Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Lost With No Translation

I got five out of twenty answers correct on my 'easy' test, which is five more than I would have had on the test everybody else took. Yesterday I had to meet with a director of the school to discuss my Japanese incompetence. She sorta accused me of lying on my application by announcing the number of study hours I declared then looking at my expectantly. I guess I was supposed to tell her I lied, but I wouldn't do that. So I told her I'm bad at learning, which seemed like the second best answer.

I am having a miserable time at this school so far. I was placed in the lowest level class, which is still way out of my league. I can't ask questions because I don't know how to ask them in Japanese and even if I did, I wouldn't understand the answers, which the teacher insists on answering in Japanese. Also, I'm so lost I wouldn't know what to ask questions about.

I was really optimistic that this school was going to be a big turning point in my Japanese learning, but I never imagined it was going to turn me sour. This is a really hard experience.

5 comments:

Wren said...

Just because you aren't consciously learning anything doesn't mean you aren't improving your skills. You are bound to pick up something, even if you don't feel you are understanding anything. Remember, when babies learn language, they don't have anyone translating for them. You're smarter than a baby, aren't you?

Have faith and stick to it!

Anonymous said...

Hey look at it this way, your sentence is almost over with and you probably won't ever see any of thses peaple again. Like Wren said you will walk away from this with more knowledge than you had before.

Cliff said...

I completely feel your pain. Just use it as motivation to study harder. It'll be over before you know it, so try to enjoy Osaka while you are at it.

On the side, I don't get the whole 'study hours' thing at all. I'm in the process of filling out the JLPT application, and on it it says, 'How many hours have you studied?' I have no frickin' clue.

Anonymous said...

It absolutely sucks to be the one who doesn't have a clue as to what people are talking about. It's an intimidating situation, and doesn't get any easier when people tell you things like it "builds character." If you can try to pick up on a word or two from each sentence, you may be able to piece together a rough idea of what they're talking about - don't try to understand the whole sentence. Write down the words you know when you hear them, and maybe you can follow a little bit. Just remember that the subject is first, and the verb's at the end of the sentence. Are there topics for class, or is it just random free conversation?

You're probably subconsciously absorbing more than you think, even though you feel completely lost. If you can't turn this into a positive experience, then try to enjoy Osaka as much as you can. Good luck!

Son of Higashi said...

I'll say it...

Fcuk classes. I am now convinced that for something like languages, life > classroom. And screw them for making you feel like a criminal.