Hello all!
I’m Douglas Pineda Gutierrez (rising second year) and I am current doing the Kyoto Consortium of Japanese Studies Summer Program. Having taken first year Japanese during the Fall and Spring, I placed into the 2nd Year Japanese section.
Before starting the program (which was almost four weeks ago😅), I remember the comfort and joy I felt knowing that this summer, I would be able to fully spend time doing the things I enjoy without the same stressors that an academic semester brings (studying Japanese included). I understood that I would be engaging with an entire year’s worth of material in 8 weeks, but couldn’t entirely put into perspective too well though I knew that it would be more than I am used to.
During the first couple of days, I was working anywhere from 4-6 hours outside of class time. I’m the kind of student that has really high expectations for themselves, which is a double edged sword: for every assignment, regardless of how big or small, I strive for an impeccable foundation in the material I am studying. In order to get to such a point, however, I have to push myself very hard, especially when the sheer volume of assignments is more than I can realistically handle at such a level. On average over a 3 day period, we cover a lesson of Genki 2 (about 18 Kanji, ~25 new vocab and verbs, about 5 grammar structures, along with class activities and 1 one on one conversation with a Japanese college student). Each every couple of Fridays, there are also opportunities to interact with various aspects of Japanese culture (Kansai Dialect lecture, Noh Theatre, Zen Buddhism, etc.)
After a day or two, I soon realized that the purpose my professor had in mind was not simply to get caught up in a grammar structure or homework assignment or grade, but to provide the opportunity for improvement under guidance in many aspects while we have the time, both general and specific. After thinking about it, what I want to improve on specifically is my ability to talk naturally and with more confidence (of course while learning 2nd year material generally).
I soon adjusted by learning to sense how thoroughly I had to prepare for class rather than operating at 100% efficiency all the time, by learning to use class time to expand what I had started to learn for homework, and learning how long I actually need to spend on assignments (often times, I work more than is necessary and get very little return on the extra time). Overall, I think that I have learned more than just Japanese, but a lot about my learning style and time management skills as well. I think I am learning a lot of material at one time, so this has been crucial to my success in the class thus far.
More updates soon!
Douglas Pineda Gutierrez