Students at the School of Global Engineering (and at the Department of Basic Engineering in Global Environment, predecessor of the School of Global Engineering) have an opportunity to study abroad for about three weeks in February in their third year. The English classes held at Pitzer College, adjacent to Harvey Mudd College. Both Pitzer and Harvey Mudd are part of the Claremont Colleges. Students study spoken English in the morning. They are given assignments during the course, and present their findings at the end of the three weeks in English.
What we did in the English classes
My English was poor, and I was worried before leaving for the United States that I might not be able to understand anything. Indeed, on arrival in the US, I could not make myself understood nor understand what was being said.
However, as I participated in the English classes at Pitzer, I discovered that I was becoming better at listening. I understood very little of what our teacher said in our first lesson, but, after a few days, I discovered myself being able to understand more or less what she was saying and could begin to have conversations in English.
On weekends, we went to places like Hollywood by train and subway. Everything - the signs, the conversations - was written in English as I looked around. I had difficulty just buying train tickets and ordering lunch at first. We stayed in the US only for three weeks, but we experienced so much that we could not have experienced in Japan. I can't describe how much I learned during our stay.
Tomoaki Watanabe
(Studied at Pitzer College and Harvey Mudd College, USA, in February 2007.)
