<<        Despite the decrease in the number of students who study at a university outside Japan, the number of them is still significantly large. I myself study at a university in Australia and see many Japanese students around our university. Each student appears to have different purposes and reasons for studying abroad and to choose different forms of doing so. However, it can be generalised that many students have following reasons they choose to study abroad.        Firstly and the most significantly, many students go abroad for their further education. Even though Japan is one of the most developed countries in the world, some of the fields of study are behind other countries. To take me as an example, I chose to come to Australia precisely because I wanted to have Environmental Studies as my major for my bachelor, which is hardly offered in Japan or US at the bachelor level. Moreover, I would like to relate my study at this degree to development studies and economics for my further study; therefore I consider going to a country where this field is the most advanced. Similarly, it is likely that many Japanese students go abroad to study because the foreign universities for some fields can offer them the courses that the best suit their preferences.        Secondly, the students who study abroad aims at obtaining language skills that are spoken in the host countries. In most cases of Japanese international students, they go to English speaking counties for their education because of the dominance of the English over other languages. These students can usually improve their English skills through study at the universities and their daily lives where they speak English. Ideally, these students are supposed to master English speaking and writing by the time they complete their degrees, which is not necessarily the case. I myself found it hard to improve my English even in an English-speaking environment, and realised that I have a long way to go. I see many students who have difficulties in English even after they complete their degrees here. This shows that studying abroad does not necessarily lead to acquiring English proficiency. However, it cannot be denied that many students think their English will improve and make this as an objective of studying abroad.        Lastly, the aims of international students to improve themselves cannot also be neglected. Being overseas, the students face many people of various cultural backgrounds. Under this situation where you get to know many different and new things to them, they learn about new things to widen their vies and learn to be tolerant to something different from them. This is because you are forced to communicate with these different people and accept these differences for their own survival. Additionally, since the students are away from their home, they will learn to take care of themselves and hopefully become mentally more independent of their parents.        In conclusion, there are three major reasons the students go overseas for their education; their study, language skills and self-improvement. Although it seems these three reasons can apply to many students, this is not necessarily the case. Individual students will have different reasons for studying abroad.