Your academic experience abroad is going to be very different from home. Working under the policies and processes of the local institution, you may find a lot less structure, or a lot more.

Courses and Credit Approval

• To find information on specific courses, go to the program’s website using the link in the “Snapshot” section of the Overview page.
• To discuss program fit, such as program type, expectations, level of structure/independence, or to compare options, get advice from Global Learning advisors and returned students. 
• For assistance in selecting courses, see your faculty or college advisor. (Note: You may earn elective, distributional, minor or major credit depending on your major and college.)
• Complete the Proposed Course of Study form that is part of the Global Learning application for a record of how your courses will count for credit at Cornell.

Academic Policies

• Study the language of the host country (or take a course in that language) when studying in a non-English speaking country for a semester or year
• Take the equivalent of 15 Cornell credits for a full semester, even if it is possible to take fewer and still graduate on time
• Complete all the academic work and stay until the end of the program, defined as the last officially-sanctioned exam for any course you take abroad

Registration and Grades

• You will be registered at Cornell and will earn credit for approved coursework for your semester/year study abroad
• Decisions on the final allocation of credit are made upon successful completion of the course (equivalent of a “C” or higher—all courses for a letter grade)
• Grades will appear on the Cornell transcript in the same format as they are recorded on the original transcript generated by the study abroad program or university. Grades are not factored into the Cornell GPA

Students take one Japanese language course and elective courses – one elective must focus on Japan.

• Regular Japanese language track (most popular): 4 credits of language, plus three 4-credit electives.
• Intensive track: 8 credits for language coursework, plus 8 credits for two 4-credit electives.

Sophia University Courses

Sophia University offers a large selection of Japanese language courses and area studies elective courses taught in English. Some courses are taught on a rotational basis and may only be offered in alternate years. Students are advised to remain flexible in selecting courses. For the most up-to-date listings on elective courses, visit the website for Sophia University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts at http://www.fla.sophia.ac.jp. The following is a sampling of the courses available.

Japanese Language Courses

Students are required to take one Japanese language course.

Japanese 1 (4 credits)
Japanese M1 (4 credits)
Japanese 2 (4 credits)
Japanese M2 (4 credits)
Japanese 3 (4 credits)
Japanese 4 (4 credits)
Advanced Japanese 1–2 (4 credits)
Advanced Japanese 3–5 (2 credits)
Intensive Japanese 1 (8 credits)
Intensive Japanese 2 (8 credits)
Intensive Japanese 3 (8 credits)
Reading and Writing 1–3 (2 credits)

Intensive Japanese Language Option

Students who have taken at least one semester of college-level Japanese through intermediate-level Japanese have the option to enroll in the Japanese Language Intensive Program (JLIP) at the appropriate level. In the JLIP, students study Japanese for 15 hours each week. Students then choose two other courses within the Faculty of Liberal Arts offerings. Advanced students with near-native fluency may enroll in courses focusing on translation or advanced reading and writing within the Japanese Language program, and then select three other courses. Such offerings as Classical Japanese, Introduction to Japanese Linguistics, Modern Japanese Fiction (in English and Japanese), and Teaching Methods and Sociolinguistics have been extremely popular among past advanced participants with advanced Japanese language skills. Recommended credit: 4 semester / 6 quarter hours.