Kobe University`s Japanese language tuition syllabus reads really nicely. It has a 5 classes for different aspects of Japanese nicely streamed for everyone at different ability levels, from Elementary, Upper Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced at the top. They even give you a little spiel underneath the class name about what sort of level each class is for, mentioning textbooks you should have studied and the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) level it`s aiming to get you at. They even give everyone a nice little placement test to indicate where you are before you sign up for the classes.
The reality is a little bit different.
When they say "Placement test", what they forgot to say was "Two week long" in front of it. Even then the whole thing is completely screwed up. You do the test and then from the class lists that result from them it seems that the University completely ignores them and just randomly stick people in classes until every all the levels are about the same size. I mean, Monica and I both got put in the "Upper Elementary class" for reading and composition. Monica is a Japanese Major student, and has had 2 years of a VERY grammar and writing/reading focused course and takes the Upper Intermediate and some of the Advanced courses, while I`m solidly Intermediate level. Not only are we not remotely close to each other in terms of writing ability, we were both being told to sit through what ended up being 1.5 hours of "My. Name. Is. Thomas. I. Come. From. Scotland". Needless to say immediately after this I ran to the teacher of the Intermediate class and requested a transfer (Monica had the sense to ignore the whole thing in the first place and go straight to Upper Intermediate. This has pretty much been my policy ever since.)
Oddly enough, nobody seems to care that half of ever class transfers to a different one after the first lesson. I guess this happens every year, in which case: CHANGE THE FRIKKIN TESTS!!!
It`s not even only the tests which are completely nuts, the levels are nowhere near balanced. Elementary and Upper Elementary are practically identical in terms of content, Intermediate is a massive jump from Upper Elementary, but still way below Upper Intermediate and Advanced.
There`s also the oddly named "Special Japanese" module which is a grammar module and appears at Intermediate level and above. Intermediate level is supposed to follow on from the Minna no Nihongo 2 textbook and get you to JLPT level 2 by the end of it. Class 1 covered stuff we did in Minna no Nihongo 1... This would be ok normally, but "Special Japanese II", the Upper Intermediate class is listening only, and "Special Japanese III" covers the sort of grammar that native Japanese speakers have trouble understanding.
Basically, the whole system is geared towards either people who have never studied Japanese before or Korean and Chinese students who`ve studied Japanese all through primary and high school; anyone in the middle is a bit stuck :-(
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Monday 26 October 2009
Clothes
I went on a bit of a shopping spree the other day around Kobe (I got 2 pairs of Jeans, some shoes, a scarf/shawl thing and a T-shirt). Most of the shops I went into I`d wandered into briefly a few weeks ago when I first arrived but just for a quick look, I didn`t actually buy anything at that point. Anyway, it turns out there is an upshot of being a big tall foreigner here; I don`t need to bother remembering my measurements anymore, the shop-assistants are all more than happy to do it for me! Walking into one place where I`d tried on a pair of jeans 3 and a half WEEKS ago, the guy shouts over to me: "31 yea?" (In Japanese obviously). We had a bit of a chat later on (for anyone who cares about such things, he preferred Hedi Slimane as well...) and he mentioned that my Japanese was much better now, and that I was welcome to come back anytime, even if I just wasn`t up for buying anything and just wanted to see stuff :-)
The nice little Japanese tradition of walking out the store with you reached slightly creepy heights at another place where 4 shop assistants (that was everyone in the store!) were still outside bowing to me when I was 3 blocks away! (Kobe has a grid system, the Americans feel right at home, the Brits just get confused...) I eventually turned a corner and hid for a minute or two just to let them go back inside...
On the subject of clothes in Japan, there arn`t actually that many people wearing the really weird stuff you see in photos or on Gwen Stefani (what happened to her btw? Not that I`m complaining or anything, though she was ok in No Doubt), at least not in Kobe. I can think of about 2 distinctly odd examples, but that`s over 2 months.
Two things I won`t let Japan of the hook for are 1) Crocs. People actually wear them as serious footwear here, and 2) the awful potato-sacks about 1/3rd of the women (all ages) wear. Seriously, when I say potato-sacks, I`m not exaggerating one bit in terms of shape.
