A more active cultural exchange for students:
‘Student planner’ events by Hosei University and other institutions
(From 25 September 2021)
Selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s (MEXT) Top Global University Project, the ‘Platform for Student International Exchange through University Cooperation’ organized by Hosei University has launched. As part of this platform, students from a number of Japanese and foreign universities will plan and participate as ‘student planners’ in more cultural exchange events than ever before. Participating institutions include:
• Hosei University
• Kansai University
• Tianjin Foreign Studies University (China)
• Busan University of Foreign Studies (South Korea)
• Vietnam National University’s University of Languages & International Studies
• Vietnam Japan University (VJU)
On 25 September, the first of the project’s cultural exchange events took place, titled ‘Vietnam-Japan Japanese Cultural Exchange’. Three students from Hosei University and six students from Vietnam Japan University participated, with new students from the latter’s Japanese Studies and newly-established Computer Science and Engineering programs taking on the challenge of conversation and friendship building in Japanese.
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‘Vietnam-Japan Japanese Cultural Exchange’
Next, on 1 October, the exchange event ‘What foods and sayings come to mind when thinking of Fall?’ was held (planned by Busan University of Foreign Studies), with three participants from VJU discussing the theme in Japanese with Japanese, Korean and Chinese students.
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Students participating in the cultural exchange event ‘What foods and sayings come to mind when thinking of Fall?’
In both events, though VJU students said they had ‘never spoken Japanese like this before’, and were quite nervous, they were ultimately all able to enjoy the Japanese conversation with the help of some English and gestures.
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VJU student event posters
From mid-October, upcoming events include a seminar of discussion and study on Vietnam and Japan, as well as VJU-planned topics ‘Street food from around the world’ and ‘Drinks from around the world’. Along with VJU’s existing exchange and study program led by the University office and teaching staff, this student-led program will lead to a more active cultural exchange between students of many institutions, with the hope that students will be able to use the opportunity to develop their own event planning and coordination and PR skills.