<p>How is the program and faculty?
I want to mainly focus on Japanese, but will also like to take a few years of Mandarin. </p>
<p>How is the language instruction and is it really hard?</p>
<p>What about Study abroad and exchange programs to japan and the rest of asia?</p>
<p>Seems like a really strong program to me. Very language-intensive, which is a good thing in my books. I only know one faculty member -- Professor Victor Falkenheim, a prominent China scholar who is also professor emeritus in the political science dept. -- but he is fantastic. And that's about all I can comment.</p>
<p>thanks a bunch. I am glad to hear that it is very language intensive (because thats what i want).
Any more comments would be nice...thanks.</p>
<p>I had enough credits to be an EAS major (though I didn't claim it) and was friends with one of the Presidents of the EAS committee. If you take Japanese and Mandarin, you will die. I'm sorry, but it's just too hard and too much work. You will not be able to do both. You're allowed, but unless you're just going to take those two courses all year, you'd be suicidal to even attempt it. That having been said, I had a great time doing two years of Japanese language. It killed my GPA. But it was fun and I met my best friends from university there. If you have Kondo-sensei next year for first year, tell her "Takahashi-kun" says hi from London. She'll know. =p</p>
<p>Falkenheim is a hilarious professor (though his lectures are a little dry sometimes...take his seminar classes only) and a remarkably easy marker (just don't tell him I said that... =p) You can definitely get a study abroad program; I got into Nihon Daigaku at the end of my third year, but I declined it for a chance to go to Europe.</p>
<p>I took Falkenheim's Examining Political Transitions first-year seminar in 07-08. He is indeed hilarious, a really easy marker, and a genuinely nice guy. I'd take him every year if I could... alas, my poli sci days are limited to my first year and I have little interest in EAS for myself.</p>