P.S Note to Japan: You know all that amazing technology you use to make everything so simple and convenient? COULD YOU MAYBE SOMEDAY GET ROUND TO EXTENDING THAT TO DEBIT CARD TRANSACTIONS SO I DON`T HAVE TO CARRY ROUND $1000 IN CASH EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!! (I don`t mean to work in dollars but my Japanese keyboard doesn`t have a pound sign :-(
The nice little Japanese tradition of walking out the store with you reached slightly creepy heights at another place where 4 shop assistants (that was everyone in the store!) were still outside bowing to me when I was 3 blocks away! (Kobe has a grid system, the Americans feel right at home, the Brits just get confused...) I eventually turned a corner and hid for a minute or two just to let them go back inside...
On the subject of clothes in Japan, there arn`t actually that many people wearing the really weird stuff you see in photos or on Gwen Stefani (what happened to her btw? Not that I`m complaining or anything, though she was ok in No Doubt), at least not in Kobe. I can think of about 2 distinctly odd examples, but that`s over 2 months.
Two things I won`t let Japan of the hook for are 1) Crocs. People actually wear them as serious footwear here, and 2) the awful potato-sacks about 1/3rd of the women (all ages) wear. Seriously, when I say potato-sacks, I`m not exaggerating one bit in terms of shape.
P.S Note to Japan: You know all that amazing technology you use to make everything so simple and convenient? COULD YOU MAYBE SOMEDAY GET ROUND TO EXTENDING THAT TO DEBIT CARD TRANSACTIONS SO I DON`T HAVE TO CARRY ROUND $1000 IN CASH EVERY DAY!!!!!!!!!! (I don`t mean to work in dollars but my Japanese keyboard doesn`t have a pound sign :-(
Monday 19 October 2009
Crazy Teacher Reflections
For some reason the comments my teacher made to us yesterday (see previous post) really got to me. Given she`s for all intents and purposes functionally monolingual, I really don`t think she had the right to make any sort of negative criticism of other peoples proficiency in what is for most of us a 3rd language. And that comment about 2 years being a long time to study a language; I`d love to see how she would cope with only 2 years of French or German courses and then being dumped in one of their Universities...
I told some of the other students here who`ve already spent a semester here about this. (southern hemisphere academic years are the other way around from ours; it fits better with their seasons...). Apparently this teacher is pretty famous for pulling all kinds of similar crap.
I have to admit to being really, REALLY touchy about anyone suggesting that I havn`t worked hard at learning Japanese. Given I`ve had a full time physics degree to occupy myself with the last 2 years and have had to put up with all kinds of BS from that department*, I`d consider my present level of Japanese to be well above expectations. Give anybody else the workload I`ve had over the past 2 years (especially last year) and see how well they do.
*I`m not going to elaborate on that, I don`t really want to fully detail my contempt for my home department here, or we`ll be here all day and I`ll get depressed at having to go back at some point
Moan over.
Happier stuff:
We had a speaking placement test today. I was given 3 pictures to talk about. They were a bus, a train and a plane. I ended up rabbiting on about Cathay Pacific`s in-flight menu...
Another one of these odd little things about Japan that I`ve taken a liking to: You can leave anything ANYWHERE and come back a few days later and it will be exactly where you left it. Not only that, but sometimes somebody will put a cover over it if it`s outside so it doesn`t get wet (I saw one with an umbrella left over it). I`m a bit worried I`ll get too used to this and get back to the UK and lose all my stuff in a week. Actually, that`s worry No.2, No.1 is that I`ll insist my shop assistant carries my purchase out of the shop for me and hands it to me at the door...
And my talking dog hasn`t yet arrived from Softbank (my mobile phone company) :-(
I told some of the other students here who`ve already spent a semester here about this. (southern hemisphere academic years are the other way around from ours; it fits better with their seasons...). Apparently this teacher is pretty famous for pulling all kinds of similar crap.
I have to admit to being really, REALLY touchy about anyone suggesting that I havn`t worked hard at learning Japanese. Given I`ve had a full time physics degree to occupy myself with the last 2 years and have had to put up with all kinds of BS from that department*, I`d consider my present level of Japanese to be well above expectations. Give anybody else the workload I`ve had over the past 2 years (especially last year) and see how well they do.
*I`m not going to elaborate on that, I don`t really want to fully detail my contempt for my home department here, or we`ll be here all day and I`ll get depressed at having to go back at some point
Moan over.
Happier stuff:
We had a speaking placement test today. I was given 3 pictures to talk about. They were a bus, a train and a plane. I ended up rabbiting on about Cathay Pacific`s in-flight menu...
