Students of Applied Foreign Languages, Universitas Diponegoro attended a conversation class with students from Chikushi Jogakuen University (CJU), Japan on Friday, 9 June 2023. This activity is an Implementation of Agreement (IA) between the Vocational College, Universitas Diponegoro and CJU .
This conversation class was held online via the Zoom Meeting platform. The Applied Foreign Language (BAT) students who took part were second-year students who were taking the Advanced Speaking course. The conversation class led by Naoko Yamada sensei from CJU and Aditya Nur Patria from BAT was aimed at improving intercultural communication and intercultural understanding between Japanese and Indonesian students. Both CJU students and BAT students gained valuable experience by engaging in these practical conversations. Apart from learning English, they were also able to enhance their intercultural understanding of other countries. The topics raised were light topics such as food, students’ life, and habits.
Over 40 students joined the Zoom class. The first session was held in the main Zoom room. To ensure the conversation ran smoothly, the students were divided into several groups and put into break-out rooms. Since this was their first time meeting each other, at the start of the conversation they seemed reluctant to express themselves. However, as the discussion progressed, the students began to show confidence in sharing information with their new friends from abroad.
After completing conversations in small groups in break-out rooms, students returned to the main Zoom room. They shared some facts they found interesting. Japanese students were quite surprised to learn how much free time Indonesian students have. In Japan, it is very common for students to take part-time jobs that take them home late at night.
Conversation class activities with international students are one of the efforts of the Applied Foreign Language study program and Vocational College to increase the international competitiveness of graduates. Apart from that, it is also hoped that this conversation class can improve people-to-people connections and support peace between nations. The implementation of this Agreement was conducted 3 months after Yamada sensei’s visit to the Vocational College in March earlier this year.