TLDR: When choosing a Japanese course, is there anything you should look for when determining your appropriate course difficulty level?
I found a relatively affordable Japanese course in my area and had an evaluation interview with one of the instructors.
I struggled a bit because she only spoke in Japanese, and I had to speak in as much Japanese as I could despite not being well practiced at putting what I’ve been studying into actual use.
She recommended I take an intermediate level course, and I now have the opportunity to sit in on a session for that level to decide if I want to join the program and see of I’m comfortable with the difficulty of the recommended course.
With the option of being able to move up or down in course difficulty after observing one of the sessions, does anyone have any ideas or recommendations on what I should look out for when determining if I’m at the appropriate skill level for what is being taught?
Thank you.
4 comments
I would say go based off if you understand the content or not. Ideally you’ll want the content to be new, but not so far above your level that you’re totally lost. When they do activities, think to yourself “could I do this activity?” If everything is super easy to understand or you could do the activities in your sleep, then the course may be too easy. If you feel lost and have no idea what’s going on, then the class is too hard
It should be “comfortably difficult.” You shouldn’t be getting 100% of everything, nor should you feel like you’re drowning. If you can get 80% of what’s going on, you should be fine.
First, what do you want from the course?
Intermediate is pretty broad. Low lvl usually means you can’t do speaking and listening to a day to day level.
Kanji is the second biggest barrier to Japanese after vocabulary. I don’t think you can learn enough on any course to be worth it for practise. Anki/loads of reading is the only real way.
If you think classes will help you stay motivated then I’d do them. Keeping the regular practice is really important.
I’ve done this twice, and would say the other commenter described it well with “comfortably difficult”. Maybe even feeling quite a bit of discomfort is ok if you have reason to believe you’ll surmount it quickly. For example, I think you’ll probably feel really uncomfortable formulating sentences if you haven’t been doing that up to now, but you’ll get over that really quickly, so don’t let it put you off. Also, ask if you could observe two classes of different difficulties in the first week unless the tutor already feels strongly that they’ve placed you correctly.
Look out for:
* How much does the book/method used depart from your current learning?
* How interactive is the group?
* How well are the other class participants doing in comparison to you? Your relative performance is a big clue. So even if you’re feeling overwhelmed, but you still see you’re keeping up with their comprehension and output, it will be fine. And if you’re acing it compared to them, then move to a harder class.
* What are the challenges? If you’re struggling to say something, but later realise you knew what to say, you’ll surmount that quickly: stay in that course or jump ahead. If it’s vocab, find out how controlled the vocab used is – if it’s well-defined, again, you’ll get over that quickly. If it’s grammar, and they are using several constructions you aren’t familiar with, maybe drop back a level. Ask for the grammar syllabus and try to place yourself in a class where most of the ones being taught are new for you.
* Afterward the trial class, reflect on your experience, discuss it with the tutor, and ask what they recommend
But, don’t worry too much, you’ll adjust quickly and could always skip ahead or drop back after your current term ends. The main thing is just by being in any of the classes you are getting more natural Japanese exposure and live corrections on your output.