It looks like some Japanese universities are offering their students interning opportunities abroad. Here is an article from
The Japan Times (June 4, 2011) about Nagoya University of Foreign Studies and their program for sending students to California to study at UCLA and work at Disney World.
Disney has some information about their internships on their
website.
What do you think about interning, in general? Would you like to do something like this Disney program?
Write your comments for us all to see.
Broadening horizons: Students listen to a briefing on the Disney internship program at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture
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Intern at Disney, get credits
Chunichi Shimbun
Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, has launched an overseas program to give its students the opportunity to study in the U.S. and work at Disney World in Florida.
This year, 11 students are set to carry out seven-month internships at the theme park to learn about Disney's culture of hospitality. As such overseas internships help students gain work experience and improve their English-language skills, other universities have been introducing similar programs.
The Disney internship program is aimed at giving students wishing to work in the tourism or service industries work experience at a global company.
"It is not easy to study while working abroad. But this should be a living experience for the students who are going out into the world after their graduation," said professor Akito Ozaki, director of the university's international exchange programs.
The students will study in at the University of California, Riverside, from September and take courses on practical English or the tourism industry through December. They will move to Disney World in Florida next January and work as interns while living in a dormitory.Like other Disney employees, the students will work as guides for attractions, sales staff at souvenir shops, waiters or waitresses at restaurants, or hotel staff.
The credits students earn at UCR will count toward their Nagoya University degrees. Disney will also pay them for their work at the theme park.
Risa Inada, 20, a junior in the Department of English and Contemporary Society who is going to work as a sales clerk, said: "I want to become a flight attendant in the future, so I wish to learn the hospitality of Disney. I am very excited about how much I can grow through this program."
Aichi Shukutoku University, based in the town of Nagakute, launched an overseas internship program several years ago sending students to Washington, D.C. for a month during their spring holiday. While staying with American families, they take care of children at a day care center or work with the elderly at a nursing home in cooperation with a local nonprofit organization. This experience counts as university credits.
Nagoya Institute of Technology also provides an internship program for its students to work at firms in Asia and Europe.
Haruyoshi Nakaya, a study abroad consultant at J.A. Study Abroad Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo, said the number of students seeking internship opportunities overseas has been on the rise in recent years.
"Today it is not that unusual to have language study experience abroad. So it seems a growing number of students are looking for internship opportunities to differentiate themselves from other students," he said.
This section, appearing Saturdays, features topics and issues from the Chubu region covered by local daily Chunichi Shimbun. The original article was published May 28.
The Japan Times: Saturday, June 4, 2011 (C) All rights reserved
