More than 1,300 international students are studying at Ritsumeikan University every year. For bringing such international students and local students together, Ritsumeikan University Language Education Center offers language exchange programs planned and organized by students as extracurricular language programs; (a) Weekly Talkfest and (b) SUP! Language Exchange Program.
Weekly Talkfest consists of 10 sessions in a semester, which are regularly held during lunch hour on Wednesday at Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC). As no prior registration is required, students freely drop by SALL, a self-access learning lounge at OIC bringing their lunch boxes and have a conversation with other students in a relaxed environment.
Talkfest started in AY2015 spring semester. As it was originally organized by Ritsumeikan staff members, participants were in a relatively passive manner and looked nervous. At present, a group of students called ‘facilitators’ is organizing Talkfest.
When students come to Talkfest, they firstly fill in self-introduction card indicating their names, their mother languages, languages they speak and languages they want to speak. Then, facilitators divide the students into several groups according to their needs. In groups of six to eight each, they enjoy free conversation mainly on a difference of cultures, foods, eating habits and languages. Some groups speak in English, others in Japanese, Chinese or a mixture of several languages.

One of the facilitators, Emily (third-year student, College of Business Administration) says that she really likes learning foreign languages and wants many students to be exposed to many languages. “For international students who just started learning Japanese, this would be a good opportunity to practice their Japanese,” she adds. Other facilitators, Taisho (fourth-year student, College of Business Administration) and Takaya (third-year student, College of Business Administration) are involved in this program in the hope that they provide a place where everyone can talk friendly.

According to Jasen, who is studying at Ritsumeikan as SKP (Study in Kyoto Program) student, this Talkfest has several advantages.
“It is casual, students have no obligation to join, and show up whenever they want as well as they can skip it if they are not available. Also, it is held during lunch time, every student takes a lunch break so it is useful.”
Ritsumeikan University has domestic exchange students from APU (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University) and some of them are actively participating in Talkfest and speaking Japanese with other participants. About half of APU students are Japanese, we may think that they have many opportunities to speak Japanese. However, Fish and Vana (both are the third-year students at APU) say that they have little opportunity to speak Japanese and improve their Japanese skills because many of APU students are fluent in English. “Through the talk with Japanese students here, I am able to meet so many Japanese students to see various kinds of perspectives and Japanese ways of thinking,” Vana explained. Her plan for the future is to work in a Japanese hotel and someday take her experience in Japan to her country.

About 60% to 70% of participants are Japanese students; one of the participants Takuto (fourth-year student, College of Policy Science) started to participate in Talkfest because one of his friends introduced it to him. Before joining this program, he was not active in talking with international students; he assumed that he needed to speak English properly and that was a big hurdle for him. However, he found that he didn’t need to speak perfect English, but simple English is enough for him to communicate with others. After he realized it, he felt relieved and became actively interacting with other students.
“I come to this place because I would like to meet many sociable people and want to be inspired by their positive attitudes,” he says.
By joining this program, he has a wider circle of friends and is exposed to different viewpoints. Such experience has really broadened his horizons. He is currently planning to stay in Kenya this summer for volunteer activities.

Joining Talkfest is just the first step, but that will surely lead to another step. Why not join OIC talkfest and discover your horizons?