They have a channel called Mango Vlogz - Linked below so go check it out!!

They are doing a high school exchange here in Japan for one school year

I also did a short exchange for 2 weeks when I was in high school

So I thought it would be cool to have a conversation together

and answer your questions about doing high school exchanges in Japan!

I asked you on twitter this morning and I got so many replies!

So thank you so much guys

So I'm just gonna go through your tweets and we're gonna answer your questions!

Do you have to know Japanese really well to go on an exchange?

Well I did an exam before I came

So they said you have to learn it for at least 2 years for my school

And even when I came it was still quite hard

And I studied for 2 years so it's probably better to be at least intermediate level

So they had an exam and you had to be able to pass a certain level to qualify?

Yep

For me, I was only here on a 2 week exchange

and there were no requirements whatsoever

I actually spoke zero Japanese, I knew like 3 words

But I found that really fun? It was fun.

Because everything was new to me, I picked up lots of Japanese while I was here

So if you're just going on a short exchange and they don't require a certain level of Japanese

Don't worry at all if you don't speak Japanese

I thought it made the experience more exciting

But in their case they're here for a year and they required it, so

It looks like every case is different, but you may be all right not knowing Japanese

So check with your school

Are exchange students expected to learn the same curriculum as Japanese students?

I'm on a slightly different program to Emily

Because I'm a proper foreign exchange student, I have tests but they're in English

So they're aimed at someone who's not native in Japanese

Whereas Emily's are pretty much the same

Yeah the same I think

Oh really, you're taking the same ones as the Japanese students?

Are the teachers kind of slack?

If you don't get a score as high as all the Japanese students, they're okay with it?

They're okay with it

They don't expect you to be perfect

We have teachers that will write the furigana on kanji for us

Because he knows we can't read it

Aw that's nice

Again, it looks like it's different for everyone and you'll probably have choices about what you wanna do

When I was here I didn't do any tests

I did some schoolwork in class and they gave me some homework

But it was just a really short program

How much did it cost? Did your school pay for it?

I had to pay all of it because I'm like a normal student

And private school here in Japan is pretty expensive

Pretty expensive

Our school is the most expensive in Tokyo

Does the price differ for foreign students?

Do you pay a different price than Japanese students do?

I didn't

I think mine cost a bit more because I had to do homestay

Right, so it includes the homestay cost

It's pretty expensive

And you have to pay for your uniform, and a fee to get into the school

Because I don't take tests, so I have to pay to get in

And textbooks, they never give you the textbooks

As a student, are you allowed to work part time?

If you wanted to get a job here?

Secretly...

So you're not allowed?

You could, but it's gonna be like a whole big meeting

Ahh to discuss if it's okay to do it or not

So it's possible, but a pain in the ass

They say sometimes for foreign students they can make exceptions

because you might have run out of money, before you finish school

So in that case it's ok

It also depends on your visa

Yeah you have to apply for special permission

So it looks like it's pretty pricey guys

I've never heard of any year long exchange programs that are free

If you're planning on doing one maybe get a part time job

And start saving up now

So you can help pay for it, maybe your parents will pay the rest

If you don't know Japanese can you still make Japanese friends?

Yes!

I think so

For me it was really easy to make friends

Everyone's interested in you because you're like the cool foreign person

So everyone wants to talk to you I found

Did you have the same experience?

There's lots of people interested in foreign music as well

So they'll be the first to come up to you and be like "Do you know Beyonce?"

Yeah yeah yeah

I don't think language is really a factor in making friends

You'll get around that

If you don't speak Japanese and you're trying to make Japanese friends

It's a great incentive to learn Japanese

and I feel that that will really benefit your language study

That's how I improved mine really fast

Because I wanted to talk to these people but I couldn't

So I would try to find phrases that I could use with them and study a bit

How did you hear about the program?

I already graduated my school

So I finished school and then I decided to take a year off and go to Japan

Because I wanted to get better at Japanese before university

Mine's not actually through my school

When I was looking online, all the programs were for America and Canada

They didn't have anything for England

Somehow I ended up on the Japanese embassy sites

The New Zealand embassy or something

And I found a link to the school

So I actually applied to the school directly all by myself

Wow that's cool!

So if your school doesn't offer anything, you can just apply directly

And she's not even a high school student, she graduated

A couple of you guys were like "Aww I graduated high school... dammit..."

