U-Life: Exchange

I did a language exchange with a York University student who is studying Japanese. We went to the TEL Building at York after class. My exchange partner’s major is IT- Information Technology. His class is also there. There is a Tim Horton’s on the main floor in this building, and so many students were in line to order there. There were plenty of tables and chairs to sit in a lounge. Many students were using their own laptop computers. According to him, this building is the newest building in York University. We can use wireless internet system anywhere in this building.

My exchange partner was enthusiastic about studying Japanese. He had lots of questions for me. Actually, I couldn’t answer his questions clearly, even though I am a native Japanese speaker. This was especially because I had to explain Japanese in English. That was really hard work for me. However, I tried to explain in English. It was also good practice of speaking skills for me.I have had some experience with language exchanges before. It’s sometimes just conversation. It’s sometimes question and answer like this time. I’ve heard that Japanese pronunciation is not difficult for English speakers. The problem is the grammar. Japanese grammar is totally different from English grammar. It is really frustrating to students.

My exchange partner has also good pronunciation. That day, we spoke Japanese loudly in the lounge. There were so many other students around us; however, none of them cared about our language because they are used to listening to languages other than English in York, and also in Toronto. This is proof that Toronto is a multicultural city.

Here is the link for York University's "Language Links" program:

http://international.yorku.ca/students/langlink.htm