A Japanese Class

This term, a Japanese friend asked me to take a class with him. It is much different than the typical classes I am made to take here in Okayama. This particular class is based on studying Southern Oregon. Basically, I took it for two reasons. First, I wanted to get more practice listening to Japanese in a class room setting because my other classes are taught in English, typically with a Japanese instructor, who's English isn't flawless to say the least. And second, I wanted to see first hand how the Japanese students are taught in college as opposed to how American classes operate.

I first want to outline my experience, and the experience that I imagine most American students have while studying at home. In America, classes are typically somewhat difficult, and some are outright intense. The professors often assign homework such as reading of text books or answering questions on a daily basis, and in many 10 week classes, there will be 3 tests including a final, and often 2 or 3 essays of between 3 to 7 pages accordingly. As students, much of our time outside of class is spent studying material, and in alot of cases, it is our job.

For another point, the Professor usually wants student engagement to take place during their lecture. It's seems that the common belief is if you don't make the students answer questions and give their 2 cents, they probably aren't learning the material. I have seen, in many classes, a professor continuously looking for people to ask questions when a difficult topic comes up, and if no questions are asked, the teacher gets somewhat annoyed with the class. As a student, I love to give my understanding of something and be corrected if wrong, as well as here other students' questions because they often clear up questions that I have as well.

Now, I would like to explain my experience it the "Japanese class" that I am taking. I can't speak for all classes, or even universities, but according to other students, most classes are structured quite similarly to this one.

Firstly, the Professor does assign homework at the end of each class, but unlike American classes, the ones here are only 90 minutes one day a week. The homework usually seems simple, and the students have a full week to do it. In this class, there will be no essay to write, and i believe just one small test at the end of the term which lasts 15 weeks.

As for how the actual class period operates, I am very surprised. There is no required text for this class, which is understandable because "Southern Oregon" is somewhat of a strange topic. So, instead of a text, the Professor makes print outs of the "Ashland Daily Tidings" newspaper for the students. For the first 30 minutes, he just stands at the front of the class and reads a sentence in English, and then translates the meaning. He only makes it through about the first two paragraphs in that time, and then moves on to another print out. One time, he gave a "Google Map" of a piece of a city, both here in Japan, and in the states. The purpose was to examine the differences between Japanese and American maps, where there are actually quite a few. This is a typical class period.

During all of this, I look around at the sum 30 students, and can usually see about 10 that even look awake, and out of those, maybe 5 are following the lecture. The Professor almost never asks a question, and the students are completely unengaged, just listening to the man ramble on. I really wonder how someone can learn from this first off, and why someone would pay money to sleep in a classroom while some half balding man shouts information at them.

Like I said, this is a very usual Japanese college class. In a few weeks, i will have the opportunity to go to a High School here and sit in on one of those classes as well. I am very curious to see if they use to same strategy for teaching.