I think it was okay up until 20 years old

Oh really? Cool

It doesn't matter about your age as much

I'm 18 but I'm in with the first years (Grade 10)

They just put you in a class based on your level and where is most appropriate

I think many high school have them but they don't advertise them

So if you're in high school at the moment

I would go talk to your counsellor or just go to the office if you have an international office

and ask them for opportunities for exchange

because you might have something and you just don't know about it

And if your school doesn't have one, maybe look into the option like that

Maybe graduate first and then go there after

There seem to be lots of different ways to do it

I've heard some exchange horror stories, have you or your friends had any bad experiences?

Not really

But our friend... there's this boy exchange student

This guy that came to our school

His homestay he couldn't go in unless he had a key

And they only had one key

So he just had to wait outside the house

And just wait for them to come home?

Ok that's really bad

My homestay's really nice

They're really flexible and stuff

After the bunkasai (school festival) we had an after party

And she was just like "Make sure you come home late! Go have fun!"

She's really sweet

How about school wise, have you had any problems at school?

A lot of gossip

Typical high school problems

Not really like an exchange problem I guess

What if you have a problem with something?

Is it easy to find someone to talk to?

If you had an issue with your homestay would there be someone available to talk to?

Yeah

When I was doing my program, I didn't have any problems with my homestay - they were great

But we did have a counsellor in the school that we could talk to if we had any problems

I never really heard anything too bad during my exchange

There were a couple people who had really strict homestays

So they wouldn't let them go out late

Lots of the other students would go out partying and drinking

and a couple of the students, their homestays wouldn't let them go

So they were kinda upset about that

But they just had stricter rules for their children

So they apply those to their exchange student as well

So it really depends on the family

I didn't really hear of anything bad

When you're going through YouTube lots of things pop up like "HORRIBLE EXCHANGE EXPERIENCE"

There's so many videos about horrible exchanges in Japan

I hope this will give you an opportunity to hear about some good stories

I'm also gonna make a video talking about my total homestay experience

I myself didn't have any problems at all

My homestay Mom, she's not fluent but she understands English

If you aren't that strong in Japanese, make sure you have someone who knows a little bit of English

Otherwise it's gonna be really difficult

I did get a book beforehand from the homestay company

And it said things to be careful of, like cultural differences

So in Japan you have to eat all of your food

Right right

And if you don't they might think you hate their cooking or something

So it said make sure you explain that first

That's nice that they gave you a book

When you leave it's so sad, everyone cries

Yeah

I still talk to my homestay! It's been like 12 years and I still talk to them

Yeah they're really nice

What does your school uniform look like?

You can either wear a ribbon or a tie

Oh you can choose! That's neat

But for special occasions you have to wear a bow

So the bow is more formal?

The boys have different colours... red, green, white, blue

And the boys are just a tie right?

Just a tie, yeah

You have to wear a blazer on formal occasions

That's really cute

And everyone has their little name written inside

The name's embroidered on the inside

And then the school logo on the front

We have our PE wear

For sports classes

PE is fun

Our summer uniform

So the uniform changes throughout the seasons

Cute little sweater vest, and then you wear a collared shirt underneath it

Show them the skirt, the skirt is so cute

The colours are so nice

Do you wear it this length? Or do you roll yours up?

I roll it twice

Yeah I roll it twice too

If you wanna make your skirt shorter you can roll it up a little bit

Some girls will do it long on purpose, because that can also be cool

And what do the socks look like?

They're grey knee highs

No one wears them knee high

That's so funny

Apparently currently the style is to not wear your socks really high

So they'll roll them down

When I was in... god this makes me sound so old

When I was doing my exchange, the slouch socks were popular

The white slouchy socks

Everyone would have the really baggy socks and they'd slouch them up

I'll put some pictures so you can see, but like gyaru style

Nowadays I guess you don't really see that

When I first started I was like, Oh it's Japanese high school!

So I had them like, up to here!

Like I had seen on anime and stuff

And my friend was like, no that's really uncool you gotta stop

Stoppp what are you doing

What are the rules for appearance?

Are you allowed to colour your hair and wear makeup?

Nope.

So do they think this is your natural hair?

Yeah and then the brown starts showing

And then my teacher is like, you need to go to the salon right now!

And also, your nails can't be long

No nail polish right?

Nope

Some girls do clear polish, but they still notice

Even clear they'll get mad at you?!

Whyyy

And coloured contacts are not okay, but some girls do