Japanese students have flown over seas to study English on campus

By Darrick L. Hurd 

Times Staff

Keiko Kimura, Dean of Language Arts, welcomed 40 international students from Japan on Sept. 14. The group studied English with the Kagoshima University program through the Workforce Institute.

The visitors came in two groups. One group will only be visiting the Silicon Valley area for one week and the other group will stay for two weeks.

Japanese students were encouraged to share what they have learned about the Silicon Valley industry. Games were played in English and classic American dishes were served. A sharing of cultures occurred.

SJCC students had the opportunity to interact with international students.

“We also had students who study Japanese classes here at SJCC who got the opportunity to practice their Japanese skills,” Kimura said.

The Japanese students believed the majority of global countries speak English and they would like to be able to communicate with a lot of people around the world.

There are no requirements for these international students to visit. To their knowledge, the students believed people in the Silicon Valley did not understand the Japanese culture that was why there is not a huge Japanese population. They wanted to share their culture with the SJCC community.

“We hope that events like this will attract more international students to our programs,” Kimura said.  “The community college is largely unknown as a higher education entity outside the United States.  More students should know about this so they can take advantage of a high quality education at a very good price.”

“I want to learn English so that I may have many many friends around the globe,” some Japanese students said.