first time posting here so apologies if i post in the wrong section.
has there anyone here >foreigner< who finished or studied in a japanese HIGH school (15-18 years old) with 0 proficiency or knowledge? i know this question sounds dumb since there are international schools available for that, but my father has been planning into sending me to a Private Highschool here in Hokkaido(not saying where but its in one of the smallest cities/countryside) and I’m afraid all of their classes are in Nihonggo even their English classes. what’s ironic is that i’m 50% japanese but i grew up most of the time in the Philippines whereas we mainly spoke purely in Filipino/Tagalog and English.
my dad managed to get the schools office to remove the entrance exams main subjects specifically Math, English, and Social Studies and only leave out JAPANESE for me. i have 0 clue what that exam even covers. im nowhere near finishing N5 nor even reaching N1. i have only self studied for 2 months since i arrived in Japan, August. and Lord mind you the exam starts on January 31. please everyone help me with your thoughts and advices!! this is already making my 16 yo mental health go nuts. thank you so much ! ! !
7 comments
Could you try reaching out to any local international associations in the area? The one I work for offers Japanese classes and some support sending aids to schools to help foreign kids get through regular Japanese schooling
With almost zero knowledge of Japanese you will certainly fail at a non-international/bilingual Japanese high school, *even* if you get in by some miracle.
I recommend staying in the Phillipines, or finding an international school your family can pay for.
Happened to a friend of mine (also half Japanese). Not high school but middle school. I think she ended up cramming Japanese for the first 6 months but then went to regular classes. She was also in Hokkaido somewhere.
Anyway, somehow it worked out for her, so I hope things will work out for you as well.
I recommend reaching out to the [Hokkaido Foreign Resident Support Center](https://www.hiecc.or.jp/soudan/en/). If your dad’s Japanese, you’re probably not legally a “foreign resident” but since you grew up abroad, you might as well be, so I think you fall within their purview. They can help connect you with groups in your area that can provide help with Japanese language and cultural adjustment issues. If you’re by any chance going to be in Southern Hokkaido (greater Hakodate area), feel free to send me a DM as I used to live there and am pretty familiar with the local schools and resources available there
You’re not going to understand anything. But knowing Japanese schools, they’ll likely pass you and push you to the next grade anyway.
If this is a private high school, it could be the case where they have a “sign your name and get in” policy.
And by that I mean that even if you fail your entrance exams, they will let you in as long as you wrote your name. Some high schools, especially some particular private schools, are literally there to educate the lowest level of student. I don’t meant that in a mean way, but just it is the reality. The parents pay for their tuition and the teachers try their best to teach as well as they can. If this were the case for you, it wouldn’t matter your Japanese ability because you would be studying it in the classroom immersion style. Teachers would hopefully help you individually.
Sometimes these private schools are technical schools, but not always.
Source: my friend was an ALT at both the low level private school and the non traditional high school in my former prefecture.
I also personally taught students t(twins) that had learning disabilities (from getting brain oxygen supply cut off in the womb and their mother refused to get a diagnosis to send them to special school, not that I blame her) and they got into high school. Their Junior high school test scores weee zero in every subject except a 30 in math and an 15 in English.
You’ll be good.
The exam is just part of the process do your best and look forward to making new friends.
Plenty of boys from other countries start cold at high-school level when they are on sports programs.
Keep plodding away with the self study and get into the volunteer Japanese classes.