Feb. 6th, 2003

arisha: (goddess)
A couple of my friends are encouraging me to challenge the Japanese 11 exam -- that is, to do it now instead of in June, and then switch into Japanese 12 (which wouldn't be very difficult as there is only one Japanese class and it is a split 11/12 so I might as well already be in it). They are telling me to do this because I have been whining about how what we've been doing so far is terribly easy for me, and I already know a bunch of what the grade twelve class is learning. I guess I'm reluctant because I feel like it would be cheating, a bit. I think it's ridiculous that what I've taught myself in less than two years is apparently equal to what these people have been taught in over three years. Another thing that frustrates me is the way everyone seems to think you can only learn in a classroom. I mean, everyone is baffled as to where I learned what I have, and even the group that's going to Japan next month is composed of people who have done nothing to further their learning outside of school hours. To me, that just seems crazy. If I want to learn something I'm not going to sit around waiting for the school to teach me. Grandma says that's probably part of the reason why the knowledge I thought was starved and dying is equal to what my classmates have learned and forgotten and have to be taught again.

I mean ... This is a new teacher, so the first day back she asked if we know hiragana. Says most of the class, "I used to know it." She asked if we know katakana. Says most of the class, "I used to know it." If something like this happened in a French class the teacher would kick us out. But I guess French is more accessible, as we're in Canada and everything, so it's easier to get exposure to the language even when we're not in school. Plus it's closer to English so it's not so easy to let the grammar fall out of our ears entirely.

... Geeze, though.

I adore the class and the people in it so I want to stay, at least for the rest of the semester, but I could still do that and switch to twelfth grade if I challenge the eleventh grade exam. Also, if I finish twelfth grade Japanese this year that means I can take another English course next year (either Creative Writing or Literature, both of which I think would be very cool -- although the abundance of colouring pages I saw hidden in my friend's Literature binder does frighten me a little bit). If anyone has anything to say to me about this, I would very much appreciate it, because my friends are saying "Challenge!" and my mother is saying "I don't like this idea! Talk to the teacher!" and I'm busy saying "What the heck is going on with our school system??" so advice is very much welcome.

Today the teacher said "友達と買い物に行きました" and I was the only one who understood it and I nearly cried. And also, people are starting to get angry at me for figuring out the answers before they can get around to it. Siiiiigh.

Profile

arisha: (Default)
arisha

March 2019

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios