Anki’s blog #4

​Hi, this is Anki. How’s it going? This is going to be my last blog post about my research on Japanese entrance exam.  The program is now ended, one month living in Japan with Japanese people really made a big different on myself. This was a completely different experience from travelling to Japan. I tried my best to fit into Japanese society while living in Japan.Japanese people are very well organized, and they behave as the best as possible. I have noticed that there are many homeless people on the streets, but they never try to bother anyone. I think this is something to do with their education from young. From what I have known, they are educated as “don’t trouble other people” since they were young, which is very well represented on Japanese people. 

​Talking about education, here I will be writing a summary about what I have found during the period of this program. My research topic is about Japanese entrance exams. First of all, the entrance exams in Japan is designed for high school students to get into universities. If one student chose to enter the university,he or she is required to take the exam. For an exception, students who get recommendation letters from teachers are able to enter the university without taking the entrance exams, this is more focused on sports talents. Extra exams and interviews may be needed after the national entrance exam. Japanese students study very hard just to pass the exam and achieve the required grades for the universities they desired to go. 

​I also did a comparison between Japanese national test centre exam and Alberta diploma exam. Alberta diploma exams are more similar to final exams for grade twelve courses than entrance exams. I have done a survey to Japanese students and students from Calgary, I explained to them about both exams and asked them which one they prefer. Overwhelmingly everyone preferred Alberta diploma exams over Japanese entrance exams. Japanese students did not like how competitive and stressful the entrance exams are, but they have successfully gone through it! They also explained to me that it was a very hard time for them and they stressed a lot before and after the exams. My conclusion is that, if we had to pick on that works better, Alberta diploma exams are definitely a better way to test on students. It is also unfair to students who get sick on the day the Japanese entrance exam occurs. In Japan, the national test centre occurs once a year, unlike in Alberta, the diploma exam occurs couple times during the year and a doctor note is available for students who get sick during that time. So, if a student missed one diploma exam, he or she can always take it again next semester when the exams are held.

​This is my conclusion on Japanese entrance exam, as I have explained many times before in my blog, the entrance exam is a life-impacting event for Japanese high school students who are willing to go to the university. They have paid a lot of effort on it and the exam is extremely competitive. One month living in Japan opened my perspectives on life, I think programs like this are very helpful with knowing other cultures. This was such a memorable event happened in my life, also a challenge that I have been through. Next time if there is a chance, I would comeback again to Japan and experience the life in other cities as well.