Like Ohta, Ito also found the program
“very useful.” A fourth-year student in
business administration from St. An-
drew's (Momoyama Gakuin) Univer-
sity in Osaka, Ito said his much-
improved English will benefit him
when he begins work this spring at a
life insurance company in Japan's
second largest city.

Great Insight Into
a Country’s Culture

“All the teachers were eager to teach
and | really appreciate Douglas
College giving me this chance to im-
prove my English,” said the 24-year-
old graduating student..

The exchange program which brought
Ito and Ohta to Canada was initiated in
the fall of 1985 when the President of
Douglas College, Bill Day and Gordon
Gilgan, Dean of Academic Programs,
visited Japan. Day and Gilgan presen-
ted Kobe and St. Andrew's with two
scholarships for students, faculty, or
staff from each institution to spend a
semester studying English at Douglas
College.

“These exchanges are intended to in-
crease international understanding
and communication,” said Gilgan. “It
gives the student a far greater insight
into another country’s culture than
could be achieved in any other way.”

The scholarships also acknowledged
the special relationship each institu-
tion has with Douglas College. Both
institutions send students every year,
usually in the summer, to study at
Douglas College.

The School of Foreign Studies at Kobe
YMCA College, located in the port city
of Kobe, has been the destination of
summer study tours offered by
Douglas College since 1982. The tours
offer Canadians a unique opportunity
fo study the language and culture of
Japan.

Ohta has helped co-ordinate accom-
modations and classroom study for
those who travel to Kobe. Having
studied in Canada, “Ohta now knows

 

the country, she knows the atmo-
sphere here, and can give Canadian
students better programs than before,”
said Tad Hosoi, a community
programmer who co-ordinates langu-
age and travel programs at Douglas
College.

St. Andrew's has been sending groups
of 15-20 students to study English at
Douglas College every summer since
1983. Last July, St. Andrew's Univer-
sity President M. Inabetsu travelled to
New Westminster to formalize an
academic and educational exchange
agreement with its sister-institution,
Douglas College. Augmenting the
success of the exchange program,
about 20 St. Andrew's students will
attend a full eight-month study
program in English at Douglas College
beginning next semester.

“This will be, in a sense, the biggest
achievement of the exchange program
to date,” said Hosoi.

Ito first came to Douglas on a five-
week summer study tour in 1985. Now
that he has spent a full semester at the
college, he will be able to advise other
students at St. Andrew’s on how to
prepare for the full-time program and
what to expect.

“When | return to Japan | will tell
students who want to study in Canada
that it is very important to stay at a
Canadian family’s house,” said Ito. “I
really enjoyed staying with my host
family. We talked English everyday, so
it's a good English exercise.”

For Ito and Ohta, staying with a family
in New Westminster while taking
classes at the College allowed them to
both improve their conversational
skills and learn more about life in
Canada.

“| was really lucky to stay with a
Canadian family,” said Ohta. “Maybe if
| stayed at a hotel | could enjoy the
beautiful scenery, but not the chance
to make friends, have conversations,
and experience Canadian living.”

 

 

JUNKO OHTA

Junko Ohta, an ESL Exchange
student at Douglas College

last September, felt very
luckyto study in Canada.

 

| RR ARI Fe RU 2 RATER YR NPA RS ED PEE