JAPANESE STUDENTS HERE TO PRACTICE THEIR ENGLISH

After a round of nervous giggles, three students from Aichi University in Japan settled down for a brief interview during their first day on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Miki Ito, Satomi Inagaki and Yuka Yamada are among 26 Japanese students in Cape Girardeau for a five-week intensive English program. The college students stay with host families and attend classes at Southeast.

In addition, a number of activities are planned to help the students experience American culture. On Monday afternoon, the Japanese students were paired with conversation partners and went on a tour of the campus.

Meeting up with their partners proved tricky. No one was sure about how names should be pronounced. So everyone checked the cheat sheet with photographs of all the Japanese students and their names.

As part of the brief interview, the three were asked about the Nagano Olympics. They huddled together, discussed the question in Japanese and then appointed a "spokesman" to answer the question in English.

"Nagano is beautiful with mountains and a little colder," said Miki Ito.

Snow skiing and snow boarding are very popular at the Japanese winter resort area, she explained as the others nodded. They had all been skiing and snow boarding there.

"Snow boarding is most popular with young people," Ito said.

Most of the Aichi students have studied English for seven or more years, but Satomi Inagaki explained that they study reading and writing English. Little time is spent speaking the language.

That's partly why they are here.

"I want to broaden my outlook and touch American culture," said Yuka Yamada.

This is the sixth year Aichi University has sent students for the five-week course under the colleges' exchange agreement.

The students range from college sophomores to seniors and come from all different disciplines.

They arrived in Cape Girardeau late Saturday night and spent Sunday with their host families.

Angie Brown of Cape Girardeau is serving a second term as a host parent.

"These kids are really great," she said. "They give so much. It's a very special and very rewarding experience."

She is the host of Kaoru Hotta. On Sunday, they went to see the movie "Titanic."

Kaoru really enjoyed Brown's animals. "We have two cats and Blackie slept with her," Brown said. "She was very excited about that."

During the five weeks, Brown plans to take Kaoro shopping and on lots of outings, including the rodeo coming to the Show Me Center.

"I tried to explain what a rodeo was, but I'm not sure I did a very good job," Brown said. "She understood cowboys, but after that I think I lost her. I guess you just have to experience a rodeo."

Brown recommends serving as a host parent. "It's a gift to yourself to do it," she said. "These kids are very respectful and interested in everything. They are also very giving people."

Laura Sheets agreed. Sheets is a sophomore at Southeast and a conversation partner for the second year. "It's very rewarding to have an opportunity to meet people from across the world."

Conversations are a little difficult at first, she said, but after a while, the college students get used to each other and are able to understand each other no matter what language they are speaking.

"You find that these college students are just like any other college students if you don't let the language barrier get in the way," Sheets said.

Jesse Perry, who coordinates the program, explained that a highlight for the Japanese students and host parents will be a group outing to Stroder Country for line dancing.

On March 22, the students will leave for four days in Chicago before heading back to Japan, where the academic year starts April 1.