English-language learning experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

English-language learning experience - Essay Example For instance, beginning at the junior high-level students were required to wear school uniforms that consisted of navy blue slacks and a button-down shirt with an emblem of my school’s name Iwaki Koukou on the front. Other regulations consisted of restricting hair length and how much money you could spend on snacks. I even recall having a teacher confront me because my socks weren’t regulation colors. The school week ran from Monday-Saturday and only included a month off for summer break. The large emphasis on regulation and education, with students attending school nearly year round, and the popularity of after-school lessons, resulted in many of my classmates losing interests in lessons and a notable majority skipping school altogether. The strict guidelines weren’t confined to only student conduct but also permeated the nature of lessons and the ultimate goals for education. Differing from the United States, entrance to Japanese high schools are determined on an acceptable basis and it seemed that many of my courses in middle school were geared towards cramming in as much information as possible so students would pass their entrance examinations. The English-language textbook we used was called New Horizon and it focused on grammar and vocabulary lessons, with different characters from around the world – there was a Canadian and an Australian in the book who would converse with Japanese learners. It contained a different lesson for each of the three years of chugakko.