Yup, you read that right. I have cram school. In Japanese it is called じゅく (juku). Before coming to Japan I had wondered if I was going to be put in cram school. It was sorta popular in dramas (yes, I watched Japanese dramas and I don’t care what you think,lol) for students to go and study. Of course the students didn’t like it and it was boring. A part of me did want to go to cram because it seemed cool and I wanted to try it. A part me didn’t want to go because it just looked like a very boring place in the dramas. Now that I am in Japan cram school…is still the same. The week before my first day of cram school I asked my classmates about cram school. They told me was boring and really long and to not go. Haha…. When they told me that all I could think about was how right the dramas were. I guess it really is that boring. Of course, a part of me still wanted to go. I asked them how juku was like. They told me that it’s similar to a regular class. So in my head I was expecting a regular class. Little did I know that the juku she was referring to was a “public” juku and little did I know that I was going to a “private” juku. I walk into my first juku class and as soon as I open the door…I almost hit a small child. Yeah…. Anyways, I said my apologies and asked if he was okay. He was. After that it was time to look around and absorb what was happening. There were small elementary and junior high students throughout the class. I was expecting people around my age you know? I was staring at them and they were staring back at me. I had no clue as to what to do. I stood where I was for about 5 minutes. Eventually my teacher came to me. She sat me down and told me how juku works. The other students are working on English while I’ll be working on Japanese. I was also wondering expecting her to stay with me and help me you know, learn Japanese. Well, that’s not how it works here. I will be listening to a CD along with a book to read with. I will be reading out loud to myself and also be writing in the workbook in Japanese. Every student does this. It’s literally one(self) to one(self). That is what I do every juku. After every chapter or so you have a test to see if you are getting the material and if you’re actually learning. I’m currently a level 2 because of the Japanese I already knew before juku. I go to juku Monday’s and Thursday’s. On mondays I go from 6PM to either 7PM or 8PM. On Thursdays I go from 7PM to 8PM. Because I get out of school really late on Thursday (6:15PM) I have to hurry to the 7PM class. The subway ride to juku takes about a little over half hour. At first it was okay but now it does get tiring. I have homework for not only regular classes and private classes but now juku as well. I do understand that this will help me with my Japanese very much. So to myself I say がんばたね! (Ganbatane) which means…I actually don’t know it in English. Either I don’t remember or I’m forgetting English. It’s along the lines of “keep going”of the to the similar Korean phrase “fighting”. Well that’s it for juku. Bye bye!
1 Comment
林老师
1/9/2018 04:34:50
I'm glad that you experience a lot in Japan.
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January 2018
AuthorI am a student from the US to Japan. I enjoy writing, photographing, & travelling. |