TASTE 海外短期語学学習（英語）夏派遣 カリフォルニア大学バークレー校 2019年7月8日～8月16日

I participated in Berkeley Summer sessions (Session D) of Summer English Language Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Summer English LanguageStudies was a course for international students who wanted to study English, and the session D program was held for six weeks. Many of the participantswere undergraduatestudents of19-21 years old coming from East Asian countries.

The purpose of this class was to improve public speaking skills and learn how to make effective presentations. The students had to have presentation and quiz every week and practiced how to discuss and convincein English. We were required to prepare our presentations and review our textbook in our free time. Sometimes this class had fieldworksuch asinterviewswithlocal people and group works.

This class was for learning how to write and understand scientific articles and papers. All students in this class were those studying engineering or science. In this class, I learnedthe format, grammar, and vocabulariesof scientific papers, and how to read and write them. The teacher of this class was so enthusiastic about teaching that this class had a lot ofhomework such as reading and summarizing academicarticles, writinga diary and makingword cards.There were also other activities like fieldworks and presentation.

After the class and on the weekend, I sometimes walked around the campus and went sightseeing at Berkeley and San Francisco. There were a lot of beautiful and interesting places. I enjoyed discovering the scenery of the West Coast towns as well as the American way of lives, which were very different from those of Japan.

Also, I spent time doing many things with my friends when I could finish my homework. Sometimes I went out to local places with them, watched movies in my friends’ room, and played board games with them. I visited a farmer’s market, a free market, a supermarket, and a theater with my friends for their fieldwork. These places were my favorites because I could find local people’s lives there.

While staying in Barkley, I had opportunities to meet some Japanese engineers who were working in the U.S. IT industries through the introduction of my friend. They guided me in their workplaces and talked to me about their careers. It was exciting.

During this stay, I experienced many things and met many people who had different backgrounds and ideas from each other. Even though the differences caused some arguments among them at times, it was exciting for me to meet different people. I came to know that many students I met there were very eager to study English to get an international carrier in the future. Compared with them, my English skills were insufficient to understand others fully and express myself easily. In the conversation with others, I often needed to ask them to repeat what they had said. I also needed some time to think about how to express myself in English. So I keenly realized the needs to improve my English skills. My improved English skills would enable me to experience more exciting things.

I had a lot of homework in these classes, so I often had to stay up late studying. It was very hard, but also an excellent chance to study English seriously. I used the library, watched movies, and used the PC to search for some topic for doing homework and preparing the next classes. The teachers gave us many feedbacks for homework, quiz, and presentations, which were very useful to improve our English. They told us how to study English, as well.

I could make many friends in the dormitory and classes. They are very friendly and kind. We will surely keep in contact with each other after this course. Through the conversation with them, I learned how to tell and talk using my English. Sometimes it was beneficial to use gesture, paraphrasing, and pictures to make me understood. Even though my English was not fluent, I became confident in communicating with various people using English.

During six weeks in Barkley, I saw some Japanese people who were living and working there. They were very eager to study and work. They looked enjoying their work and life in the U.S.

These Japanese engineers and East Asian friends I met in Barkley and San Francisco motivated me to study more English and learn more new things. This study abroad experience changed my mind, and I came to want to study abroad more.

半年ほど前から留学することを考えていました。留学について全く知らなかったので留学情報館などで相談しました。参加プログラム決定後、手続きを行いました。手続きでは参加プログラム・寮・visa・航空券・東工大での留学手続き・TASTEプログラムの手続きを行いました。経験のない手続きを英語で行うのは不安な部分もあり、ネットや書籍で調べるだけでなく、知人や留学情報館の方に尋ねたりしました。

プログラム参加手続きが完了した後すぐに往復の航空券を取りました。早かったため少し安く取れたと思います。受け入れ大学側からの勧めでF1ビザを取得しました。大学からの入学許可証(I-20)受け取りとSEVISの登録をしてから、アメリカ大使館で面接を受けました。その後ビザが送られてきました。

語学については春休みなどの時間の取れる時にネットでできる英会話レッスンをやってみたりしました。英語が上達するほどはやり込めなかったものの、英語で初対面の人と話すことに慣れたので良かったと思います。

渡航費、プログラム参加費、生活費、住居費、保険料、奨学金の有無など。

なお、JASSO より、奨学金を 16 万円頂いた。

住居の形態（寮、ホームステイ等）、探し方、申し込み方法、ルームメイト、その他。

大学内にあるI-houseという国際寮に滞在していました。申込みはsummer programとは別のI-houseのホームページから行いました。申し込みには短い志望理由書も必要で、I-house側から1週間ほどで認可のメールが来てから料金を支払います。こちらの手続きもやや時間がかかるので時間に余裕をもって行うといいと思います。またネットで調べることでI-houseでの生活をイメージすることができました。申し込みの前に一度調べてみると良いと思います。

私はsingle-roomだったのでルームメイトはいませんでしたが、ルームメイトと仲良くなって一緒にでかけている友人もいれば、ルームメイトとの関係に少し苦労している友人もいました。Double-roomは楽しそうに見える一方で、大変なこともありそうだと感じました。

困ることはほとんどありませんでしたが、時々治安の悪さを感じる場面はありました。防犯面の対策としてどういったことが起こりやすく、どうしたらよいか事前に調べておくといいと思います。

留学は色々な面で準備が必要になるので時間とお金がかかると思います。加えて留学先での様子が想像しづらく不安になることもあると思いますが、調べたり、人から話を聞いたりして情報収集することで解消されると思います。留学がいい機会になることを願っています。