School system & Hiragana なにぬね

This week, we covered how to say "I am an 8th grader." “I am a middle school student.” “I am not a high school student.” and "What grade are you in?" in Japanese, as well as the Japanese words for “school”, “middle school”, “high school”, and “student” etc.

Also, the students learned several differences between Japanese and American middle /high schools:

Start of the School Year:

The Japanese school year begins in April, not in September like in the United States. The first term runs to around July 20, when summer vacation begins. Students return to school in early September for the second term, which lasts until about December 25. The final term begins in early January and continues to late March.

Most Japanese people think spring - when life begins anew - is the perfect time to start new things. Kids get excited and are full of expectations when the new school year approaches.

 

 

Early April is also the time when cherry blossoms are in full bloom. So when people think about entrance to new schools and the start of a career, they often conjure up images of these beautiful blossoms. Many schools have cherry trees growing on their grounds, and parents like taking pictures of their kids entering school for the first time under the light-pink blossoms.

School Uniform:

A uniform is standard among most schools in Japan. Uniforms are more common at the middle school and high school levels than at the elementary. Some private schools now hire top fashion designers to design their uniforms to satisfy the tastes of today’s highly fashion-conscious teens. Generally, however, uniforms tend to remain conservative in style, and are usually black, navy blue, or gray.

These come in several basic varieties: for boys, it is usually the black pants and jacket with gold button down the front and a white shirt inside, or sometimes it is a sort of suit like thing.

For girls, it is a dark blue or gray skirt, with either a sailor top or a white shirt and matching vest. These vary in detail from school to school, and so you can tell what school people you meet on the street go to.

Most school students have two sets of school uniforms: a summer uniform and a winter uniform. However, you don't get to decide whether to wear the summer uniform or winter one just by if you are cold or not. All students switch from one uniform to the other on pre-determined days, called “KOROMO-GAE” (changing of  the clothes), in May or June and October. On that day every student changes uniform on the same  day.         

                                                                                                                                                     

Inside Shoes:

 

GETA BAKO  "shoes locker"

 
When you enter school building in Japan, you have to change your shoes, just like when you enter a house. You go to your shoe locker, called “GETA BAKO”, and switch your        

outside sneakers for "UWA BAKI" or "inside shoes", which are bought at school and generally are some form of slip on soft-soled sneaker.

 

 

Teachers Move Around:

 

Another major difference between Japanese and American middle /high school is that whereas in USA schools the students change classes, in Japan you stay in one class all day long (or at least most of the day) and instead the teachers move around from class to class. So, you are with the same people all day long. Since students don't change rooms and are in the same classroom all day long, the room is full of stuff owned by the students like bags, and the walls are covered with student-made props and posters for events and such.

Entrance Examinations:

 

Japanese students are required to attend school for nine years: six years of elementary school and three of middle school. There are some private schools where students can advance from elementary school all the way to college without taking any exams to move on, but most students have to take entrance examinations to earn their way into a high school or a college.

Statistics show that 97.5% of all Japanese students graduating from middle school go on to high school. Different entrance exams are held for the three types of school: national, public, and private. Take, for example, a ninth grader who wants to go on to a public school. Based on the student's academic record in middle school, a shortened list of high schools where the student will have more chance of being admitted will be drawn up before he or she takes the entrance exam. Then the high schools will decide whether or not to accept the student by looking at a combination of his or her middle school record and entrance-exam scores.

In addition, your child learned more hiragana. This week's hiragana were:

な          /NA/

に　　  /NI/

ぬ　　  /NU/

ね　      /NE/

の　　  /NO/

 

 

 Finally, the students will have a verbal test, Oral Pro-Achievement Interview (OPI) on Wednesday, October 2nd. It test the student's communication skills. Without this kind of test, I may produce a student who may not be able to communicate in Japanese, but will receive  a good grade purely on his/her ability to do well on written tests. 

The OPI will be conducted with two students at a time. First, I will gives one of the question sheets to one student. S/he will earn a maximum of 5 points for accuracy/vocabulary, speed/fluency, and pronunciation/intonation. If the student does not understand the question, s/he should request (in Japanese) that it be repeated. When the question was not asked properly, I will repeat the question for the student who will be answering the question. After five questions are asked by one student, switch roles.

I explained the evaluation process and the evaluation criteria to the students today. I encourage the students to speak often and interact as they would in a natural conversation. Then, the students practiced the questions with a partner. Hope they will do well for the test on Wednesday.