Meet Magali, a Coto School Finder student from Switzerland. She was completing an exchange program at a university in Tokyo when she realized that she wanted to stay longer and try building a career in Japan. She applied through Coto School Finder as a transfer student, and is now studying at Linguage Japanese Language School in Shinjuku, where she is honing her Japanese skills to jumpstart her career. Read her full story below!
Why did you decide to come to Japan to study?
I’ve been studying Japanese language, history, and culture since 2019 at the University of Geneva, where I also had the chance to enroll in an exchange program for Tokyo in 2022. As this was a wonderful experience and I wanted to continue my experience in Japan, I decided to enroll in a Japanese language school to improve my Japanese in 2023.
What Japanese language school are you attending at the moment? What has been the experience like for you?
I’m studying at Linguage Japanese language school. I’m very grateful to Coto School Finder for helping me find this school. The school is small, so it’s very easy to get to know your teachers and classmates. The lessons are fun and useful, and the school offers support for living and job hunting in Japan.
How was your experience using Coto School Finder’s free service? How has it helped you?
Communication between Coto school finder, the school and myself was very easy. Everything was communicated by e-mail and help was always available when needed.
How is your regular day at school?
I arrive at class at 8:40 AM, where I chat a bit with my classmates and have a quick snack before class. Classes start at 9 AM, usually with a short kanji quiz, a bit of typing, news reading, a listening exercise and/or a short dialogue to create with a group. Then we study grammar, vocabulary, reading or conversation using a textbook. Every day is different, but the schedule is really well designed and we know in advance what will be studied that day. We usually end the course with Business Japanese, which is very difficult, but the group work makes it more enjoyable and we have a good time while learning. The course finishes at 12:20 PM, after which we have time to enjoy life in Tokyo, spend time with our classmates, study Japanese or work part-time.
Where do you usually go or do after class?
The first semester I wasn’t able to work part-time for medical reasons, so I spent a lot of time in the libraries studying, but I also shopped and walked around the city. Starting next semester, I’ll be working mainly from 3 PM to 10 PM.
What’s next after graduating from school? What are your plans?
I plan to work as a full-time employee starting after graduating from the school. I have learned a lot during my Japanese language studies, and I hope to practice all this knowledge in my new workplace.
How do you feel about your future goal – do you think it’s reachable and do you feel like the school is supporting you enough with this?
I think working in Japanese is still a big challenge for me, even though I’ve been studying Japanese for a long time and have improved a lot since I arrived in Japan. I hope to be able to communicate clearly with my colleagues and customers in Japanese, as well as in the other languages I know, in order to improve international exchanges in the hotel industry. The school is very supportive and has helped me find a job.
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