Kansai Gaidai University

Get to know some Japanese students, it really goes a long way to have someone to practice speaking with. There are so many international students that there is a tendency to only hang out with them and speak English or your native language. You came so far away, might as well try to practice the language a bit :) There is a speaking partner program, but depending if you click with them and if you have time, it may benefit you. The Japanese students usually have their classes in a separate building, so you need to make some effort to get to know them. (Othertimes, THEY (usually the 1st year students) will come flocking over to the international student lounge looking for foreigners to practice English with).

The best way to learn a language is by talking with real native Japanese friends. Being all day at school doenst makes you any better. You will only spend one day one hour Japanese with more than 10 students! I would say try to find a parttimejob where you will be in a Japanese environment and hangout with Japanese peopel as much as you can. You come to Japan all the way to learn the language right? So dont hang out too much with English speaking friends. I would say live in a homestayfamily and have many Japanese friends. Just be kakkooi

all classes except the japanese-language classes are taught in english

There's a huge English-speaking bubble at Kansai Gaidai, and you have to make an effort in order to actually get away from it and put yourself in situations where you can actually speak/learn japanese. With a program this big (400+ students), and while being somewhat isolated from the rest of the campus (all the international students take classes in a separate building on campus), finding opportunities to use Japanese can be difficult at times.

Somehow, I managed to mutually fall in love with a gifted linguist from Barcelona. Between her and the rest of the student community (not to mention the fact that many more Japanese speak English than Chinese do) I personally encountered absolutely no difficulty in any setting. I must admit, however, that I was uniquely blessed with a wonderfully intelligent girlfriend (and friends) who tolerated my ineptness for the Japanese language.

My host family didn't speak any English, which was good for practicing Japanese... the majority of the international students never used Japanese, and since the majority of time is spent with other international students... this is not beneficial for developing language abilities (this is especially pronounced for those living in the dormitories on campus).