Enrolled as an exchange student at Tōhoku University

September 2017 – August 2018

After completing my second year of Bachelor in Geneva, I got the occasion to go on an exchange at Tōhoku University. I went to be part of the DEEp-Bridge program. After an initial Japanese proficiency test, I was placed in Level 6, which turned out to be a fantastic occasion for me to level-up my Japanese. Thinking back about it, I don’t think I had the required level—the lectures were intended for students having passed the JLPT N1 and I barely had an N3 level at the time—but after some intense months, and with the support of my classmates, I was able to rapidly increase my Japanese listening and writing skills. The ability to follow lectures intended for Japanese students immensely helped me in my language acquisition. One of the lectures: 方言調査 (Japanese dialect on-the-spot research) had us go to the city of 気仙沼 to directly ask senior citizens about the northern dialect they speak. Being able to take part in this adventure as a Japanese learner was an amazing experience, both linguistically and humanely speaking, which I will never forget.

At the same time, I really wanted to join a club, and was warmly welcomed into the university’s mixed choir. This is where I met a lot of friends, some with whom I still speak to to this day. If they happen to come across this website, I want them to know they were an amazing and very welcome support to what was for me the all-new experience of living in another country.

After almost a year in Japan, I finally went back in Switzerland. I also sat the JLPT N1 in Japan, which I passed on the first try courtesy of all the amazing teachers that helped me give my best in this one single year.