I am debating if I would like to transfer to Japan as a 2nd year next year. A few questions and opinions. 1) How much Japanese would be wise for me to learn? 2) How are the students different compare to Americans? (Partying, sex, drugs, studious, lazy, nerdy, slutty, or you know any typical "stereotypes") I want a comparing idea to see if I'd fit in or need to change some ways of mine. 3) How much of a change would this be for anyone deciding to make this leap? OR any of opinions about me deciding this? / any effective way to learn Japanese or motivation? Thank you all!
Japan - 4 Answers
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1 :
1) More or less like in America. 2) The Japanese people are very reserved and polite, but quite open-minded with sex. 3) Without any doubt It would require some effort from you. The Japanese people may seem a it weird to a westerner. If I were you, I'd choose other country with a more akin culture.
2 :
1 - You will have to know A LOT of Japanese (and also their writing: Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana) unless you are planning to go to an international school where they speak and teach mostly in English. Just think of how well you can speak English... you'll have to speak just as much Japanese. 2 - Japanese teenagers are fun but they are also very serious about their studies. I remember going to a Japanese school for a day in Middle School on a field trip, it was very quiet in the classroom. People in my class were whispering and some of them got a little loud but the Japanese kids weren't like that at all when they visited our classroom the next week. They were just as quiet and respectful as they were in their own classroom. I'm not saying that everyone is like this, but I think that that is the norm. 3 - This would be a HUGE change, you definitely need to be prepared. In Japan school is very serious business and High School is NOT free (the average cost is about $2,000 a year in American dollars). Also Japanese High School starts at what is Sophomore Year to us (10th grade), and you have to take entrance exams to get into a high school. If you can't pass your examines (and knowledge of Kanji is included on these exams) you cannot get into a high school. You have to repeat Junior High (9th grade). The pressure to learn and succeed is really big in Japan. A lot of High School students go to Jukus or Cram schools - they are like after school classes - in order to keep their grades up. They are also very competitive with their grades. All in all Japanese High Schools are A LOT harder than American High Schools. I had a friend when I lived in Japan who went to a Japanese High School (I went to a middle school on base at the time). She was fluent in Japanese and had been going to Japanese schools since she started school and she had a difficult time with High School. If you're going to do this it's going to be very difficult, even if you plan on going to an International school and you take having to learn Japanese out of the equation. Do you take Advanced classes in High School? Because normal Japanese classes are harder than our advanced classes. It's definitely not a decision that you should take lightly. You should do a lot of research on it before you make up your mind.
3 :
1, Japanese kids are supposed to finish learning 2,000 kanjis before the end of junior high school. If you want to go to a high school in Japan, you must know all 2,000 kanjis. Or you can't follow the classes. And you can't join a high school without taking and passing its entrance exams. So you must know 2,000 kanji to pass it. 2, It depends on each school. "Studying hard" is just a stereotype. Not all students are like that. As we have entrance exams for college, some are studying hard, though. You can't easily transfer to Japanese high schools (Do you have a place to stay?).
4 :
I think the better option for you would be to go as an exchange student, intstead of enrolling as a student. You should research it up, I dont think many people just "transfer" to a Japanese High School unless their parents are moving their long term(ish) and alot of them go to an American high school there. Anyway on to your questions 1) As much as you can, you'd definitly need to be competent in Hiragana and Katakana + Basic Kanji, this is just to get by. To pass you'd need an extensive knowledge of the language. Just basically study study study. 2) I can't really fully answer this question so much, because at my School in Japan its one of the worst schools in the Prefecture. The students just sit there do make-up and hair all day, scream, yell, most have part-time jobs (which is normally forbiden) and yeah I cant really explain it in short. My schools just different, my host Mother was so shocked when I was telling her about my school. But in general I think the other answers give a very good impression of Japanese Students. 3) It really depends person to person. Some people deal with it really well some people do not. Everyones different and has their own goals and ambitions and deal with problems differently. Other advice I can give; Just try your best and have the most amazing time of your life because I know I am. http://www.lifeinjapan.tumblr.com
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