Anki Blog #3

            Hi everyone, this is Anki. I have been in Japan for three weeks now and there is only one more week left for this program. Now I don’t want to leave Japan because I had so much fun in Japan. Except for attending the classes in the morning, I am so excited to go around Tokyo in the afternoon even though I end up being very tired every day. Life in Japan is full of excitement and every single day is a new day, I get to visit many new places during this program. I have done more research on my topic regarding Japanese entrance exams. I have asked Japanese people in the dormitory which they prefer, the Alberta education system and Japanese centre exam.

            I have explained to Japanese students in the dormitory here at Senshu International House. In Alberta, we have diploma exams which are basically final exams for grade twelve courses. Only 30 levels courses in high school require diploma exams. Also, the diploma exams only worth thirty percent. Comparing to the Japanese entrance exam, the diploma exams are less determining and stressing. Unlike the Japanese entrance exam occurring at a certain place, we only had to go to our own schools to take the diploma exam. After explaining to the Japanese students, I asked which exam system they prefer. All Japanese students I asked prefer Alberta system, because the Japanese entrance exam is way too competitive, and they were all stressed before the exam. After talking with Japanese students, I got some more information regarding the entrance exam. Some people are able to get reference letters from high school teachers, so they do not have to go take the entrance exam and straight go into universities. For some universities, an interview is also necessary before getting accepted into the university. In Alberta, unless it is people trying to apply to graduate schools or jobs, they do not need an interview at all for being accepted into universities.

            However, even though it is easy to get accepted into universities in Alberta, university life is very hard, and graduating is not an easy thing. In Japan, it is harder to get accepted than graduating. I have heard from my sensei saying that people did not spend too much time studying in university but spending time making friends and going to parties.

            Despite all the differences between Japanese entrance exams and Alberta diploma exams, they have some similarities as well. In Alberta, students in the whole province do the exam at the same time, then the exams are taken to Edmonton to be marked by certain teachers, which is very similar to Japanese entrance exams that the exam occurs at the same time nationwide.

            During the last week of this program, I will be asking Japanese students about how they have prepared the exam and how they learned to calculate their grades after the exam.