Hot Chokol
just wondering how schools are actually like in japan....
just curious Please and thank you :D
Answer
Elements of each answer so far have truth to them but some are exaggerated. Times have changed since I attended public Japanese school (late 80s) and I was only in elementary so I can't comment on the other years but here's my experience compared to the American system (most of my life).
1. Your homeroom is your life, there's not so much switching classes. The only class we held in another room was science. If the teacher doesn't know the subject, you're more likely to have a new teacher come in then change rooms. This is why Japanese often have lifetime friendships with classmates because you spend so much time together. You go on school trips as well that are as dear to them as prom to some Americans.
2. You learn a lot more in general (and in depth?) than America. I was in 5th grade and we learned to play recorder (my brother in 1st grade learned melodian), cook, sew, and wash clothes.
3. The students are the janitors. This means you are broken into groups and have assignments for that period (I can't remember if it was once, a week, or so.) Bathroom duty sucked. The boys in general let the girls do all the work. Once a month or semester, we held a school-wide yard cleanup where everyone pulled out weeds, etc.
4. You eat the school lunch (except for high school I think). Again, some kids are assigned lunch duty and they go down to the kitchen and bring the lunch to the classroom and serve it cafeteria style to the whole class.
5. Mandatory PTA fees.
6. Mandatory uniform. This includes wearing slippers in the classrooms (not your shoes) and a separate PE uniform that is standard Japan wide which is why everyone probably looks the same but the reverseable hat is quite handy for breaking up into teams, instead of shirts vs. skins it's red vs. white. Uniform includes your schoolbag but there is some flexibility 'cos I never had the standard bag. But where I went to elementary wasn't strict on uniforms except for that one day when everyone had to wear a uniform and I didn't so I got slapped. Which leads me to...
7. Physical punishment. I think it was outlawed even when I was in school but it still occurs. Everyone else grew up that way, it's part of the culture. The worst cases I ever heard where a student who went deaf in one ear because he fell asleep so the teacher made a loud noise next to his ear and the other was a death because there's a large gate to the high schools and the principal was very strict about being on time so shut the gate on the dot though a student was still trying to get in.
8. The classroom sizes are larger than America. Perhaps 40? Americans complain when it reaches 29.
9. Mandatory club membership. After school there are various clubs and you're supposed to sign up for one of them and attend. I signed up for ping-pong.
10. Rules regarding personal appearance enforced. This includes no nail polish, no ear piercings, no dyeing hair, etc.
11. The yard is quite large and a lot of schools have a pool. My elementary school did. I can only think of one school I have ever seen in America with a pool and it was a high school.
12. More hours spent in school due to club participation and Saturdays. Saturdays were half days. This has changed so that you go on one Saturday a month or none at all now. I went to school on Christmas Eve because it was a Saturday and I had a hard time with that because traditionally my American family celebrated on Eve. (But it's not 6am-8pm! Some kids may be in a school late but it's not their public school, it's a tutor house known as juku AKA cram school. The school starts late, around 8am-9am. All my American schools started earlier than that.)
13. School year is April-March which means the summer break is much shorter than America and you have homework. Break time around New Year's is longer because it's an important holiday.
14. You pay for the textbooks and they're yours to keep. They're much smaller and lighter than American books which makes them easier to carry and less back stress.
15. Mandatory learning of English, not a choice of another language. Some schools may start teaching it as early as elementary or parents might start sending their kids to tutors as early as elementary. If you want to learn another language, that's what educational tv and university is for.
16. Entrance exams for high school. Some kids (or their parents) desperately want to get into the top high schools so they might even delay entrance to high school until they pass the exam for the school they want.
17. Mandatory education ends at junior high, equivalent to 9th grade in America. High school is optional but most attend (10th-12th grade).
Elements of each answer so far have truth to them but some are exaggerated. Times have changed since I attended public Japanese school (late 80s) and I was only in elementary so I can't comment on the other years but here's my experience compared to the American system (most of my life).
1. Your homeroom is your life, there's not so much switching classes. The only class we held in another room was science. If the teacher doesn't know the subject, you're more likely to have a new teacher come in then change rooms. This is why Japanese often have lifetime friendships with classmates because you spend so much time together. You go on school trips as well that are as dear to them as prom to some Americans.
