TASTE 海外短期語学学習（英語）春派遣 2024年2月16日～3月15日

1. Hot topics in science and technology
This course focused on science and technology, which have been in the spotlight in recent years. The topics covered were AI, renewable energy, bioengineering, and IoT, each studied for one week. After listening to the lectures, we engaged in group discussions, and had one opportunity to give a group presentation.

2. Introduce to entrepreneurship
I learned about how to start a business and the skills needed to start a business from a teacher who knows a lot about business. After listening to the lectures, there were one or two group work sessions per class. In the final week, we had to make a presentation about our business plan.

3. Intercultural research project
The purpose of this class was to understand different cultures by interviewing Americans and presenting the results in the final week. Each student could set their own interview topic, and interviews had to be conducted outside of class time. We had to ask at least ten people at least ten questions. in English, which helped me to improve English communication skills.

4. Listening _and pronunciation
The lecture was aimed at mastering native speaker pronunciation. It included basic content like the pronunciation of "th" but there were also many contents such as native-specific accents that I didn’t know. There were some group activities, but there weren't as many compared to other classes.

・Club activities
Classes were from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day, so we could spend afternoons freely. I searched for clubs on Instagram and participated in various club activities. I made great friends in all of them, but the most memorable was the university tennis club. Practices were held twice a week, and I joined from the orientation day. I made many friends during the month.
We can use the tennis courts at the university 24 hours a day for free, so I enjoyed playing tennis with my American friends outside of the twice-weekly practices. These were great opportunities to practice my English.

・Weekend
I went on trips to San Francisco and Sacramento, went to see the NBA, and so on. I have loved the NBA, so I was very excited to see my favorite teams, the Lakers and the Warriors, play each other. There were also optional tours to Yosemite National Park and to Los Angeles, and I participated only in the Yosemite tour. I was able to see the "Fire fall," a phenomenon that occurs only a few times a year. It was an unforgettable experience.

I learned that "Everything will work out somehow”. I learned this through many things, but the experience of participating in a tennis club was particularly memorable. I had been thinking about joining the tennis club before I came to the US, but when I arrived there, I became very nervous because I could not speak English well enough. I had never made friends with foreigners
before, and this was the first time for me to go to an environment where Japanese was not spoken. I thought about postponing my participation, but finally I joined them. When I joined the club, they were very friendly and accepted me. When I spoke to them in English, which was not very good, they were very curious and asked me many questions about Japan. I joined practice twice a week for a month, and by the time I returned home, I had made many good friends. I also made a friend who had plans to visit Japan and promised to meet me in Japan.
Through this experience, I learned that what I thought was impossible at first, I could manage when I tried. I learned that it is important to challenge myself in an environment that is tough for me, rather than staying in an environment that is convenient for me.
My motto is "Always do what you are afraid to do," and for the first time in a long time I realized how important this is. From now on, I wanted to actively challenge myself to do things that I am not good at or hesitate to do. I believe that by continuing such actions, I will be able to experience a variety of things and gain human strength. I also believe that such a challenging attitude can bring fateful events.
I will start to work in another year, so I want to be active and challenge myself, thinking "Everything will work out somehow”.

留学に関する情報は東工大のHP に載っている体験記を読むことと留学情報館の方からお話を伺うことで得た。
航空券は留学に行く３か月ほど前に予約した。コストを抑えるためにLCC であるZIPAIR の便で渡航した。
ビザは不要なため、渡航の１か月ほど前にESTA を申請した。
英語の勉強として、留学に行く２か月前程度から海外ドラマを見ていた。話には聞いていたが、留学に向けてTOEIC などの勉強をするのはほとんど意味がないように感じた。

航空券：約150000 円
ESTA：約3000 円
授業料等：約350000 円
ヨセミテツアー参加費：約50000 円
ホームステイ：約170000 円
自転車レンタル：約15000 円
保険料：約16000 円
eSIM:約3000 円
奨学金の有無：80000 円(JASSO の奨学金)
奨学金を考慮しても最低でも約60 万円必要であり、アメリカはオーストラリアやカナダに比べてどうしても高額になってしまう。

住居の形態はホームステイだった。大学がおすすめしているホームステイの会社に申し込みを行い、手配をしてもらった。このプログラムに申し込んだのと同じタイミングでホームステイの申し込みも行った。
自分のホストファミリーはとても自由な家庭で、何時までに帰らなければならない、何時以降はシャワーを浴びてはならないといったルールが一切なく、とても生活がしやすかった。食事は朝夕の２食付きまたは朝昼夕３食付きの２つのプランから選択することができ、私は２食のプランにした。
家にある食べ物を自由に持って行って良いというホストファミリーだったので特に困ることはなかったが、昼食を売店で買おうとするとかなり高くつくので３食付きのプランをおすすめする。家は大学から自転車で約15 分の場所だった。自転車はホームステイの会社でレンタル可能。

・クラス分けのテストは頑張ること
留学の１か月ほど前にGoogle フォーム形式のテストが行われ、その結果でクラスが４つに分けられた。授業のレベルに差がありそうな話を聞いたので、１番上のクラスを目指すことをおすすめする。

・参加するのであればアクティブに行動すること
春休み中ということもあり日本人の参加者が大半であった。自分は事前にその情報を聞いていたため初日からテニスクラブに参加するなどして現地の友達をたくさん作り、充実した日々を過ごすことができたが、中には日本人とばかり遊んでいるような人もいた。
もちろん授業の質は高かったと感じるが、ただ毎日授業に参加しているだけでは正直、費用に見合う経験をすることができないと思う。

・留学後の旅行もおすすめ
プログラム終了後に10 日ほどかけてロサンゼルス、ラスベガス、グランドサークル（グランドキャニオン、アンテロープキャニオンなど）を観光した。どれもスケールが日本とは異次元で、とても見ごたえがあった。日本との往復の航空券はそれなりに高額なので、留学に参加するのであればこの機会に旅行もおすすめする。（時間が許すのであれば）
色々書きましたが、１か月とはいえかなり成長することができ、参加してよかったと心から思っています。