Another one of these odd little things about Japan that I`ve taken a liking to: You can leave anything ANYWHERE and come back a few days later and it will be exactly where you left it. Not only that, but sometimes somebody will put a cover over it if it`s outside so it doesn`t get wet (I saw one with an umbrella left over it). I`m a bit worried I`ll get too used to this and get back to the UK and lose all my stuff in a week. Actually, that`s worry No.2, No.1 is that I`ll insist my shop assistant carries my purchase out of the shop for me and hands it to me at the door...
And my talking dog hasn`t yet arrived from Softbank (my mobile phone company) :-(
Sunday 18 October 2009
I Think the Madness is Getting to me Slightly
I`m worried that I`m going to forget how to live in the UK by the end of the year... It`s very strange; at first, everything seems really odd and totally bizarre, but then you learn what it does and then have a think about it and realise that it`s actually a really good idea and makes perfect sense. For example, that odd key/stick thing I had to plug into the wall back in the hotel when I first got here (2nd entry think), it means you`ll only use power when the key is in the room, ie, when you`re there, so there`s no chance of you leaving a light on when you leave in the morning and wasting electricity. And all the power cables over the streets, I used to think they were there just because the Japanese just didn`t care about them looking messy, but then someone pointed out that they have them overhead because of all the earthquakes; if they get damaged they`re a million times easier to fix than if they`re underground.
Also, it`s been a bit rainy recently, not so much in the last 2 weeks, but a little bit nonetheless. Anyway, when this happens, all the shops stick out these little racks of thin plastic bags which you slip your umbrella into to stop it getting everything else wet, so you can put it back in your bag or under your arm while you go round the shop, and all the clothes/book etc shops, (basically everything other than food) give you a little rain cover which opens at the bottom and slips over your normal shopping bag so your purchase doesn`t get wet on your way home :-)
Oh, and I made it to Osaka, only for a few hours though, have to go back many times for a proper look. Anyway, Osaka central station at rush hour: Think Waterloo at the same time, 5 times the size, multiply the number of people by about 10 and give them all a couple of Ecstasy pills and you sort of get the idea. Oh, and Osaka is only the 3rd busiest station in Japan (and the world actually), after Shibuya and Shinjuku in Tokyo.
We had our medical check-ups this morning, something every Japanese uni student has to do annually. It was never really made clear what the results of these tests would mean for us, although I havn`t entirely ruled out the possibility that they might expel you for being overweight or something as it might explain why there are so few fat people in Japan... Anyway, I had an electrocardiogram, whatever that is, a "health examination" which involved being prodded with a stethoscope in various places (I`m no medic but I can`t really think what interesting sounds my hip makes...) and another X-ray. I did mention the one I had 5 months ago (which they ordered me to get and pay 80 pounds for), but they basically said "well, you should be fine. Probably." How very reassuring.
My supervisor just found me here in the library, and I got the distinct impression he`d been looking for me... How did he know? Maybe he`s tracking my mobile, you can probably do that with a Japanese phone... Anyway, he wants me to talk to some prospective Birmingham exchange students and convince them to apply there by telling them what a great place it is. At this point I realised that when he said "talk to", he meant "lie to"... Also, and apparently there`s another sake fest tomorrow evening in his office...
Oh, and I had a seriously crazy language teacher this afternoon. I think she was on some sort of mission to destroy the self esteem of everyone in the room. She asked us all for our placement test results, and then asked us how long we`d been studying Japanese. "2, 2.5 years" I replied, to which she comments "oh, long time" Which is Japanese Indirectness for: "What, and you`re still at this level? Wow you`re stupid...". A bit later she decided to have a go at one of the Korean students: "Hmm, Korean students are usually very good at Japanese" (Translation: "Why are you so crap?") and one of the Chinese students: "Did you really get level 5? Maybe it`s just because you know what the symbols mean..."
I went to Ikea as well! It`s exactly the same as the UK! I heard the Swedish students have been going there every weekend for lunch... Also, it turns out Ikea packaging and the chopstick-only culture here can cause a few problems...
P.S I wish this story was mine, but I have to credit Marina with the best "Aaah! Foreigner! Run!" story I`ve heard here. Basically, she walked past her neighbour playing in a park with his kids, and decided to say "Good Morning" to them. In response to this, he grabs both his kids, holds them close to him tightly and gives Marina a look which she described as "DON`T YOU DARE EAT MY KIDS!!!!!"
P.P.S I have money! Lots of money! (Well, to be more accurate, I have a moderatly large amount of money and Gucci has a little bit more as well...)
