Hello everyone, I wanted to get some advice for a Japanese High School Exchange Program. I read through previous posts addressing this topic, but I didn't get the answers to my questions so I was wondering if anyone could provide me with advice as I have a very unique situation. I am currently a freshman in high school but I am set to graduate in three years–effectively meaning that I will skip my sophomore year and go straight to junior year then senior year after this year. It will be basically like normal high school except that I graduate a year earlier (I have already taken the ACT and gotten a score I can send to colleges), and my senior year I will have to apply for colleges like any other senior. However, I wanted to see if taking a year between my senior year and college to go to a high school in Japan would be plausible. This means I will technically not be falling behind–as I will be one year early to graduate and that year could be spent at a Japanese high school. This also means that I will have technically graduated high school while still being 17. I will already have my future set as I will have applied to college. Some issues I noticed was the language barrier–however, I have already been studying Japanese for three years and am halfway between n3 and n2, with two more years to continue learning. I am better at listening and speaking, but I can read and write a moderate amount of Japanese. By the year I go to my exchange year in Japan, I will be practically fluent in the language (I'm taking AP Japanese in high school as well as a college-level Japanese course between my junior and senior year). I wanted to see if anybody had any thoughts or comments on my situation, what other obstacles might come up, and if you would encourage/warn me from doing this. (P.S. I have a part-time job where I have been saving up money, so unless it is an absurd amount of money that should be okay).
by mrpuggamesrules