Law and Society
in Vietnam
Program Overview
Through activities with Vietnamese students you will learn about the law and society in Japan and Vietnam. We welcome students who wish to exchange knowledge with overseas students, to undertake undergraduate/graduate education overseas, or to pursue global careers.
Eligible year of study : From the 1st year
Credits: 2 Credits
Prior study：About 5 times in the Fall Semester
Overseas Training：February - March for about 2 weeks in the Spring break
Participants' Voices
From Sanri Uno
What surprised me when I first met with Vietnamese students was their highly advanced English skills. Although English is their second language, they use it as a communication tool without any problems. Moreover, not only in conversation but also in chatting, their English expressions and abbreviations are so natural, just like natives, so I learned a lot even from chatting with them. In addition, many of Vietnamese students were very cheerful and actively started a conversation with me, I could always feel a warm atmosphere with them. That made me unnecessarily conscious about our relationship, as an advanced country and a developing country. As I deepened my learning about Vietnam, I realized that there is a gap in the economic and social condition between Vietnam and Japan. In this circumstance, I tried to speak nicely and gently with respect to avoid hurting them and doing so, it gave me a chance to learn gentle expressions. In this program, you will have a chance to improve your English and also to learn a new perspective of our country in relation to another country. The best thing I got by taking this program is that I was able to make friends overseas. If you are at all interested in this program, please apply!
From Kurodo Shibata
Although it was not possible to visit Vietnam in AY2021, I was able to study English continuously by communicating in English. Through the program, I felt the importance of using English from the phases of collecting information and considering ideas. Before taking this program, I could not help thinking in Japanese first and then translating into English, or to put English sentences into Japanese, but gradually I increased my vocabulary relating to the economy and law and tried to express my thoughts in my own words. Because English is not our mother tongue for both Vietnamese and us, we sometimes felt the difficulty of communicating by video call, such as Zoom, but I learned many things by communicating actively. This experience made me realize that it is important to take actions with an active consciousness of using English. I hope you will improve yourself by taking this V-J program, not only by taking the compulsory English classes.
Teacher's message
To give you a sense of this program, let me tell you about last year’s activities.
In Autumn 2022, 14 Chuo Law students and 12 Vietnamese students from National Economics University (NEU) in Hanoi made mixed teams and worked together researching social issues concerning Japan and Vietnam. The research groups met online, chose topics with support from the professor, shared research, then developed PPT presentations. Topics ranged from education, gender, and mental health to Tourism, Trade, and Fashion. The groups then shared videos of their PPT presentations with members of the other teams and shared feedback among the groups regarding research content and PPT slides.
In December the Chuo students got permission to visit Hanoi in February. To prepare, the students made teams and chose topics for PPT presentations in Hanoi. The topics focused on Japanese society and were intended to help the Vietnamese students better understand Japan. For this second round of presentations about Japan, each group had two Chuo students and one NEU student. The students’ topics included Aging Society, Food Culture, International Marriage, Love and Dating, Neurodiversity, School life, and Traditional Sports.
Not surprisingly, language is the biggest challenge in this program because all the students communicate in English. Nevertheless, the Chuo students always do a good job researching and presenting PPTs, and last year they did a great job in Hanoi, as well. Program activities included visits to the Japanese Embassy, the Hanoi JICA office, and the Vietnam UN office, plus meetings and lunch with representatives of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and SOMPO Japan. In addition, the Chuo students spend time preparing their PPT presentations with the Vietnamese students and the professor, and spent half a day making public presentations at NEU. There was also plenty of free time to see the cultural and historical sites of Hanoi, and many opportunities to enjoy the various foods of Vietnam.
Overall, students had many chances to develop valuable skills, such working with Vietnamese students in English, learning to do systematic research, and making presentations online and face-to-face. But, no doubt, the most satisfying part of the 2022 V-J Law & Society Program was the chance to make friends with Vietnamese students and to share a great sense of accomplishment doing the program in English. Indeed, all the students felt their English improved, and they made an important discovery: Working with foreigners doesn’t require perfect English, it just takes time and effort to communicate.
Steve Hesse
＊AY2024 of Vietnam Program will not be conducted. ＊