In April 2022, I decided to quit my job and pursue studying Japanese at a Japanese language school. I enrolled, attended my first ever entrance ceremony, and just completed my first exam just over a month after being enrolled. So, how's it going? Am I settled in? Do I hate it and wish I would have just self-studied? Keep reading to find out!
Well, the short answer is... It's going. The long answer is... It's complicated. So, what do I mean by complicated? Well, having never studied a language at an academy before, I didn't know what to expect or what my preferences are, so there are some things that are working out, and there are some things I could go without.
COMMUTE
The school I chose is pretty far, and doing it twice a day, plus also commuting to my daughter's nursery school after I get home from class, is really time-consuming and wears me out. The bus only comes once an hour, and as you have it, my class lets out just a little too late to catch it, so I'm stuck either paying more to take the train or waiting the 50 minutes until the next one. In total, I spend, two hours a day commuting. While reading on the bus is fine, doing homework or any other kind of writing is a pain, so I am now finding ways I could spend that time a bit more productively, or I'm just going to shell out the money to shave an hour off of my commute.
CURRICULUM
We are using the みんなの日本語 series, and I absolutely love the textbook and exercises. I am currently supplementing with two other well-known textbooks, which I'll introduce later, and Minna no Nihongo is the best so far. The teachers also provide us with tons of varied exercises, such as writing assignments, dictation assignments, and more. I feel like I getting more than enough reading, writing, speaking, and listening practice. I do believe there are too many "quizzes", and the kanji component can be a bit more engaging, as it's mostly just memorizing and testing, but other than that, I am really enjoying the curriculum.
The pace, however, is a different story. At first, I couldn't wait to get home, study, participate in class, ask questions, etc. But now, I am just trying to keep my head above water. Of course, the speed depends on people's perspective, but to me, I really do feel like it is going just a tad bit too fast.
Memorize, test, and forget is kind of what is beginning to happen for me. The speed has helped my Japanese improve by leaps and bounds, and I know I couldn't have achieved the same results doing self-studying. However, since I am not attending language school to get into any program, university, or trying to work at a Japanese company, going at the pace we are going is rather unnecessary for me. I think I feel this way mostly due to me having a daughter at home. Most language schools expect you to be coming from overseas with little to no familial responsibilities, so balancing hiccups with my daughter and the mega load that comes with studying full time can be quite challenging and unnecessarily stressful.
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
The teachers are nice, helpful, and excellent teacher's in their own right, and yes, I said "teachers". Yep, we only have one subject, but the course I am in is taught by three teachers simultaneously. For example, Mon/Friday is taught by teacher #1, Tue/Thursday is taught by teacher #2, and Wednesday's class is taught by teacher #3. They seem to have great teamwork and can start exactly where the last teacher left off the day before, but it's madness because they all have different teaching styles and slightly different expectations for the exact same thing, so I was completely thrown off guard and had to continuously adjust to each style of teaching. It's not too bad for me, but I can see this being an obstacle or issue for someone else.
As for the students, I'm always reminded of the quote, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You'll never know what you're going to get." or something like that. When I first started, there were only like six of us in the class, but then the class grew and with that, you get tons of different personalities. For someone who is extroverted or sociable, that might be great. However, I'm shy, introverted, and just not generally interested in socializing with others, and I am totally burnt out socially because of my previous job. I think I've dealt with enough people to last a lifetime. I hate large groups, and I am no longer interested in attempting to change myself to fit some socially constructed sense of acceptability.
So, if I had my choice, I'd have picked a school with much smaller class sizes. I am thinking of asking to see if there are any other smaller classes, and I'd transfer if I could.
Also, there are students in my class half my age, so maturity waxes and wanes, and also mostly everyone else is new to Japan, and sweet summer child, I am over it.
I guess, on the other hand, a smaller class size would be hell if you're surrounded by unmotivated or immature classmates that you cannot escape due to lack of variety, so I guess you just can't win sometimes.
GRADE
B+. While I am not completely waking up in dread, or drowning ten feet under mounds of assignments, the honeymoon phase is over, and it is time to get down to business. Let's check-in in six months once I've completely settled and completely a whole JLPT level.
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