At Okayama University, we aim to foster students who can play an active role internationally by offering language training programs and short-term overseas programs during summer and spring vacations. This spring vacation, a total of 69 students participated in programs at the University of Adelaide (Australia), the University of York (UK), and the University of Malaya (Malaysia).

One of the training destinations, the program at the University of Adelaide, focuses on intensive English learning alongside Japanese and international students from other institutions. Through homestays and interactions with local university students, participants directly experience Australian society. The program aims not only to enhance English proficiency through practical learning but also to foster the ability to overcome differences and cooperate with people of diverse values and lifestyles.

Mr. KOZASA Kotaro, a first-year student from the School of Economics who participated in the program at the time of travel, shared his experience: "I am considering long-term study abroad in the future, so I participated in the language training program in Adelaide as a stepping stone. At the university, I met friends who were striving to achieve high goals, such as entering graduate school overseas, and I was stimulated and spent a fulfilling month there. The most meaningful thing I learned through the program was "the significance of understanding and expressing myself and home country". During my stay, my host family asked me about myself and the Japanese "wabi-sabi" culture, which was an eye-opening experience for me as I had thought that high language skills and cross-cultural understanding were the only two requirements to perform well on the global stage. I will aim to improve my language skills while deepening my understanding of Japanese culture in preparation for future study abroad."