Hey everybody, I(14) am a full Japanese. However, I spent most of my life in Singapore and enrolled in local schools. But due to my father’s job, I will be returning to Japan in the near future. Putting other problems such as leaving my primary and secondary school friends aside, how do I integrate into the Japanese school system as smoothly as possible? Both systems are so culturally different and I fear I wont be able to adapt well. My Japanese is also primary 5 level ( I can’t read kanji that is beyond that) but enough to communicate. Any tips? Thanks in advance!
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/1094bt1/how_do_i_adapt_to_japanese_middle_school_as/
4 comments
So you’ll be be known as a “帰国子女”, i.e. kids returning to Japan after living abroad.
It will be up to your parents as they decide where you go, but some private school have a lot of kikokushijo and you would likely feel better in one of those. International schools also can be a little easier to integrate for someone like you.
You might be perfectly fine in a regular public school where you’re the only student coming from abroad, but yeah you might “stick out” a bit if all other students spent all their life in Japan.
Do you have any particular hobbies / sports you play? In my own experience, being able to join the tennis club helped me adjust to my Japanese middle school. Joining some sort of 部活 will help with making friends and getting to know teachers outside of the classroom. Sounds like you’re about to start an exciting chapter, best wishes!
Don’t expect anyone to understand “Singlish” and if your Japanese has an accent, try to shake it.
One of my schools recently had a girl from Sri Lanka with basically zero Japanese transfer in some 4 months ago. From what I can tell she is doing relatively well. For context I work at a public junior high school and there was actually an incredible amount of forethought and consideration put into making sure she felt welcome and not overwhelmed right away. Everything from Japanese lessons to which homeroom class she was put into (a grade behind what her age would normally entail but thats not unreasonable I suppose.) was deliberated thoroughly beforehand, and I was tasked with translating some basic materials for her (maps, lunch menus, etc.).
I can’t necessarily garuantee you’ll get the same treatment but my limited experience would have me believing the school will do its utmost to ensure you can succeed.