What do you think of Japan's...

[Ender at Eros]

Me being half Japanese, and coming to Japan every summer, I always get lecture's from my Japanese aunt about how studying is important and what not. And I do study, but I also like to have fun ;)

What are your impressions of Japanese students studying?

[nice gaijin]

I think (for the most part) they stress the shit out of their kids, and those that don't burn out by high school probably will once they get into college. On top of all the studying they're pressured into, extra activities like bukatsu, kumon, juku、etc are all there to keep students as busy as possible and keep them from idling about (obviously to keep them running in large packs in preparation for their future lives as suit-clad drones).

They have to take their entrance exams for high school and college, which puts a lot of pressure on them to perform. Yet at the same time, you can't hold kids back for poor performance (let alone discipline them), so regardless of how good a student they are, they'll still progress to the next grade with their peers.

Japanese schools: Hard to get into, Easy to graduate from.

[Mozz]

english schools, put in them can barly fail at graduateing from them

some idot got into my collage class with stright F's. . . it was a C in engish C in maths and C in other required collage O.o

(english collage not uni for you americans)

but getting into uni is damn hard, if the goverment suddenlty turned on the japanese school system there would no longer be abyone studying anywhere, we would all fail!

[hapacheese]

Considering most of the people the Japanese side of my family are artists or whatnot, there was always less emphasis on traditional "studying," and more emphasis in simply making something of yourself, I guess.

Well, except for my mom, though.

[hanacker]

I think (for the most part) they stress the shit out of their kids, and those that don't burn out by high school probably will once they get into college.

Nah, college is the only four years of his or her life that the average Japanese person has to relax and have fun. Some especially serious people will still study hard, but most people just have fun in college.

[BluZytrix]

My impression is that the Japanese school system is great when it comes to work ethic. I would love to see some of the hard-working nature that the Japanese school system has transfered over to American schools. I would tend to not agree with the more fact oriented methods of knowledge aquisition that the system employs but see the advantage in having that skill. Although I may never have said this a few years ago, I wish there were tests to get into high schools. It would push a little more back onto the student and thier parents that is much needed in the US. The current system in Japan does give a better advantage to families that have more money; the more money you have, the better juku(cram school) and resources you can provide your kids to get into better schools. Problems like this exists in most educational systems but seems to be more prevelent in the Japanese school system because of the pressure put on kids to takes tests and get into the best high schools and colleges. Overall, it's an interesting system that was really designed for catching up the society after WWII with knowledge in more advanced societies. Hence the more fact-based learning. Its' an interesting system indeed.

[nice gaijin]

Nah, college is the only four years of his or her life that the average Japanese person has to relax and have fun. Some especially serious people will still study hard, but most people just have fun in college.
perhaps i didn't word things right, I meant that by the time they enter college they are burned out and slack off once their spot is guaranteed; not that college burns them out (unless they're shooting for grad school)

[hapamama]

When one of my mom's cousins came to visit the summer before I started high school, I wasn't too impressed in the "English classes" he had. He was only a year older than I, and he must of slept through his English classes because he didn't understand a lick of spoken English.

[Ender at Eros]

When one of my mom's cousins came to visit the summer before I started high school, I wasn't too impressed in the "English classes" he had. He was only a year older than I, and he must of slept through his English classes because he didn't understand a lick of spoken English.

Japanese people in general tend to get real nervous when an American is with them. Even my cousin, she's 14, has a hard time talking to me (even though I'm fluent in Japanese and can talk to her in that language).

[大きオタク男]

I think the Japanese schoolsystem is overruled with uselessness. After all, all they do is べんきよう、べんきよう、べんきよう。And yet they aren't really ahead of us. Us being the western countries, especially The Netherlands. To get my bachelor of science I did barely nothing, they have to study like hell and pass all the test. And yet we're at the same level, something's not right ;).

[Mechs]

べんきよう、べんきよう、べんきよう。

:D I was actually able to read that. I really got to start studying more myself :D.

I wish there were tests to get into high schools. It would push a little more back onto the student and thier parents that is much needed in the US.

Noooooooooooo. I took a test to get into some of the top schools in my city and I did not like it. At all. Now I didnt study a for the test at all cause I really didnt care if I got into any of the schools cause only one of them actually had a class I wanted to take (J.R.O.T.C). If I could go back in time and slap the **** out of myself for not studying then I would cause that test was hard. I would not force that upon anyone unless they wanted to do it like I unfourtuntly(sp?) did. BTW I got rejected by all four schools T_T.

