What Shizuoka's Exchange Students Actually Struggle With Abroad — and How We Prepare in Fujieda
Every year, Fujieda, Yaizu, and the cities around them send junior and senior high school students overseas through sister-city exchange and dispatch programs. The Fujieda International Friendship Society (FIFS) sends students to Penrith, Australia. The Yaizu–Hobart Friendship Association sends students to Hobart. Other Shizuoka cities send delegations to Hawaii, Oregon, and California. These programs arrange the flights and the host family. The English preparation is almost always left to each family.
That gap is where the trouble starts — and after years of preparing students for these trips, I’ve found it’s rarely the gap families expect. What actually trips up Shizuoka’s exchange students once they land is specific and predictable, and so is the preparation for it.
The students who struggle aren’t the ones with the lowest test scores
I’ve prepared students for these trips for years — most recently one student bound for Vancouver and another for Hobart, and for years before that I taught homestay-preparation courses at other schools. The same pattern shows up every time.
The student who freezes abroad is rarely the one with the weakest grammar. It’s the one who has never said the words out loud in a real situation. A selected exchange student can have a solid Eiken grade and still spend the first three nights nodding silently at the dinner table, because no class ever asked them to actually arrive, hand over a gift, and start a conversation. Confidence comes from rehearsal, not from a test score.
The first dinner is the hardest moment of the whole trip
Arrival night is the moment students dread most, and the one they prepare for least. The host family is friendly, the food is on the table, and the student has no idea how to begin. The fix is simple but it has to be practiced: a warm greeting, handing over the gift from Japan (“This is for you — it’s from Japan”), and a few honest lines for when they don’t understand. I rehearse this exact scene with each student until it stops being frightening.
Not knowing how to say “I didn’t understand”
The single most useful thing a homestay student can carry is a clarification phrase that comes out automatically: “Sorry, could you say that again?” or “Could you speak a little slower, please?” Students who can ask this stay in the conversation. Students who can’t tend to smile, nod, and quietly withdraw. I drill these phrases from the first lesson, because every other skill depends on them.
Asking permission for ordinary things
Can I use the shower? Is it okay to use the washing machine? Where do you keep the towels? These sound trivial, but a student who can’t ask them feels helpless in someone else’s home for weeks. A short set of polite permission phrases removes that daily friction.
Food: allergies and second helpings
Two food situations matter most. The first is safety: clearly saying “I’m allergic to nuts — is that in this?” The second is warmth: thanking the family for the meal and knowing how to accept, refuse, or ask for a little more without going hungry or over-eating out of politeness. Both are quick to learn and easy to practice at a table.
Getting around Hobart and Vancouver: transport differs by city
Transport is where general “study abroad” advice falls apart, because the answer depends entirely on the destination. A student going to Hobart needs to know the city runs on buses and family pick-ups — Hobart has no passenger trains or trams today, so subway vocabulary is useless there. A student going to Vancouver needs TransLink and a Compass Card, which is a different system again. Preparation that isn’t matched to the actual city leaves the student guessing at the bus stop.
Emergency numbers and phrases: 000 in Australia, 911 in North America
Every student should leave Japan with the local emergency number memorized — 000 in Australia, 911 in Canada and the United States — and the phrases to say “I don’t feel well” or “I think I’m lost. Can you help me?” without hesitating. These are reflexes, not vocabulary. They have to be automatic before departure, not looked up in the moment.
How I prepare students for this in Fujieda
My homestay preparation is built backward from the departure date and tailored to the exact city the student is going to. Most of each lesson is spent acting out these real situations — arrival, dinner, asking permission, getting lost — rather than sitting and listening. By the last lesson, the student runs through the whole arc with no help from me. If they can do it in Fujieda, they can do it in Hobart or Vancouver.
Between lessons, each student also reads an illustrated short story set in the city they’re actually going to — Hobart, Vancouver, Penrith — so the phrases we practice turn up again inside a scene before the trip. You can read a free sample chapter to see how it works.
If your child has been selected for a city exchange program and isn’t confident speaking yet, that gap is exactly what this preparation closes. You can read the full course outline on the Homestay Prep Intensive Course page.
Common questions from exchange-program families
My child was selected for a city exchange program but isn’t confident in English. Where do we start? Start with the moments they’ll actually face — arrival, meals, asking for help — not with more grammar study. A free consultation is the simplest first step: we talk through the destination, the departure date, and the current level, and decide whether short-term homestay preparation is the right fit.
How early should we begin before departure? Four to eight weeks is ideal. With eight weeks, one lesson a week is comfortable; with four, twice a week works. The schedule is built backward from the departure date so it always finishes in time.
Does it matter which country they’re going to? Yes, more than most families expect. Transport, emergency numbers, table manners, and even how directly people speak all change by country. Once the destination is confirmed, the lessons are tuned to that specific city.
If your family is preparing for an exchange or homestay this year, book a free consultation and we’ll plan it around your departure date. Students from the same city program can prepare together, which lowers the cost per person and makes the role-plays more realistic.