2. You learn a lot more in general (and in depth?) than America. I was in 5th grade and we learned to play recorder (my brother in 1st grade learned melodian), cook, sew, and wash clothes.
3. The students are the janitors. This means you are broken into groups and have assignments for that period (I can't remember if it was once, a week, or so.) Bathroom duty sucked. The boys in general let the girls do all the work. Once a month or semester, we held a school-wide yard cleanup where everyone pulled out weeds, etc.
4. You eat the school lunch (except for high school I think). Again, some kids are assigned lunch duty and they go down to the kitchen and bring the lunch to the classroom and serve it cafeteria style to the whole class.
5. Mandatory PTA fees.
6. Mandatory uniform. This includes wearing slippers in the classrooms (not your shoes) and a separate PE uniform that is standard Japan wide which is why everyone probably looks the same but the reverseable hat is quite handy for breaking up into teams, instead of shirts vs. skins it's red vs. white. Uniform includes your schoolbag but there is some flexibility 'cos I never had the standard bag. But where I went to elementary wasn't strict on uniforms except for that one day when everyone had to wear a uniform and I didn't so I got slapped. Which leads me to...
7. Physical punishment. I think it was outlawed even when I was in school but it still occurs. Everyone else grew up that way, it's part of the culture. The worst cases I ever heard where a student who went deaf in one ear because he fell asleep so the teacher made a loud noise next to his ear and the other was a death because there's a large gate to the high schools and the principal was very strict about being on time so shut the gate on the dot though a student was still trying to get in.
8. The classroom sizes are larger than America. Perhaps 40? Americans complain when it reaches 29.
9. Mandatory club membership. After school there are various clubs and you're supposed to sign up for one of them and attend. I signed up for ping-pong.
10. Rules regarding personal appearance enforced. This includes no nail polish, no ear piercings, no dyeing hair, etc.
11. The yard is quite large and a lot of schools have a pool. My elementary school did. I can only think of one school I have ever seen in America with a pool and it was a high school.
12. More hours spent in school due to club participation and Saturdays. Saturdays were half days. This has changed so that you go on one Saturday a month or none at all now. I went to school on Christmas Eve because it was a Saturday and I had a hard time with that because traditionally my American family celebrated on Eve. (But it's not 6am-8pm! Some kids may be in a school late but it's not their public school, it's a tutor house known as juku AKA cram school. The school starts late, around 8am-9am. All my American schools started earlier than that.)
13. School year is April-March which means the summer break is much shorter than America and you have homework. Break time around New Year's is longer because it's an important holiday.
14. You pay for the textbooks and they're yours to keep. They're much smaller and lighter than American books which makes them easier to carry and less back stress.
15. Mandatory learning of English, not a choice of another language. Some schools may start teaching it as early as elementary or parents might start sending their kids to tutors as early as elementary. If you want to learn another language, that's what educational tv and university is for.
16. Entrance exams for high school. Some kids (or their parents) desperately want to get into the top high schools so they might even delay entrance to high school until they pass the exam for the school they want.
17. Mandatory education ends at junior high, equivalent to 9th grade in America. High school is optional but most attend (10th-12th grade).
Little kid backpacks for teens?
Sandie
Okay so why is it that the latest style in HIGH SCHOOL, yes I said HIGH SCHOOL - is Dora the Explorer, Spongebob, Elmo, etc. backpacks? Guys mostly, I don't think I've seen girls do this but it's incredibly stupid. Why is this the newest fashion trend and when will it end?
Answer
haha lol. i know what u mean, im one of them kids with a disney cards bag and im 14. its because most backpacks for our age are just like nike or adidas and really dull. although lil kids ones are bright and oringinal. also because most tv programs designed for our age are RUBBISH! CBBC have a laugh. so it probably wont end until bags brighten up or tv programs et better and start making gear. :)
haha lol. i know what u mean, im one of them kids with a disney cards bag and im 14. its because most backpacks for our age are just like nike or adidas and really dull. although lil kids ones are bright and oringinal. also because most tv programs designed for our age are RUBBISH! CBBC have a laugh. so it probably wont end until bags brighten up or tv programs et better and start making gear. :)
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