I have a Japanese exchange student in my Socials class for this year, and I want to write her a note of apology for a misunderstanding from me. Can I have some help?

Basically, my high school takes on lots of students from Asia (mostly Japan) and lets them study in Canada as my school for a year or so. There are a few Japanese girls in my Socials class for this year, and they all seem pretty good with their English, they just struggle a bit.

In the specific socials class I’m in, there is a daily presentation everyone has to do at least once during the semester where we choose a “current event” and discuss it with the class up front. My socials teacher had everyone ‘sign up’ for their dates to present current events around a week ago, and I noticed one of the Japanese girls (Hana) still hadn’t signed up when the others did.

Today at the end of class, I approached her and asked if she wanted to partner with me, as I didn’t have anyone to do it with. Hana struggled to understand what I said, and it lead to some awkwardness. One of her Japanese friends in the class who is better with her English explained that international students aren’t required to do current events and that it’s optional. I said sorry a couple of times and Hana seemed to accept it, but I still feel like I should maybe do something more.

I was thinking of using a translator and writing her a note in Japanese apologizing for my small-mindedness. Do you all think this is a good idea? Any suggestions would be great…