Every Day is “Global” at ICU.

Global ICU

Study English Abroad Program

The information on this page is as of 2016.



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Mcgill University (Canada)

Studying English Abroad (SEA) Program

Through study abroad during the summer break and acquiring some ELA (English for Liberal Arts Program) credits.

Students can make effective use of the summer break by learning English in intensive six-week programs operated by some of ICU's partner universities in native English-speaking countries. It is thus possible for students to gain cross-cultural experience as they broaden their outlook while honing the ability to communicate in English. Students without any experience of having lived abroad will be given priority in this program. This experience of being the minority will help students better understand themselves, gain confidence, and also acquire an inner maturity. A large number of SEA Program paticipants later go on to exchange program and other study abroad programs.

There are two types of SEA Programs: the Freshman SEA Program (for first-year students) and the Sophomore SEA Program (for second-year students). Students can participate in either one or the other.

Freshman SEA Program

Except for SOAS program for ELA Streams 1 and 2 students, all schools attract students from around the world to improve their speaking and listening skills in English. Also included in this program are such activities as visiting tourist attractions in the vicinity of the university.

Upon completion of the Freshman SEA Program, students in Streams 3 and 4 receive two credits in the Academic Skills course and two credits for the Overseas Academic Skills course. This program has 11 participating universities in six countries, and the limit is 210 students.

*In a program run by SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), students in Streams 1 and 2 take academic courses, such as international relations, fine art, literature and business, and receive support from English-speaking staff. The credits received for this program are different from those mentioned above.

Sophomore SEA Program

Students who complete the Sophomore SEA Program In the summer break of the second year, receive three credits for the ELA Research Writing course and one credit for the elective Overseas Research Writing course. In addition to the Research Writing curriculum specially developed for ICU students, students participate in English-language study programs that attract learners of English from all around the world. The focus here is primarily on improving students' speaking and listening ability. Because the Research Writing course in the Sophomore SEA Program is conducted in a short period of time, participants are selected based on grades and English proficiency. There are four participating universities in three countries in this program, and the limit is 60 students.

Number of Participants by academic year

Program 2015 2014 2013
Freshman SEA Program 209 193 207
Sophomore SEA Program 30 46 48
Hayato Noji College of Liberal Arts, enrolled in 2010
Business Major
Studied at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA) on the Sophomore
SEA Program

SEA Program and Growing Confidence in English

After I started at ICU, I decided that I definitely wanted to study abroad. It is possible to study overseas from the first year, but I decided to use that first year to lay the foundation for my studies in Japan. So it wasn't until my second year that my great wish to study abroad was fulfilled. I studied for six weeks at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on the Sophomore SEA Program.
At Milwaukee, the assignment work was just massive, and at first completing all that took me until around 10 o'clock every night. But after a while, it all got a little easier. I don't believe it was just because I was getting used to the study environment. Looking back on it now, I think it was probably my being suddenly thrown into a situation where I was completely unable to use Japanese that brought about a rapid development of my English ability.
I had learned English since elementary school, and as such I thought that my proficiency was pretty good. But it was in fact only appropriate for everyday conversation--not for debating and discussing with students from all over the world. Learning to think logically during that first year in the ELA program helped me a lot and played a big role in building up my confidence.