Experience Japan with a speaking tandem program at UTS
At the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, we offer a Diploma of Languages in which you can study a range of languages.
“a really good opportunity to use my Japanese skills with people who were much more fluent than me and could correct me and help me speak authentically! ... it was really great to build up my speaking confidence." - Caitlin Murphy (LinkedIn)
We also partner with universities in countries such as Spain, France and Japan, which has a lot of incredible benefits. One of these benefits is our speaking tandem program. This program matches up students from UTS with students from overseas universities to allow them to work on their language skills together over a period of time.
“It was great to be able to practice my conversational Japanese with native speakers, especially those who are complete strangers. ...an amazing experience...challenging but very fun.” - Nicholas Everett (LinkedIn)
Students from UTS are paired with students from universities in Japan. They then meet up online and talk about assigned topics or topics they choose in the target languages. During the meetings, students help each other to improve their communicative skills in the target languages by sharing the time so that both students have an opportunity to practice speaking in the language they are learning and assist their partners. This focus on conversation rather than exactness of language helps students build confidence in both Japanese and English.
“While it was daunting at first, the experience has allowed me to become more comfortable with making mistakes in my language learning journey. … Being able to step out from my comfort zone and conduct intercultural exchanges have enriched both my professional and personal life.” - Ashly Liu (LinkedIn)
