TUFS Holds Short-Term JEP with Royal University of Phnom Penh

November 9, 2018

From Tuesday the 25th of September until Wednesday the 3rd of October, TUFS welcomed six students (one postgraduate, five undergraduates) from the Royal University of Phnom Penh into the short-term joint education program, through which they will participate in an Inter-University Exchange Project, the “TUFS Japan Specialist Program for the Enhancement of Japanese Language and Cultural Outreach in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia”.

During this program, students majoring in Khmer (Cambodian) at TUFS, and students from the Royal University of Phnom Penh engaged in tandem learning together. The tandem learning was carried out in groups of four, and conducted completely in Khmer. This was a very good opportunity for the 19 TUFS student participants to put into practice the Cambodian proficiency skills they have acquired through their studies.

As another part of their tandem learning, the students visited Tsukishima Daini Elementary School’s international classroom, and planned a workshop titled “Let’s Learn About Cambodia”. Preparations were made the week before the fall semester began, and so exchange students from many different countries came to see what was happening.

At the workshop, the students spent the morning teaching Cambodian songs and dances to around 100 fifth year elementary students and their teachers. Following this, the students split into nine groups over three classrooms, and did activities with the elementary students such as introducing Cambodian culture through posters and teaching them how to write their names in Khmer. In return, the elementary students gave presentations on Japan. In the afternoon, the students performed a Khmer shadow play, one intangible cultural heritage of Cambodia, for around 100 second year students and teachers.

The Cambodian students also used the “Japanese History for Exchange Students” textbook, compiled by the Japanese Language Center for International Students, to learn about Japanese history, after which they went on a visit to Jindaiji Temple (Chofu City) and the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum (Koganei City), through which they were able to see the history they had learnt about with their own eyes. Tandem learning was also conducted during these trips, with TUFS students giving explanations in Khmer.
The visiting students also had the chance to experience Japanese culture through karate and kimono-wearing sessions.

Aside from meeting with TUFS students, the Cambodian students also had Professor Va Sophea, from the department of Khmer literature, as their guide. Professor Va Sophea gave lectures on “The State of National Literature in Cambodia” and “Learning One’s Mother Tongue and a Foreign Language”.
On Tuesday the 2nd of October, TUFS Vice President Kayoko Hayashi and Professor Va Sophea held a conference on the credit transfer system and quality maintenance based on the “ASEAN Plus Three Guideliine on Student Exchanges and Mobility”, at which they exchanged views on the development of the partnership between the two universities.