#Experience Waseda Japanese Language Program (Bekka)🤓 fall course guide✨

hihi everyone～ I'm Isn't!!!

I... I graduated～～🎓 Last week I finally turned in all my final reports🥵

While it's still fresh, here's my course guide for Waseda's fall semester～

My fall timetable is in the picture:

I took 13 credits in total: 12 credits in person (対面) and 1 credit online (オンライン).

After last semester's lesson, I made sure to have no classes on Fridays, so I can go out more or work on homework and reports.

Mon:

💁🏼‍♀️慣用句（イディオム）を学ぼう５−７: The teacher of this class has some little quirks. Try to follow the teacher's rules as closely as you can, or your grade won't be great xd The course mainly teaches all kinds of idioms. Every week you prepare the assigned section at home, looking up the meanings and coming up with example sentences in advance, and in each class you need to raise your hand and speak three times. Class participation counts for a lot. Midterm: written test (筆記テスト) + report (レポート). Final: presentation (発表) (the topic is introducing idioms from your own country)

💁🏼‍♀️季節で学ぶ日本と日本語３−４: A really fun class and a great one for making friends. Every week there are group discussions, where you get to learn about other countries' cultures and values, which is pretty interesting! There are occasional quizzes (all very easy), and I only looked at the material right before class >< The final is a group presentation (the teacher assigns a topic, the group discusses it, and you take turns presenting)

💁🏼‍♀️日本社会を知る、みる、まとめる、伝える４−５: The teacher is very kind and very conscientious and prepares all kinds of rich materials every week. Overall it's a serious reading and listening class, with quite a bit of homework every week xd It's a course where you learn what's happening in Japan now and gain knowledge about many aspects of Japan, and sometimes the teacher throws out topics for everyone to discuss, like views on AI / gender issues / tourism promotion policies, which is pretty interesting. For both the midterm and the final, you find a news article yourself, put together an outline, the news content, a summary and your own thoughts, and the group takes turns presenting.

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Tue:

💁🏼‍♀️読解．ディスカッション７: This is the class I found toughest, because almost all my classmates were returnee kids and native speakers, and the pressure was unreal. In the very first class the teacher gave us all kinds of topics to discuss and then everyone took turns presenting their thoughts. I was scared to death :)) But it was actually pretty fun! It had that thrill of challenging yourself while your adrenaline shoots up. Every week the teacher posts very long news articles :)) that you need to prepare in advance and fill out a worksheet for, and every two weeks you write an opinion piece on a news article. The teacher is very conscientious and very kind and calls on students to answer questions in class, so you really have to prepare at home or you won't be able to answer xd Midterm: レポート的要約と意見文2枚. Final: a 20-minute individual presentation, including Q&A (質疑応答) (I was super nervous about this, because I happened to be the last presenter and there was still lots of time before class ended, so the teacher's questions never stopped. My part lasted 40 minutes in total, I was screaming inside the whole time, please let me go, and it ended up twice as long as everyone else's)

💁🏼‍♀️待遇コミュニケーション５−６: A keigo (honorifics) class. The teacher is very nice, but sometimes jumps around in what they're teaching, so it's not always clear what they're trying to explain. It's also a class that depends on the person: I didn't like it much, but some classmates really liked it. Assessment is also a written test (筆記テスト) + presentation (発表).

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Wed:

💁🏼‍♀️ブログで学ぶ日本語２: A class with a fair amount of homework, but you get to write a lot of articles through it. I wrote articles introducing Taiwan or tourism in Japan, and it's a great class for recording your life studying in Japan. Every class also has group discussions～

💁🏼‍♀️競技ディベートで伸ばす論理的思考と表現力３−４: A debate class. The teacher basically doesn't lecture; they give a debate topic for groups to prepare and analyze, so the class is split into three groups (affirmative side, negative side, judges). Each week's class is basically groups discussing strategy, gathering data and assigning roles, and then a formal debate match the following week. That's the cycle, only the debate topics change. After every debate match you have to hand in a report. 💁🏼‍♀️日本の暮らしと行事を楽しそう５: An easy class. You mainly learn about Japanese culture and traditional festivals, very fun. 💁🏼‍♀️絵本と言葉３−５: A children's books class. You learn all sorts of things about Japanese children's books, and at the end you make your own children's story in Japanese. Pretty fun and I learned quite a lot; overall highly recommended. The teacher is very nice and there isn't much homework, just a ふりかえ after each class, so it's pretty relaxed.

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Thu: 💁🏼‍♀️漢字５: Kanji classes are all online. The teacher teaches how to use lots of kanji and calls on students in turn to answer questions. I liked it quite a lot, and it's fairly easy. For the midterm and final you print the paper yourself; on exam day the teacher posts the questions online, and you take a photo of your answers and upload it, which is pretty convenient xd

💁🏼‍♀️日本語で語る「自分」５−６: The teacher is Korean, and I really love this teacher, because she cares a lot about her students, isn't too strict, and strongly supports students doing what they want to do. She often told us not to worry about taking days off, since studying in Japan means getting out, seeing things and traveling a lot xd Each class involves self-analysis, then group discussion, where you listen to your group members' analysis and give feedback. I made a lot of friends in this class too, and got to know myself better. What left a deep impression was the last class, where everyone took turns going up to share their thoughts on the semester. I talked a bit about my hopes for the future: that I can keep shining on the road ahead and never give up. When I finished, the teacher said she'd been moved reading my writing, and that when you consciously want to work hard and shine, you're actually already quietly shining! 🌟🐰✨

💁🏼‍♀️ 接触場面の会話コミュニケーション: Not sure this class will still be offered, because the teacher is also leaving after this semester, boo hoo

💁🏼‍♀️ 知ろう、話そう３−４: A chatting class. Each week has a different topic for group discussion, and the whole class is just talking, talking, talking. I'd recommend it if you want an easy class, but not if you want to learn something xd

Quick wrap-up:

I'm fairly happy with how my timetable worked out this semester, except that on Thursdays I had classes through 5th period. Staying until 5th period in winter is super painful and I just wanted to go home :)) This semester had more reports and homework than last, and every day after class I'd head to the study room with friends. It was a very full, very busy semester🤓 Even though I was dead tired every day, I still made sure to go out and have fun with friends on weekends🥹💗😍 (the perk of having no classes on Friday!)

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Courses I recommend this semester:

💁🏼‍♀️日本語で語る「自分」５−６

💁🏼‍♀️読解．ディスカッション７

💁🏼‍♀️日本社会を知る、みる、まとめる、伝える４−５

My time studying at Waseda is over～～～

I'm so reluctant to leave and so sad. Having to say goodbye to everyone feels awful :(

I'm so grateful for the people and things I've met here, especially my friends💗

Thank you for everything!!! Thank you all!!!

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That's my quick course-selection share🧩 Hope it helps everyone choosing courses🙌🏻

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