Did you go to the country of which the language you're learning is spoken?

[sarangiya]

Hello everyone,
I was just wondering out of curiosity about how many of you might have been to a foreign country to study. Most of the students studying Japanese (/French) at my school have been to Japan/France - but is that the case for most of you? I myself have not gone to Japan, but plan to go after VCE, ironically enough.
Would you say that it was beneficial to your studies?

[Mieow]

Yeah I went to Japan on a 2-week trip when I was in year 10. It really did feel like it helped me a lot. I don't think I learnt an exceptional amount of vocab/grammar/kanji during that time, but I certainly gained a lot more confidence to communicate in Japanese which was what I needed before starting VCE Japanese

[sjayne]

I went to Japan for  weeks in year 9, it didnt help that much but made me keep doing the subject

[strawberries]

Going to the countries of the language is an amazing experience. You get to travel and go to amazing places and meet many new people and experience a new culture, and I would strongly recommend this for this purpose. It's a great experience

However, if you're looking to improve your language skills, it probably would not be TOO beneficial, because most likely, the level you are at is probably not too high enough to communicate with the locals. Probably after VCE, it would actually be a good idea (this is what my German teacher said haha). Because you will have accomplished it to a pretty high standard. You will need to spend a long period of time, say 2 months, to have a great impact on your language ability. But nonetheless, go for it

[sarangiya]

Interesting to see your opinions. I too didn't think it would help too much with vocabulary etc.
One of my peers said that even though she knew what to say, because she was kind of intimidated by everything, she couldn't speak properly. Communication with her host family proved difficult.
I'm a little worried about how confidently I can speak, hence why I thought it strange for me to go afterwards.
I wonder if people who study a language with little cultural differences to Australia (since Japanese for most of you would be very foreign, but compared to something like German or something?) find it more or less an improvement before VCE.
Thanks

[ras]

I went to France for altogether about 3 months and can say that for me, it was extremely beneficial. However, I completely understand the concerns about communication being difficult and perhaps limiting progress. I went twice, once for two months and then again for another month, and what I noticed was that the higher your skill level when you first leave, the more you will improve.

Going overseas is of course very costly, and not a quick and easy way to improve language skills. Vocab in my opinion will undoubtedly improve, along with listening. But I found I had to push myself to engage in conversation. Grammar and writing, equally important to speaking and listening, are just as easily improved in Australia than in the actual host country.

In terms of cultural difference, this is part of the appeal of going overseas. I enjoyed getting to know a different culture, but it's true that if you may have trouble being away from home in an unfamiliar environment, you may not actually progress much with your language.

I think going overseas is a fantastic option if you have the means to, the desire to, and the knowledge that it's not automatically going to make you amazing at a language: you will have to work for it. Equally, if you are hardworking, it's not needed to get to a good level for VCE languages

[kawfee]

No, unfortunately! Aha I would have loved to go to Indonesia.

And same here, I plan to go post-VCE ...like one day...I plan on continuing Indo at Uni, and hopefully go on an exchange or something

I know friends who have been to Indo and are non-native, for a month. And that definitely improved their fluency and comprehension of spoken Indo(but it depends ont he individual and motivation.). However I don'tthink it's necessary..but helpful

For instance, what will help you more is your passion and willingess to learn new words, culture etc and in terms of as a VCE subject, it's helpful as to how to APPROACH the exam. Because with Indo like other LOTEs, at times can be pedantic when it comes down to correction/marking. Grammar. Vocab. Object focus. Sentence structures. No repetition of answers.  And importantly, comprehending the text, both verbal and written, but what is tested and rewarded is one's ability to paraphrase answers- indicating your understanding, insteadof just copyin and pasting blah word to word. And this truly gives an opprotunity to show off gramma structurse, vocab and writing

Ok maybe that was slightly off topic... but nah, not necessary to go on a tour/exchange...but it does help

[Special At Specialist]

I've never been overseas because I'm way too poor for that, but some girls in my German class went to Germany for a few months during the end of year 11 and when they came back, they were really good at speaking the language. They told me it didn't help their grammar skills much, but it really helped them for the oral exam.

