Li-Pin Huang

STUDENT INTERVIEW: Li-Pin Huang (AIJP)

Li-Pin: Hi Patty! Long time no see.
Patty: Hi Amy (Li-Pin's English name), how are you doing?
L: I'm doing alright, what are you doing here in the Yamasa II building?
P: I'm here to look for an interviewee for this week's newsletter. Would you like to be my interviewee?
L: Sure, I'd love too.

P: Where are you from and what were you doing before you come to Japan?
L: I'm from Taiwan and I was working in China.
P: I see. How did you find out about Yamasa?
L: Well, through Yamasa's webpage because it gives all the information you need to know about studying in Japan. I mean it's hard for Taiwanese to apply through an agent in China, so it's very convenient to get all the necessary information from the website.
P: So when did you come to Yamasa to study Japanese?
L: April of 2003, so about half a year ago.
P: Why did you choose to study Japanese?
L: My previous job had a lot of Japanese clients and I thought about looking for jobs in Japan. Moreover, I already knew English and for Taiwanese to study Japanese language is the quickest, so that's why I'm studying Japanese right now.

P: So what did you think about the course? I mean you started off with Acceleration Format 1 and now AIJP....
L: It's great. When I was in Acceleration program, it was a bit tiring because we had CALL seminar lessons after our AIJP lessons, but I learned how to type with Japanese computing system. Actually, both courses need a lot of preparation before lessons and review after the lessons.
P: How are your classes?
L: The lessons are very interesting. All the teachers are very outgoing and active.
P: What class are you in right now?
L: I was in L class when I first came to Japan, but right now I'm in G class. Yamasa is not like cram schools that no matter how bad you did, you still go to the next level. Instead, you have to take the placement test to prove that you're qualified to go on to the next level, which is a really good system.

P: Where are you living at the moment?
L: I'm staying at the Student Village in a shared room right now.
P: How do you like it?
L: It's very nice. I get to meet different people, in fact I've had five roommates already.
P: So do you try to communicate with other students using Japanese?
L: Well, I use Japanese as much as possible. But staying at Student Village, my English also definitely improves.

P: What do you do in your spare time?
L: I have a part time job that I talk to Japanese people in English once or twice a week. Basically, I'm a bit lazy on planning trips, so sometimes I'll just join the school's tour, not too bad.

P: So, what are your plans after you finish studying at Yamasa?
L: Well, I was going to look for jobs in Japan, but now I've changed my plans. I'm going back to Taiwan and look for jobs there that will handle Japanese marketing. If I'm lucky I might even get to come to Japan for business trips.

P: And finally, any suggestions for newcomers?
L: Create chances for yourself to speak to Japanese people. Don't be afraid to speak! Since you're already in Japan, you might as well use the chance to practice. Other than that, bring enough medicine from your own country. I mean its not that Japanese doctors are bad or anything, but there's still language barriers when communicating with Japanese doctors about your illness.

P: Thank you very much for your time to do the interview.
L: You're welcome.

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