Also, it`s been a bit rainy recently, not so much in the last 2 weeks, but a little bit nonetheless. Anyway, when this happens, all the shops stick out these little racks of thin plastic bags which you slip your umbrella into to stop it getting everything else wet, so you can put it back in your bag or under your arm while you go round the shop, and all the clothes/book etc shops, (basically everything other than food) give you a little rain cover which opens at the bottom and slips over your normal shopping bag so your purchase doesn`t get wet on your way home :-)
Oh, and I made it to Osaka, only for a few hours though, have to go back many times for a proper look. Anyway, Osaka central station at rush hour: Think Waterloo at the same time, 5 times the size, multiply the number of people by about 10 and give them all a couple of Ecstasy pills and you sort of get the idea. Oh, and Osaka is only the 3rd busiest station in Japan (and the world actually), after Shibuya and Shinjuku in Tokyo.
We had our medical check-ups this morning, something every Japanese uni student has to do annually. It was never really made clear what the results of these tests would mean for us, although I havn`t entirely ruled out the possibility that they might expel you for being overweight or something as it might explain why there are so few fat people in Japan... Anyway, I had an electrocardiogram, whatever that is, a "health examination" which involved being prodded with a stethoscope in various places (I`m no medic but I can`t really think what interesting sounds my hip makes...) and another X-ray. I did mention the one I had 5 months ago (which they ordered me to get and pay 80 pounds for), but they basically said "well, you should be fine. Probably." How very reassuring.
My supervisor just found me here in the library, and I got the distinct impression he`d been looking for me... How did he know? Maybe he`s tracking my mobile, you can probably do that with a Japanese phone... Anyway, he wants me to talk to some prospective Birmingham exchange students and convince them to apply there by telling them what a great place it is. At this point I realised that when he said "talk to", he meant "lie to"... Also, and apparently there`s another sake fest tomorrow evening in his office...
Oh, and I had a seriously crazy language teacher this afternoon. I think she was on some sort of mission to destroy the self esteem of everyone in the room. She asked us all for our placement test results, and then asked us how long we`d been studying Japanese. "2, 2.5 years" I replied, to which she comments "oh, long time" Which is Japanese Indirectness for: "What, and you`re still at this level? Wow you`re stupid...". A bit later she decided to have a go at one of the Korean students: "Hmm, Korean students are usually very good at Japanese" (Translation: "Why are you so crap?") and one of the Chinese students: "Did you really get level 5? Maybe it`s just because you know what the symbols mean..."
I went to Ikea as well! It`s exactly the same as the UK! I heard the Swedish students have been going there every weekend for lunch... Also, it turns out Ikea packaging and the chopstick-only culture here can cause a few problems...
P.S I wish this story was mine, but I have to credit Marina with the best "Aaah! Foreigner! Run!" story I`ve heard here. Basically, she walked past her neighbour playing in a park with his kids, and decided to say "Good Morning" to them. In response to this, he grabs both his kids, holds them close to him tightly and gives Marina a look which she described as "DON`T YOU DARE EAT MY KIDS!!!!!"
P.P.S I have money! Lots of money! (Well, to be more accurate, I have a moderatly large amount of money and Gucci has a little bit more as well...)
Monday 12 October 2009
やった！(I did it!)
Oh, and I forgot to say, but I finally found Comme de Garcons, which must be the hardest shop in Kobe to find. Basically you go into Daimaru (MASSIVE, quite posh department store here, to the second floor, past Chanel, out of Daimaru, along a walkway, round a corner, BACK INTO Daimaru again and along another corrider... What is with that?
Long time no blog
Hi people, Sorry I`ve not been posting lately but I moved into my new halls here and instead of finding a neon drenched technological marvel I am now living in something that looks distinctly like it was salvaged from the old East Germany... So much for that stereotype of Japan. Anyway, the bottom line is that there is no internet access there and we only just got our university internet accounts.
So, the a brief summary of the last 2 weeks.
The faculty orientation! They started this out in Japanese, then ran off and found an english translator to repeat everything in English. Then, about half way through the Japanese speaker, who also spoke English, apparently decided she couldn`t be bothered with the Japanese anymore and just switched completely to English ( a bit unfair on the Koreans/Vietnamese/Chinese I thought). The weird thing was the original English translator didn`t seem to bother with this and just kept repeating what had already been said in English again... Oh, and despite being a physicist I`m now in the 国際文化学部 or Faculty of Intercultural Studies...
