate with teachers smoothly and actively. The attitude was also good so we can feel really comfortable. Teachers let us participate in classes actively. For example, letting us make the ppt of vocabulary and think about 50min class activity. To improve, clarifying what we should do is better I think

About host family: My host family is not good at communicating with me in English but she took me to many places to have food and sightseeing. Thus, I feel comfortable. And I don’t have difficulty with them.

ABROADER side: I think almost all of the support was great. But there is one thing that I want to let you know, which is that we didn’t know the schedule of what we would do before the homestay started. So we were not sure. So sending a schedule makes the program smoother and we can feel comfortable and relax.

About work: I felt I got a suitable amount of tasks and there are no strict rules. They explained to us what we should do clearly so  I was able to work on the task smoothly. Supervisors were very kind to us and had enough time to communicate. They often talked to us and ate lunch and fruits. It is easy to ask teachers our questions. They increased the level of tasks little by little so I was able to grow up step by step. I thought it was a very good way. They explained to us what we should do clearly so  I was able to work on the task smoothly. Recommendation: I think it needs more communication between teachers. I had a class that only one student attended. The reason is that two classes are held at the same time. I am disappointed a little because I spent time preparing. But I enjoyed this class.

About host family: I think we can share many times and maintain good relationships. I like host families. They are so kind, so I feel comfortable living with them. But we usually come back late, so our time is not fit for them. I feel we sometimes bother them.

ABROADER side: Extremely satisfied. Julie talked to me a lot, so I feel so very happy. And she always tries to catch our voice and understand us.

About work: They talked to me a lot at the office and ate with me, so I was treated very well. She also gave me a lot of feedback for my work.

ABROADER side: Julie dealt with me politely even in small matters. The host family is a bit far from HaUI. I would like you to encourage affiliated universities to schedule our work, considering that they work 30 hours a week as interns.

At first, we felt like we did less work than others because of the exam period, but these days, we have more chances to communicate with students. We’re so happy to have a chance like that, and hope we can have more.

Thanks to my host family, we have dinner together and talk so many times. Sometimes, I feel like I’m too lazy, so I try to help with the housework as much as I can (But it’s so little.) One more thing I wanna mention is my host family is a little bit too strict about time. I know it’s because they have a responsibility to protect me, and each house has its own rules, but sometimes I feel a little stressed about it. But I don’t think it’s a big problem.

ABROADER side: They support our internship by sending the message to us so often.

I am very satisfied. The support was very generous and I was able to teach Japanese without any worries. It was a really good university as an internship site. They are very kind and friendly, always concerned about my health and my work. They also give us what we need to do and what they want us to do, and sometimes they give us free time, which makes it very easy for us to move around. It was a very suitable internship site. Recommendation: We could have a little more freedom to interact with students or reduce the number of work hours. However, I am still very satisfied.

The host family is very kind and makes me feel very safe. They don’t talk to me too much or not at all, but they treat me with just the right distance, so I don’t feel stressed. Also, the host sisters are the same age as me, so I can talk with them easily.

ABROADER side: It’s a place where anytime I have a question, they immediately give me the right answer.