[koku]

from my impression no one in Japan seems happy. Relentless pain and hell in school, then a job where they can't think for themselves and must work long hours after.

I really hope there's plenyt of acceptions. Of course I'm exagerating but damn, if I lived that side of Japan I would cry.

or atleast move. :P

[Ender at Eros]

Japan's not all work and what not... actually, they only study the one year before exams. other then that, they don even bother listenig during class & they're playing around and stuff.. trust me!


Kokujin: How about we talk here... not here AND AIM/MSN?

[koku]

Japan's not all work and what not... actually, they only study the one year before exams. other then that, they don even bother listenig during class & they're playing around and stuff.. trust me!


in college you mean? or just highschool? exams as in finals?

[Ender at Eros]

In high school & middle school... for example, in to get into high school they don't look at ur past grades, they just look at ur test score. So to get into college, sense they don't look at ur past grades and what not, even if u skipped and like failed ur classes, as long as u pass the entrance exam, it's fine

[koku]

so they just look @ the equivalnt of act/sat scores here for COLLEGE?

not even grades? wow.... if that's true then I would like...learn the stuff in highschool but never do the homework. As long as I'm learning and getting good test grades I'd feel good about myself.

But life after college looks like no fun.

[Frankey-eh]

college look at your test scores and attendence record. You need to meet the required days of attendence.

Japanese colleges are overrated, especially Todai. I was reading this one book about how all students are aiming to get into Todai, and once they do, everyone celebrates. Because if you get into Todai, your graduation is guarenteed, and then it's off to CEO or something.

(...even as I say this, my family displays a proud Ph.D. diploma from Todai in the Study.)

[Ender at Eros]

college look at your test scores and attendence record. You need to meet the required days of attendence.

Really? i gotta ask my cousin for more info on that... he's getting ready for exams.


How's Todai overrated? Once you get in you still have to study and all...

[erbiumfiber]

I think the reputation of Todai is because of how hard it is to get in, not how great the education is. It's the same with most selective colleges in the US- you can learn a lot at a selective college or a non-selective state school but the smarter (higher test score) kids get in to the selective colleges. I'm not saying Harvard is no better than Northern Va. community college (where I've taken some great music theory classes as an adult) but a lot of the difference is due to the quality of the starting material.

I work with a Todai graduate and he is wicked smart. Picked up US patent law faster than any American I've ever worked with...

[nice gaijin]

so they just look @ the equivalnt of act/sat scores here for COLLEGE?

not even grades? wow.... if that's true then I would like...learn the stuff in highschool but never do the homework. As long as I'm learning and getting good test grades I'd feel good about myself.

But life after college looks like no fun.

It's not an ACT/SAT equivalent, each college has its own 入学試験, and you pay on average about 三万五千円 for each attempt, for each school.　センター試験 is also required for some colleges (held at the beginning of each year, about 一万円 i think)

To get into high school, if you are going to a private school （私立高校） then each school has its own 入試. to get into a public school, there are standardized tests （高校入試）that vary from prefecture to prefecture.

[Frankey-eh]

I work with a Todai graduate and he is wicked smart. Picked up US patent law faster than any American I've ever worked with...

But Harvard is in a rank of its own.

A person who got into the best college in China (Tsinghua) and later went to grad school at the best university in Japan (Todai) couldn't get into Harvard.

But you're right. Sometimes the school's only good because of the students. I'm in one such high school. The competition among students are fierce, and that makes a good academic enviornment. In my old school, there was almost no competition, so only a few succeeded and a lot just went along with the flow. 58 went to UC Berkeley from my hs, only 3 from the old one. And I'd say there were just about as many good teachers here as there were in my old school.

[koku]

It's not an ACT/SAT equivalent, each college has its own 入学試験, and you pay on average about 三万五千円 for each attempt, for each school.　センター試験 is also required for some colleges (held at the beginning of each year, about 一万円 i think)

To get into high school, if you are going to a private school （私立高校） then each school has its own 入試. to get into a public school, there are standardized tests （高校入試）that vary from prefecture to prefecture.

I think most people don't have a clear vision of college and unversites In Japan.