From August 1 to August 13, 2026, SolBridge International School of Business welcomed 29 second-year students and two accompanying teachers from Toyama University of International Studies (TUINS) High School in Toyama, Japan, for a two-week program in English writing and presentation skills. After arriving in Daejeon and settling in over a welcome dinner, the group began their first full day on campus with a tour led by SolBridge's International Relations team and a formal welcome from Honorary President Deog-Seong Oh, Dean Chia-Hsing Huang, and Prof. Hee Kwon Lee, who introduced them to Woosong University. Before turning to English, students spent their first classroom session getting a taste of Korea itself, learning the basics of Hangul and everyday expressions with Prof. Hwansung Ju, along with an introduction to Korean customs, food, and daily etiquette.

With that foundation set, the program moved into its core focus: building students' skills as writers and speakers of English. Prof. Martin Sketchley and Prof. Ines Mzali guided students from the basics of paragraph structure through to short essays, teaching them how to organize ideas clearly, support a main point with examples, and edit their own and each other's work. As the days progressed, the focus shifted from writing for the page to writing for the stage, as students learned to simplify their language for spoken delivery and began shaping their own final presentations, choosing topics ranging from personal hobbies to social issues to future goals. Alongside the writing work, students practiced the fundamentals of public speaking, from eye contact and posture to voice projection and pacing, building the confidence to stand in front of a group.

The final stretch of the academic program brought everything together. Students learned to design clear, simple presentation slides and built their own using the outlines they had prepared, then rehearsed in front of their classmates before delivering their final presentations, which were evaluated on organization, clarity, language use, and delivery. That same afternoon, current SolBridge students joined the group for an interaction session, sharing their own experiences of university life, academic choices, and career paths through informal conversation and Q&A. The program closed on a high note with a certificate ceremony hosted by Dean Chia-Hsing Huang, celebrating two weeks of hard work.

With the coursework behind them, students had a few free days to explore Daejeon before the trip's final chapter took them to visit their sister school and spend a day exploring Seoul. On August 13, the group departed from Korea and headed home to Toyama, taking with them stronger English writing and speaking skills, a certificate marking their progress, and two weeks' worth of memories from their time in Korea.

Programs like this one are part of how SolBridge lives out its commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). Pairing structured English writing and presentation training with direct, peer-to-peer contact between TUINS and SolBridge students gave both groups a hands-on model of the cross-border learning and collaboration these goals call for.

SolBridge extends its sincere thanks to Toyama University of International Studies (TUINS) High School for this partnership, and looks forward to welcoming students from Toyama again in the future.