A Susume for Language Selection at SFC | Yo Nonaka, Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance
2024.05.07
Exactly one month has passed since the new semester started. After a hectic April, it feels like daily life has returned to campus. In addition to lectures and seminars, I also teach Malay-Indonesian language classes. In the spring semester, I teach Intensive 1, which many new students take. It seems that the new students, having passed through the initial period of mixed anxiety and excitement, are beginning to settle into their campus lives.
Now, every March, as a language instructor, I sometimes receive various questions about language learning at SFC from students who have been accepted. They ask things like, "How should I go about choosing a language?" and "Should I take the Intensive or Basic class?" In such cases, I strongly recommend that they attend the language guidance session for new students held at the end of March to get more information.
For students of the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Language and Communication courses are one of the few required credits. They must earn eight credits from among Arabic, Malay-Indonesian, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, French, German, English, and Japanese as a requirement for promotion to their third year (with at least four credits earned in any one language). In addition to these, although not included in the required language credits, Russian and Italian classes are also offered.
At SFC, we have described learning a language as gaining a "window" through which to view the world. The world seen through the "window" of one's native language is limited. By mastering another language and gaining a different "window," the world we can see expands, leading us to view the world from another perspective. Moreover, in the spring semester, classes are organized for each language course, and students will take not only their language classes but also Physical Education 1 and Fundamentals of Information Technology 1 with these same classmates. Therefore, choosing a language is also very important for new students in the sense that they are choosing a place to meet new friends.
On Monday, March 25, a guidance session for new students was held at the Theta Building. Here, in addition to explanations about the significance of language learning at SFC and how to register for courses, faculty members and SAs (Student Assistants) from each language laboratory took the stage to give presentations on the significance, importance, and fun of learning their respective languages at SFC. As a language instructor, I participated with the hope of conveying the appeal of the language I teach and providing an opportunity for many new students to learn about the philosophy and significance of language education at SFC. As is the case every year, each language laboratory's presentation was distinctive and appealing, and I myself was greatly inspired.
It seems that this language guidance session has a significant impact on new students' language course selections. To take this year as an example, when comparing students' language course preferences at the time of enrollment procedures (before the language guidance) with those after the guidance, several courses saw a change rate of over 300%. After the language guidance, students' preferences change significantly. Each class has a capacity, so not all students can take their first-choice language course. However, I have heard that thanks to the careful coordination by the administrative staff again this year, all students were assigned to a class within their top three choices. I hope that all new students will enjoy their language studies and acquire their own new "windows." Furthermore, as students who each have different "windows" and can see the world from various perspectives develop, I hope that the campus as a whole will continue to be a place where dialogue is born, respecting diverse ways of thinking without being bound by a single set of values.