Hello, all!
Today, I gave an interview to K who is in a Ph.D. program in Japanese Linguistics. I was so surprised that her Japanese was so fluently that I didn’t use English in our interview at all. She said living with share mates in a shared house helps improve speaking skill very much. I am going to introduce you all her life as a researcher in a shared house.

Captions in Japanese TV shows got her interest in Japanese linguistic.

Sari “Nice to meet you. I’m Sari.”
K “Nice to meet you too. I’m K”
Sari “Could you introduce a little bit of yourself??”
K “I came Japan last August, and have finished an intensive Japanese course for 10 months. I am in a Ph.D. program in Japanese Linguistics and study it in Japan.”
Sari “Wow, are you in Ph.D. program? No wander your Japanese is quite good. What got you interested in Japanese linguistic?”
K “I studied Japanese when I was a high school student. And I first came to Japan, I found Japanese TV shows have a lot of captions. I was surprised because I have never seen it in the U.S.”

There are a lot of benefits in living in shared houses.

Sari “Where did you live when you first came to Japan?”
K “I lived with a host family, and this is the first time to live alone.”
Sari “Why did you decide to live in a shared house?”
K “You know, shared houses are very attractive for foreigners. You don’t need to pay deposit or gratuity fee. (You usually have to pay these fees when you rent a room in Japan.) And I don’t feel lonely because share mates always say hello to me.
Sari “I agree. Do you get along with share mates?”
K “yes. We have diner together, hold a party and I answer the question that my share mates ask me about English.”
Sari “Sounds nice.”
K “Talking with the share mates is a good practice of Japanese for me.

She recommends shared houses to foreigners living in Japan.

Sari “Why did you choose this house?”
K “Budget, distance from the school, and cleanness. Also the dining room is big enough that I couldn’t have if I rent a room alone.”
Sari “Yeah, I like the room. Then, what is the management company like?”
K “They are very nice. They built some basic rules, like a garbage duties, and it helps us to live comfortable.”
Sari “I got it. Are you going to recommend shared houses to people who will come to Japan?
K “Yes. Living with Japanese, you can practice Japanese efficiently and get used to the Japanese-style life easily.”

Regarding the future

Sari “What do you want to be after getting a doctorate?
K “I want to work at Japanese media companies or be a translator. I want to make the most of what I am studying, the connection between society and language.
Sari “Sounds interesting.”

Trying to speak Japanese in the house

Sari “Are there any foreigners besides you?”
K “Yes. One is from the U.S., other is from Korea, and the other is from Taiwan.
Sari “So, which do you usually speak English or Japanese?
K “I’m trying to speak Japanese as much as I can. The key of improving speaking skill is to talk to share mates.

I was so surprised that K speaks Japanese so fluently even though she has been living in Japan less than 2 years. I could see how she enjoys and makes use of the life in the shared house. If you want to impe, living in a shared house is one of the best ways for sure.


Check the information of K’s house below!

Denenchofu Machiya

This house is for women only. Located on Denenchofu, so convenient place that you can go to Shibuya in 15 minutes. This house is located in very quiet area and you can relax for sure. It has nice and girly furniture and everywhere in this house is very clean. It is an international house that 4 of the members are from abroad.