Okay this is a bit odd for me because i’ve never actually had to use wordpress before or other kinds of blog websites like live journal and other things like that. So to start out with my first post I would like to start with an essay that i had previously thought of but never got around to doing it until now, which is the perfect opportunity to play around with wordpress. So here is my classification essay on the Japanese students
The types of Nihongo no kokosei (Japanese student)
Throughout the three years that I took Japanese in high school, I feel as if I had learned very little. Sure I learned some words here and there, but when it really comes down to it, all I really have is a trusty little dictionary that will hopefully get me out of any situation. Nevertheless, if I really did learn anything in that Japanese class of mine it is that there aren’t that many different kinds of people that take the class, there are only about three with some sub-categories thrown in. There are the Anime fans/gamers, the average Asian kid, and the know-it-alls who tend to not fall into either of the prior categories.
Really the majority of the kids that take Japanese in high school are the ones who are really into anime, or the ones that play lots of Japanese games, usually they intertwine very finely. To get a better idea of them these are the kids that dress up as their favorite characters and go to conventions, or they have their favorite character as a key chain. These people always go into class thinking it’s going to be easy because they have a head start knowing a few words that people would usually never use in conversation. These people always end up leaving the class at any point from, the first semester until the second year because:
A) They are tired of the teacher yelling at us, all the time for reading mangas in class
B) They got the two years of credit they need for college
C) They got tired of trying to learn something in that class because they thought it would be a breeze (it seriously isn’t.)
D) They think it is too hard and don’t want to put forth the effort and go to an easy class like Spanish
However, sometimes just sometimes, there are some gems in this group who really want to learn the language and just tend to dabble in the anime community.
There are also the Asian kids that take the class. Now when I refer to the term Asian, I don’t mean they have to be from Japan, I mean they can be from anywhere in the continent of Asia. All sorts of Asians take the class, from the stereotypical A++ Asian, to the very lowly lazy Asian, from the Japanese to the Philippinos. The Asian student tends to think, oh I’m Asian (he could be Vietnamese) and this is Japanese it should be a breeze because it should come naturally to me. This tends to be the case too, because I was the only Japanese student in the class, and I did horrible in that class. Although almost all the time that is true, the chances of a Japanese student actually taking a Japanese language class is almost slim to none, but there always seems to be at least five Asian kids in the class.
The last group of students that actually take Japanese are the know-it-alls. These are the people who will be the valedictorians and the people trying to push them self into being all they can be. Hell I would love to be one of them but laziness came over me in about grade four. But not only are these people taking the Japanese class, but they also take another language class like Spanish or so. They will purposely make you look like a fool in the middle of class just to make them self look smarter. These students seriously tick me off sometimes, but fortunately for you if you need help they are always there for help, so you can’t hate them completely.
Therefore, if you are thinking of joining a Japanese class you may really want to think about what kind of group you want to belong to. Obviously if you join it because you like manga and anime, then you may be in a world of hurt, so you may want to leave your cosplay outfits at home. As for the Asian kids, it may be easy for some but work your butt off because you’ll need to in that class. For the smart kids, I know you’ll do well if you do what you do naturally. But if you fit into any of those categories, then you’ll be fine friend wise, academically though you may need to be the last group.
