It happened to me when arriving in Hokkaido, Japan, in the end of March 2015. Without Japanese language skill, living in Hokkaido for around six months offers me a significant challenge. Mostly information in public facilities is written in Japanese language using Katakana, Hiragana, and Kanji characters. Only few things are informed in Romaji characters (alphabet). For instance, when you come to a minimarket, most products are described in Japanese characters (Figure 1). Additionally, it is not easy to practice English, because almost people or workers who work in public facilities (e.g. city office, bank and minimarket) did not speak English. Even though you are excellent in English, sometimes it is unhelpful. Japan is not English-speaking country. Briefly, communication is upmost problem.

Fortunately, International Student Centre (ISC), Hokkaido University, has provided Japanese class to facilitate international students studying Japanese language. The enrollment was completed prior to my attendance in Japan, thus I can join the class directly. I start learning Japanese in grammar level 1, a very basic level. Three meetings a week, shukudai (home work), quiz and practice in each meeting remarkably boost my language skill, specifically in mastering hiragana and katakana. In the beginning, I was less confidence that I can remember all hiragana and katakana characters. It seemed so complicated. However, consistency helps me a lot to conquer them. Moreover, some tools are helpful such as “minna no nihon go” grammar books (みんなの日本語) (Figure 2). Consequently, it is much easier to understand Japanese vocabulary written in hiragana and katakana, and I can easily write my name using katakana (this is my name in katakana: モジオノ).

 The class is designed to create a great atmosphere for studying. The lessons are conveyed and presented by teacher using easy-to-understand and step-by-step method. Although we have a very enjoyable class, the evaluation and examination are strictly considered, suggesting that students have to study hard to tackle Japanese class challenges. Additionally, the class period is almost over, and I have to prepare for summer quarters class period in higher level.
Moreover, joining Japanese class not only provides language enhancement, but also offers a wider chance to interact with new friends who come from various countries and diverse continents. The diversity is present in my class, such as Australia, Philippine, Vietnam, Czech, Indonesia, Nepal, Egypt, Mozambique, South Korea, Pakistan, and China.

In conclusion, communication is a serious barrier for everyone, especially students, who comes to Japan, including in Hokkaido University, with poor Japanese language skill. Yet, the facility has been arranged by campus management to deal with student language problem.