January, 2020: How much English do you need to study at NCC (Koga S.)

NCC Monthly Report / Study Abroad Reports

A Possible Worst-case Scenario of Studying Abroad               Hello, guys. Today’s topic is “How much English you need to have before studying abroad”.  You can’t avoid getting ahead of yourself and stumbling your way through studying abroad unless your English is up to the required standard already. That being said, please do not drink Kool-Aid as this is just my two cents. It’s a no-brainer that you guys have the final say in the first place. I recommend you to take my opinion with a grain of salt that you can get to the heart of the matter and cut it in many different ways by yourself, which is the …

September, 2019: Low hanging fruits and Deep Dives (Koga S.)

NCC / NCC Monthly Report / Study Abroad Reports

Koga Suzuki               It’s been a month and a half since I came here at North Central College. In this report, let me share a couple of reasons why I decided to come here and some experiences so far.               I’m quite sure some of you guys have a hunch that my English is hands down up to snuff already. However, I’ll come clean and admit that actually I was just scratching the surface before I came here. In other words, I was studying for the sake of studying with no clear goals. I used to utilize online conversation lesson when I was in Japan because I could ensure to …

NCC Lives 7: Finishing NCC

NCC / NCC Monthly Report / Study Abroad Reports

I spent  almost eight months at North Central College for and I could understand how NCC life was and how the culture is different from that of Japan.  In this paper, I would like to talk about why I want to recommend North Central College for study abroad. First, the classroom is well-organized. There are so many classes that accommodate a very tiny number of students from ten to twenty students. In these classes, students are active on discussing. In my education class, for example, we were not only talking about how we would teach English to students, but also, we demonstrated how to teach in front of the audience. …

NCC Lives 6: Tomoyuki’s English Skills

NCC Monthly Report / Study Abroad Reports

              In this report, I want to talk about how my English skill has improved while spending time in America.               First, it is very embarrassing to tell this fact, but I could not pronounce “volleyball” and “wallet.” In winter-term, I am taking a volleyball course. My friends asked me what classes I am taking for this term. As I tried to answer, my friends always asked me again because they could not understand what I was telling them. Besides, I did not know how to pronounce the “L” sound. There is one story: last year, I lost my wallet at Starbucks in downtown Naperville. When I realized it, I …

NCC Lives 5: New Year for Tomoyuki

NCC / NCC Monthly Report / Study Abroad Reports

              Happy New Year! I wish everyone happiness this year.               First, Christmas day is quite different from that of Japan. I visited one host family of my friend, then we passed a Christmas card which is like happy new year card in Japan. The family made great dishes for us. We ate a lot, after that we ate homemade cookies. Finally, we watched a Christmas movie. It was a very quiet and relaxing time. Christmas day in America is very similar to Happy New Year’s day in Japan. Usually, university students in Japan spend time with boyfriends, girlfriends, and friends, not with family. Then, they eat salad, meat, sushi …