We then had another orientation for the International Student Center a few days later where we got our cups for our urine samples which we hand in on Friday (not a joke), as well as a long spiel about drug use in Japan ("Don`t do it kids!"), or as the English translation said: "If you do MDMA you will rob your friends and then suicide"... Other words of wisdom included "Since you`re all from tropical countries you may find the Japanese weather a bit cold". The Japanese have also been complaining about it getting colder now. Let me explain what they mean by this. It has gotten cooler in the past week or so compared to when I got here. It`s gone from about 35C down to a decidedly frosty 24C...
Oh, and the Kobe University vice chancellor made a nicely slurred speech at the end of our welcome party... love to see that in the UK.
I met my supervisor as well. I`d had a rather terrifying experience with Japanese teachers the day before, when I decided I`d ease myself into Japanese education with a "German Seminar", which unfortunately for me involved 50 mins of solid Japanese chatting by the lecturer who now and again waved the Frankfurter Allgemeine and said "Journalismus" once or twice. Given I was both the only foreign student and the only boy in the class of 7 he also wanted to chat to me loads, so I just had to sit there quivering and sqeeking back in the politest Japanese I could think of (I may have slighly overdone it given some of the giggles from the other students). Anyway, I was expecting the same sort of thing when I went to Hiroki sensei`s office. Instead, I walk in and see a massive picture of Henrik Larsson from his Celtic days and he shouts (In English) "Hey, how are you? sit down! have some beer!" This is followed by Hiroki-Sensei calling pretty much everyone left in the building into his office for beer and later vodka (I got a wine glass of straight vodka, and It`s rude to refuse a drink in Japan...) and then we all randomly go out to an Izakaya (a sort of Japanese Tapas bar I suppose) for food and Sake which my supervisor pays for... Not quite what I was expecting...
Oh, and we had a typhoon, which was heading straight for us but at the last minute missed the Kobe/Osaka area entirely and trashed Nagoya instead. Sux to be them.
So, the a brief summary of the last 2 weeks.
The faculty orientation! They started this out in Japanese, then ran off and found an english translator to repeat everything in English. Then, about half way through the Japanese speaker, who also spoke English, apparently decided she couldn`t be bothered with the Japanese anymore and just switched completely to English ( a bit unfair on the Koreans/Vietnamese/Chinese I thought). The weird thing was the original English translator didn`t seem to bother with this and just kept repeating what had already been said in English again... Oh, and despite being a physicist I`m now in the 国際文化学部 or Faculty of Intercultural Studies...
We then had another orientation for the International Student Center a few days later where we got our cups for our urine samples which we hand in on Friday (not a joke), as well as a long spiel about drug use in Japan ("Don`t do it kids!"), or as the English translation said: "If you do MDMA you will rob your friends and then suicide"... Other words of wisdom included "Since you`re all from tropical countries you may find the Japanese weather a bit cold". The Japanese have also been complaining about it getting colder now. Let me explain what they mean by this. It has gotten cooler in the past week or so compared to when I got here. It`s gone from about 35C down to a decidedly frosty 24C...
Oh, and the Kobe University vice chancellor made a nicely slurred speech at the end of our welcome party... love to see that in the UK.
I met my supervisor as well. I`d had a rather terrifying experience with Japanese teachers the day before, when I decided I`d ease myself into Japanese education with a "German Seminar", which unfortunately for me involved 50 mins of solid Japanese chatting by the lecturer who now and again waved the Frankfurter Allgemeine and said "Journalismus" once or twice. Given I was both the only foreign student and the only boy in the class of 7 he also wanted to chat to me loads, so I just had to sit there quivering and sqeeking back in the politest Japanese I could think of (I may have slighly overdone it given some of the giggles from the other students). Anyway, I was expecting the same sort of thing when I went to Hiroki sensei`s office. Instead, I walk in and see a massive picture of Henrik Larsson from his Celtic days and he shouts (In English) "Hey, how are you? sit down! have some beer!" This is followed by Hiroki-Sensei calling pretty much everyone left in the building into his office for beer and later vodka (I got a wine glass of straight vodka, and It`s rude to refuse a drink in Japan...) and then we all randomly go out to an Izakaya (a sort of Japanese Tapas bar I suppose) for food and Sake which my supervisor pays for... Not quite what I was expecting...
Oh, and we had a typhoon, which was heading straight for us but at the last minute missed the Kobe/Osaka area entirely and trashed Nagoya instead. Sux to be them.
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