What is Monthly Wase? It is a monthly update, specifically reviewing the courses I attended. This would be focused on the curriculum for others to consider in the future.
This is a regular series I am doing within the TOKYO BOUND blog.
Things slightly got better towards the end, but the starting four weeks were rough. The next four weeks, there were tests and preparations for the presentations and homework.
Next Four Weeks
November Week 1-2: Preparation
Apart from Comprehensive Japanese 2 classes’ 4-min presentation (on what is interesting in Japan), along with oral presentation preparation, other classes are just focused on curriculum and preparation for the mid-term test that is later in November.
I would have thought that by November, I would have understood some classes, but some still remain a mystery.
November Week 3-4: Tests
For all the elective courses, this period was the mid-term period to review what was taught for the last five weeks. There’s a mix of multiple choice questions, writing, and speaking required.
I personally have been trying and struggling to incorporate what was taught in my spoken Japanese, however, the classes have been useful for me in identifying phrases when watching shows, or listening in public places.
Breakdown of courses
CORE COURSES
Comprehensive Japanese 2 総合日本語２ (Level 2)
Conversation 2 会話２ (Level 2)
Kanji (For Nonnative Kanji Learners) 2 漢字（非漢字系）２ (Level 2)
These are the most useful and important courses for those looking to really study and understand the language. The pace is alright with weekly assignments and quizzes.
Comprehensive Japanese 2 ★★★ Highly recommend
総合日本語２ (Level 2)
○ The only class that properly teaches grammar.
○ It is really all inclusive with grammar, listening, presentation and writing.
△ Some would consider the workload to be heavy as there’s submissions twice a week. However, as noted from colleagues who have graduated from the course, Level 2’s homework volume is a lot because it is the core foundation required.
☆ BONUS: Great teachers who go above and beyond in helping us learn and understand (which I heard is rare).
Conversation 2
会話２ (Level 2)
○ Well-structured class with great breakdown week on week by topics. Topics are useful like self-introductions, recommendations if someone is travelling to their home country, school life, etc.
○ Includes casual and form dialogue examples to get an idea
○ Homework is a 1-min speech which is great to memorise to be used in daily life.
△ Some would be happy this is an online class, but personally I would prefer a face-to-face class.
Kanji (For Nonnative Kanji Learners) 2
漢字（非漢字系）２ (Level 2)
○ Well-structured class with great class activity like forming sentences with the characters itself
○ Includes short quizzes before and during the class
○ Homework is a little tedious but it is a good practice. Worksheet’s passages are good practice for reading.
△ Homework has to be self-checked before submitting, but the teacher do check and even noticed if we check it wrongly
But note,
Out of these core modules, there’s another six electives so the homework workload does get very challenging and demanding. For November, it was indeed a better month than October, as you are more used to the rigour. However, there are new challenges like quizzes and presentations to prepare for.
A little tough but the advice would be to still focus on your health, to have sufficient rest and eat the required three meals a day. It would also be good to reassess your energy and priorities and focus on which modules do help you the best, as it might be too challenging with many different workflows.
Personally, I tried to enquire about other language schools in hope to change schools for the next semester. However, I ran into many complications and difficulties with my visa, and as such, I would be staying to complete the full year. Many other students are facing the same issue, and many have provided feedback in the last semester.
Language learning is meant to be tough and rigorous, so it is on us to find joy in the process. I was struggling with that for the first two months of school. However, at this time of writing, I am slowly starting to find other ways to incorporate learning in my daily life here in Tokyo.
Happy to hear feedback and comments as well!