Life as a japanese student.

[botynation]

hey! people i need your help. im writing and artical for journalism class and its about the life in the day of a japanese student. can anyone tell me what they do in a day in japan and school and stuff. like all the deatils. please!! ARigatou!

[jasonbvr]

What age group? I can answer to about all of them except for college students. All I know about college students is that they drink and party, but isn't that the way it should be?

[jasonbvr]

Since I have the time to, I'll give you a basic idea of what it is like to be a punk, I mean a'hole, I mean kid in Japan's schools. My perspective is that of these kid's ALT. Anyways, let's start with the chu.

That is ALT speak for chugakkou, jr high. Let's start with the ichinensei, life as an ichinensei is pretty exciting. You are in a brand new school with new teachers and pimping your new threads (uniforms). You get to actually ride a bike to school now whereas in sho (elementary) you had to walk. You still have to wear your safety helmet, but at least you are not walking to school anymore. You get to join a club and learn from your senpai (seniors). Basketball, baseball, etcetera, are you basic choices for clubs. Being in a club takes up pretty much all of your time outside of studying. I am not exaggerating either. From the time you join the club to August of your last year, you live for club. Before and after school a lot of clubs meet for practice. During the weekends and the holidays, you come to school or go to the parks and gyms for games and practice.

Next, ninensei. As a 2nd grader at chu, you are in the sweetest position. You are no longer the awkward little ichinensei you were last year, but you are not a stressed out 3rd grader. Ninensei, in my opinion, are the loudest and most disruptive. There is pressure on them to know more than an ichinensei, but they still don't have to all work and no play like san. They go to club everyday and enjoy the benefits of being over the ichinensei.

Sannensei, they may rule in the case seniority and enjoy certain privileges of more responsibility and perks, but their life sucks. After August, you are not even allowed to go to club. After school and on the weekends, you can join a team on your own. But as far as the school's clubs, you are forbidden. Why? They have to study for the high school entrance exam. After their summer trip, summer tournaments and a little bit of vacation in August, they are doomed to slave away for their tests in January. You will get two or three chances to pass this test for high school. After that, you have to wait a year before you get the chance to go to high school.

I could complain, I mean write, more about Japanese education, but I'll save it for another day.

[botynation]

thank you!! ^^ i really need alot of info. and you helped!

[jasonbvr]

More of the wonders of Japanese schools...

I'll start with about where I left off, the third grade of junior high. In January/early February most junior high schoolers will be taking their high school entrance exams. You see, unlike in the states not everyone goes on to high school. Students are tested in five subjects, Japanese, English, Math, Social Studies, and Science. The score from each section of the test is combined to make one test grade. Which means that if you where good in everything except English, your score is an automatic eighty. I have no problem telling you I don't like this testing system. As I have explained to many Japanese, it doesn't reward students for their strengths but rather penalizes for their weaknesses. Look at the way US universities admit students, they look at your aptitude (SAT, you're ability to solve problems) and then you have tests like the ACT which scores separately for math, science, history and English (I think, it has been a long time).

Here is another problem I have with the general Japanese education system. Students pass from one grade to another regardless of mastering their studies at that level. There is no such thing as a failed student in Japan. If this kid doesn't master first year English, he just goes on to second year where he really can't do anything. The pace and level of study in Japanese schools basically weeds out the weak. This is not so much about educating as it is about trying to work you to death and seeing how many survive. This creates a lot of problems in the classroom. You have the kids who absolutely do not care because they are so far behind, effort is seemingly pointless. So you end up with half the class either not putting any effort into their work or some that just copy others and go through the motions.

Out of an English class of thirty students, I have on average 5 that demonstrate an ability equal to or surpassing where they are in the textbook. After that there is maybe 10 who are just below that level. Then another 10 who are a bit behind but when coached individually can make up the gap to the other 10. Then 5 who are still unable to distinguish the letters of the alphabet.

Japan's answer to this, a recent proposal to add more hours to the school week. Also, even though the amount they receive is more than US students, there will be less time for art and music lessons.

For more wonders of Japanese kids school life, browse the Teaching in the JP thread and check out some ALT blogs like gaijzilla.com

[Suki]

Thank you Jason, that was interesting to read and I noticed you indulged in a bit of sarcasm here and there =P

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

Students are tested in five subjects, Japanese, English, Math, Social Studies, and Science. The score from each section of the test is combined to make one test grade. Which means that if you where good in everything except English, your score is an automatic eighty. I have no problem telling you I don't like this testing system. As I have explained to many Japanese, it doesn't reward students for their strengths but rather penalizes for their weaknesses

That's the way it works in Spain but we have 7 subjects instead of 5.

[jasonbvr]

Yes, sarcasm. The form of humor that suits Japanese the best just happens to be the one that they rarely understand. The Japanese taste in humor leans heavily to the slapstick, act like an idiot kind. But that is another story.

Onto more fun stuff about school life in Japan...

I compare Japanese school life a lot to the US because that is obviously what I know best. Here are some key differences between the US and Japan that are not academic.

Japanese students, outside their lectures, operate with a greater degree of autonomy and freedom. For example, in a US school when the students begin arriving in the morning the teachers are in the classrooms and hallways which are scattered throughout the school's grounds. The reason is that many teachers in the US have their desks and workspace inside their own classroom and secondly have to act as guards to keep an eye on the kids. In Japan we have the teachers' room. This is like the main office in a US school except every teacher has a desk in here. When we get to school, most if not all the teachers are in the teachers' room. Some kids will be out in the playing field doing club activities or the gym, but they will be unsupervised. The teachers have a meeting every morning while the students are all coming into the school. Afterwards, the head teacher for each class goes to their class to give a sort of daily breifing to the students. Then they return to the teachers' room to gather some things to go off to the first class. In the US, you would be lucky if some idiot hadn't burned the school to the ground by that point.

Another difference between the US and Japan, the bad kids. Bad kids in my school are nothing more than a bunch of kids with attention deficit disorder who goof off in class. I will admit, I don't really have any really bad kids, but even the worst I have heard of do not compare to those in the US. For me, the goofball kids in Japan are a necessary evil. When you go to school as much as the Japanese do, comic relief even if it is dirupting is necessary to make it through the day. So as much as I hate having lessons interrupted and really want every kid to get through school, the jackass confusing his B's and V's sometimes is really nice.

Other bad kids, here are some examples. In Japan, we don't really have suspension. The other week, I heard one of my friends talk about kids riding their bikes through the halls and denting up one teacher's car. In the US, there would've been legal action and lawsuits for the second action. I have no idea what they did to these kids, but I doubt it was much. And the ones that did it, have been acting this way since elementary school. The thing is, Japan completely reversed their position on punishment in school. They went from one extreme to the other. Whereas these kids would've been beaten in the old days (very bad), now there is almost zero repercussions now. Now they get a stern talking too.

Anyways, it is lunch time so maybe I will write more later.

[botynation]

ahhhhhh your so helpful!! thank you soooo much!!

[Kasomi]

I really like the way you explain this! XD
Go on... I won't stop you.^^

[botynation]

i like how its explainded too! please do continue! i print them out and read them in class because they make me not bored! ^^