[sarangiya]

And same here, I plan to go post-VCE ...like one day...I plan on continuing Indo at Uni, and hopefully go on an exchange or something

I plan to go as soon as it's over  . End of November or something hahaha. Yeah I want to do a bachelor of art with Japanese and Korean as two majors. I know that Monash does pretty good exchanges and you can still earn credits while in a partner university and whatnot. I'm sure you'd be able to if the university (and, well, the bank balance) allows it.

I went to France for altogether about 3 months and can say that for me, it was extremely beneficial. However, I completely understand the concerns about communication being difficult and perhaps limiting progress. I went twice, once for two months and then again for another month, and what I noticed was that the higher your skill level when you first leave, the more you will improve.

Indeed. As the other replies were saying, I reckon you'd need to be over there for a decent amount of time to actually see results. And I can definitely agree to your second statement. Someone I know went to their SL's host country for a year, and I was really impressed at their level, but then I came to think that it wasn't as good as I thought it would be if one went for a whole year. Turns out, they didn't speak any of the language at all before going. From coming from nothing to the level they are now is amazing for sure, but as you say: it all depends on how good you were before going.

[Leezy]

Earlier this year, I went to Japan on a school exchange whilst studying Japanese SL Unit 1/2. The trip itself didn't really teach me many things about the language as it focused on the culture. This would actually help many of us select a detailed study topic for our Unit 3/4 Orals.

 During my time in Japan, there were many times which I wasn't able to communicate with both my host family and the Japanese locals, which motivated me to study Japanese harder once I got back home, in hopes of becoming fluent one day and returning to the country.

[sarangiya]

Earlier this year, I went to Japan on a school exchange whilst studying Japanese SL Unit 1/2. The trip itself didn't really teach me many things about the language as it focused on the culture. This would actually help many of us select a detailed study topic for our Unit 3/4 Orals.

Scare. I don't even want to think of the detailed study for Japanese SL 3/4... Like what, the discussion only lasts for like... 7 minutes? It seemed short at first but in reality that's so long.

[lolalol]

I took up VCE French and UMEP French and I've never been to France hahah. Whilst an overseas trip could certainly help language skills (especially oral, I'm guessing), I don't think it's a huge advantage. Ultimately hard work and a passion for the language will boost skill level

[sarangiya]

I took up VCE French and UMEP French and I've never been to France hahah. Whilst an overseas trip could certainly help language skills (especially oral, I'm guessing), I don't think it's a huge advantage. Ultimately hard work and a passion for the language will boost skill level

Nice work 
I'm not sure if this is going off-topic, but what were your thoughts on UMEP? I was thinking about doing Japanese at (currently it's only offered at) Melbourne Uni.
Also, do you think it disadvantaged your ATAR? Do you think doing another 3/4 would have been better?

I think that wanting to do the language is the most advantageous, too ♡

[lolalol]

Nice work 
I'm not sure if this is going off-topic, but what were your thoughts on UMEP? I was thinking about doing Japanese at (currently it's only offered at) Melbourne Uni.
Also, do you think it disadvantaged your ATAR? Do you think doing another 3/4 would have been better?

I think that wanting to do the language is the most advantageous, too ♡

Personally I looooved UMEP! Made some great friends, continued the language I love, learnt heaps and basically had a great pre-uni experience which got me really excited for uni next year I don't think it disadvantaged me - relative to my other VCE subjects, I didn't put as much time into UMEP and wound up with a 4.0 increment (equivalent of a 40 in a 5th or 6th subject). In my case, I think it would've been harder to score a 40 in another VCE subject - depends on the individual though! Good luck with whatever you choose

[sarangiya]

Personally I looooved UMEP! Made some great friends, continued the language I love, learnt heaps and basically had a great pre-uni experience which got me really excited for uni next year I don't think it disadvantaged me - relative to my other VCE subjects, I didn't put as much time into UMEP and wound up with a 4.0 increment (equivalent of a 40 in a 5th or 6th subject). In my case, I think it would've been harder to score a 40 in another VCE subject - depends on the individual though! Good luck with whatever you choose

It sounds good 
Yeah, with 99.85 I'm sure it didn't bahaha.
I'm thinking the same... gosh. It's all so hard to decide.
Thanks for the advice