(Contributing article for guidance on Monbukagakusho Sholarship as appeared on Japanese Embassy's website. See: http://www.kh.emb-japan.go.jp/scholarship/monkasho2016.htm)
1. Why did you
apply for the Japanese Government Scholarship?
As a
high school student, my dream was simple. Like every other Cambodian high
school students, I wanted to receive quality education abroad without putting
financial burden on my parents. Japanese government scholarship fits the most
to such dreamers. This scholarship is the most popular—hence the most
competitive—because while Japan can provide international standard education,
they also provide sufficient allowance without having students to rely on other
means of financial support.
2. Nowadays,
Cambodian youths are offered a lot of opportunities of study abroad under the
government scholarships of various countries. Compared with the other
countries, what are advantages of study in Japan, and what are challenges for
Cambodian students?
“Similar
Asian culture, successful economic development, high morality”.
When you
go to study abroad, you expect to learn something from that country and bring
back home development lessons, businesses and technologies. Japan has similar
Asian culture enabling us to relatively adapt to life easier. It is doubtless
one of the greatest role models of post-war economic development and is a
striving business and investment platform while its technologies are topnotch.
Its
people also have the highest morality. The most significant example was during
the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, where Japanese people still
respected the queue to receive basic supplies without any violence or looting
and supermarkets didn’t hike the prices despite the shortage of supplies. This
is nowhere to be seen in any disaster area in the world. These are things that
we can learn best from Japan and bring back home for the betterment of our
economy and society.
The
challenge for foreign students in Japan is Japanese language. After one year of
intensive Japanese course, we will go straight to classes receiving lessons and
taking exams along with native Japanese students. (This is not the case for
research students who receive courses in English.) The first year at university
is the toughest and challenging experiences but so far almost all foreign
students can survive this hardship and compete with good grade.
Language
barrier can also be regarded as an advantage because you can master two
languages at the same time. In Japan, most libraries have plenty of resources
both in English and Japanese. There are courses available in English too. Thus,
on top of mastering your English, which can be done anywhere, mastering
Japanese will take you another mile in terms of educational perspective as well
as future careers.
3. After finishing
study in Japan, many of ex-scholarship recipients have been actively
contributing to the development of Cambodia utilizing the expertise and skills
they acquired in Japan. How do you utilize such expertise and skills in your
work now? Is there any other benefit of study in Japan for your current daily
life?
Skill is
important thing but personality, attitude and networking are other important
factors that many students tend to ignore. From professional point of view,
people do not expect fresh graduates to be highly-skilled and able to work from
the first day. Works will train people. Employers tend to evaluate your ability
and willingness to learn new things and how you approach your works or
problems.
Thus, at university, I tried to absorb as much as experiences as I
can and the good thing is Japanese university system has vast opportunities for
self-development. Such exposures provided me many learning angles on top of
academic programs. Part-time job, where you can learn real local Japanese
language skill apart from textbook; student association or extra-curricular
activities, where you can learn organizational skills and behavior, train your
leadership skill and connect to various people; homestay program, where you can
learn domestic culture; company or NGO internship, where you can attach
yourself to professional society; study tour abroad; academic club, where you
can advance your knowledge, etc. I experienced them all. I didn’t want to lose
any chances. I think such opportunities cannot be found elsewhere. These
experiences made me become what I am today. They gave me confidence and strong
ability to adapt to professional society after graduation.
4. As you know, the
MEXT Scholarship has become one of the most competitive scholarship
examinations in Cambodia. We got totally around 1,300 Cambodian applicants for
4 categories last year, and the candidates must survive at a really tough
competition among international candidates even they passed the in-country
exam. Taking your experience into account, what do you think what tips for
passing the MEXT scholarship examination are?
“Master
the basics”
Choose a
good teacher where you can really learn past exam papers. Don’t follow your
friends to famous teachers where you cannot understand what he/she teaches you.
“Master
your English”
English
will open door to many knowledge opportunities. I had average knowledge in math
and I was not an award-winning student in any subject either. But I believed
English has put me in a better advantage. I like reading books through which I
gained general knowledge. Study English does not equal to study grammar. Basic
grammar is important and you really need to memorize the rules but it shouldn’t
take all your time. Don’t rely too much on your teachers to put English inside
you. Self-study is key. Try to spend more time on self-study through different
materials; newspaper, Hollywood movies, books, CNN, BBC, practicing with
tourists or at Christian churches (you don’t need to be Christian) etc. Don’t
be shy to imitate native accent because this will help you understand the real
pronunciation when natives are speaking. Also, learn to write because writing
will push you to think about vocabularies.
“Study
stably and regularly”
Spend
one whole day to make your study timetable that covers everything you need to
learn. After you made it, respect it well. Don’t compete with your friends to
study late until one or two o’clock in the morning and got sick the next day.
You just need to study stably and regularly, even if you have or don’t have
exams.
5. Message for this
year’s applicants.
“Study
hard, have confidence, and expect the luck”
Not all
scholarship recipients are award-winning students. You don’t need to worry
about that. What you need to do is to study hard and accumulate your knowledge.
Lastly, when you are confident that you have studied hard enough, you just need
to wait for your luck. Well, with 1300 applicants, luck is the final deciding
factor. If you fail this year, don’t blame yourself or get upset. Try your luck
another year. Good luck to you all!!