Sheffield Hallam University Undergraduate/Postgraduate Scholarships

Q: My course has this programme where we need to continue in UK (SHU) to get our degree cert. But I'm not financially capable. Any suggestions what to do?

A:
Scholarships offered by the university for international students (mainly Malaysians) includes:
Info from : http://www.shu.ac.uk/international/courses/scholarships.html
International Achievement Scholarship
- Minimum of £1,000
Scholarship applications for courses starting in September/October 2008 must be submitted by 30 June 2008. Applications for scholarships for courses starting in January/February 2009 must be submitted by 30 November 2008.
Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme (CSSS)
-covers tuition fees and living costs for the duration of a Masters course

So for undergraduates, International Achievement Scholarship is the only option. Unfortunately, I'm not very sure whether a student from twinning programme is eligible. It doesn't hurt to apply for it though.

External scholarships info given on the website:
British Council Education UK
International Education Financial Aid (IEFA)
There's this International student loan : https://server.internationalstudentnetwork.com/ISTL/index.php
which looks interesting but only applies to US residents. =(

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I checked the twinning program, and found this:
"We have a number of courses for holders of certain TAR College diplomas and Advanced Diplomas, including the successful Summer Semester, Two Year Progression Degrees and Continuation Masters Degrees. These courses are offered at special discounts, available only to students of TAR College. "
source: http://www.shu.ac.uk/tarc/
I wonder how much of discount do they mean by that - (£2136 - £2233?)

There's a scholarship offered for the twinning programme:
Hallam Special Achievement Scholarship
"To apply, please download an application form. All applications must be in by 27 June, 2008. After this date, the applications will be judged and the scholarship presented. The panel's decision will be final!"
- However, it's only £300 each.

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So it seemed like it's not easy to get either TAR college or Sheffield Hallam University to offer a scholarship for the twinning program. I would recommend apply for the ones mentioned, and look at scholarships/loan offered by local organisations.

and the scholarship listed in http://scholarships4postgrads.blogspot.com/search/label/undergraduate
and
http://education-scholarships.blogspot.com/

During my undergraduate years, I have received loan of RM4000 a year (if you study in overseas university I think it's RM10k a year), from a local organisation. Can't remember is it DongZhong or TeoChew Association. (I've cleared off the loan so I don't have to remember lol). If I found anything else I'll let you know!

Do you need to learn japanese to study in Japan?

This entry is to answer saoirse question on whether learning japanese is necessary to apply for scholarship in Japanese University.

I did a quick google search and found this: http://dhas.hyarc.nagoya-u.ac.jp/sdcp/ag07.htm
where the requirements include:

A completed application form with one attached photograph [PDF, 130kb]
Proof of citizenship in country with diplomatic relations with Japan.
Official certificate of a Master's degree (or a letter from a graduate school attesting to expected award of Master's degree) and an undergraduate diploma from a university or college (Bachelor’s or equivalent).
Official transcripts from the applicant's master’s and undergraduate programs.　
A certificate of English proficiency, preferably a TOEFL score.
A copy of the applicant's Master’s thesis (if completed).
Two confidential recommendation letters on the linked form [PDF, 100kb]. Each letter should be sent directly to the Professor In Charge in a sealed envelope with the signature of the recommender over the flap of the envelope. One recommendation letter from a high-ranking person, such as the dean of a graduate school, chair of a department, president of a company, or a person in an equivalent position is strongly recommended.

Only English proficiency is required - therefore not being able to communicate in Japanese is so a problem.

As from personal experience, almost all classes (I havent't come across one that isn't though) in Nagoya University are conducted in Japanese, the same goes to the research seminars, even when foreigner who does not understand Japanese is there. I used to attend weekly meetings, conducted in Japanese with powerpoint slides in Japanese as well - lucky for me that I understand chinese, I could at least read the kanji on the slide. Otherwise I would fell asleep in that 3-5hours of weekly meeting...

Therefore knowing Japanese is important, as not much students/staffs will talk to you as they found it hard to express themselves and some are just too shy, even in the university. I did meet a few nice Japanese who love English and talk to me a lot, but I think I'm really lucky on that. But there're foreigners from China, Mexico, US, Brazil as research students too so you'll still be able to find someone to chat with when you are bored =p

And to learn Japanese, there're plenty of classes (some are free) conducted in the university, so you can start learning when you are in Japan. I personally think learning Japanese in Japan is more effective as you get to practise it the whole time =p

So, in short, picking up a bit of nihongo (Japanese) is definitely a plus - well you can always learn from anime, songs, lonely planet language book, pimsleur mp3 (I have this oral Japanese lessons mp3 with me) so you could at least make sure you could get to your accomodation once you reached there. But it's okay to only start learning when you are in Japan I guess =p