Education Background
The student body at Yamasa provides an language learning environment with a qualitative difference.
Of the accredited Japanese programs available in this country, very few have a student
body with an educational background similar to that of Yamasa.
It is the deliberate policy of
Admissions to ensure that the Institute continues to attract highly talented
students of the Japanese language - and without in any way excluding graduates who are no longer
enrolled in university studies or young students who have not yet
commenced their undergraduate training - but who can clearly demonstrate that they are capable
of performing well at Yamasa.
75.7% of Yamasa's students are completing or have already completed undergraduate or graduate studies.
Many are aiming for second or higher degrees or towards careers requiring high levels of
Japanese proficiency. A significant proportion of these students have already completed graduate
degrees. By comparison the vast majority of international students entering Japan each year have only completed their
high school education.
At Yamasa there is a strong science and technology bias which makes the student body a little atypical amongst
language learning communities. In strong contrast to Yamasa, more than 60% of all of the international students in Japan
studying at other schools come from mainland China alone. For
these students and for most students in APJLE accredited schools or university "bekkas", their language studies are
primarily used as preparation for undergraduate studies in Japan.
Many of the students are currently enrolled in degree or graduate programs at their 'home' university and take the
opportunity to spend a year, a semester, quarter or a summer at Yamasa. However for a steadily increasing number of
professionals and mature age students, a Yamasa program also offers a great sabbatical - the
opportunity to do a serious program that for many reasons may not have been
possible for them earlier. For many students a Yamasa program is a suitable
stepping stone to career enhancement or a career change. Quite a few of Yamasa's students go on to work in Japan or Japan related careers.
As a result, if you had enrolled in Yamasa during the 1999-2000 academic year your classmates would include graduates
and currently enrolled students of universities including:
(Aust.) Monash University, RMIT, Univ. of Sydney, Univ. of Melbourne, (Canada) UBC,
Univ. of Waterloo, Univ. of Victoria, (China) Northeastern University, (Denmark) Univ. of Copenhagen, Copenhagen
Business School, (Germany) Munich U, Rostock U, Erlangen U, (HK) Chinese Univ. of H.K., City Univ. of H.K.,
(Hungary) Kossuth Lajos Univ., (India) Pune Univ., (Italy) Milano Univ.,
(Korea) Yonsei Univ., (Russia) Moscow State Univ.,
(Singapore) N.U.S., (Spain) Universidad Publica Navarra, CEPADE - Universidad Politechnica de
Madrid, (Sweden) Lund Univ., Linkoping Univ., (Switzerland) Univ. of St. Gallen,
(UK) Cambridge Univ., Durham Univ., Oxford Univ., Warwick Univ., (USA)
UC - Berkeley, UCLA, Univ. of Texas - Austin, Univ. of Michigan - Ann Arbor,
MIT, Stanford Univ., NYU, Columbia, Univ. of Washington, Hawaii Univ., amongst many others,
Although they usually form a small minority, many of the students who have come to Yamasa after
completion of only high school studies have subsequently proved to be highly talented students of the
language and have been extremely successful. In some cases, youth is an advantage in language acquisition.
It is in fairness to these students that the Minimum Entry Requirements for most Yamasa courses
does not exclude applicants without a tertiary background. In all cases however, applicants are
only accepted if they can indicate an aptitude to succeed in an academically challenging environment.
Most of these students are either aiming for university places in Japan
or are taking a year out (gap year students) for language study before commencing university in their home country.
For more details regarding Yamasa's students, please click on each of the link buttons on the left hand side of this page.
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