Classes at Nanzan
The biggest disappointment when I got here was testing into the 400 level Japanese class when I should have tested into 500. While it started out as a painful experience that I spent hours thinking about, I found that it ended up being alright and there were others in my situation. We use a different textbook at Nanzan than that at Notre Dame and I’m able to learn things in a new way and with many new vocab words that I haven’t heard before. The grammar is certainly a review, but I find that there are grammar points that I never fully mastered back at ND and now I’m able to really get them down on the second time around. Although I’ve learned much of it before, the class is still serving as an excellent way for me to grow in my Japanese ability.
In addition to my Japanese language courses, I’m taking three topical courses: Japanese Society, Japanese Business and Japanese Foreign Policy. I don’t want to bore you by going into these too much, but I will outline them briefly.
Japanese Society is an introductory course to life in Japan. It’s specifically not a course about things like manga, anime, karaoke or the countless other things associated with Japanese society. It focuses more on the family and work aspect of Japan, and specifically what it means to be Japanese and how one is raised to become that way. The readings are interesting and the discussions in class that follow also are. There’s a heavy workload for this class and it’s honestly where I spend most of my weekend homework time. But it’s interesting to learn about, and it puts into context many things that I observe in my host family’s house and see on the train.
Japanese Business is right up my alley. It can be too basic at times (I was the only one in the class who knew what STANDARD & POOR’S was), but I still get a lot out of the Japanese specific side of the class. It’s an interesting contrast to the American business system that I’m so used to and there are times where I wonder why we don’t do things a certain way, but there are equally as many times, if not more, where I wonder why the Japanese system is stuck with inferior practices. It puts into perspective the international business world and gives me lots of things to consider if I want to work in Japan someday.
Japanese Foreign Policy is an extremely fascinating and thought provoking class. The professor is a leader in the field and gives very engaging lectures. He has written a lot of the reading material for the class which makes it even more enjoyable because he ties it together very well. It’s a topic that I never really expected to go in depth on, but I now know much more than I ever expected.
Classes here are certainly easier than at ND. The work load is often light outside of class. This makes for great time to explore the area and meet new friends. I’m happy with my three choices of topical classes and hope the rest of the semester goes well!
