Professor
Yumiko Kawanishi
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Most Helpful Review
I took J102 with her, and let me say that she seems great... on the surface level. As a Japanese student here at UCLA, it was great to be back in a Japanese class, or it was, until she didn't take into consideration the difference in levels of the students. Some of the students were obviously Japanese American, while others came from Japan. Now, this is an advanced class, so this all made sense, until I realized that there were only ten students in the class (with some of the students working super hard while others breezed past), and that this is the only heritage speaker class offered for Japanese students on campus. If there is only this level, let alone the fact that everyone that's in it is supposed to be capable of the level of this class, I don't think she graded the class very fairly. This isn't to say she was a bad teacher, she's very good, but she didn't take into consideration that some students grew up in Japan, while others needed to be able to catch up. The kid sitting in the back of the class not paying any attention should not equal the same as the student going to every office hour considering both students were admitted into the class after the placement test... If the school says they are capable, every student should be actually ready for that class, and not be put in there just because that is the only option. She won't change though, so my warning would be to any J102 student- make sure you fully understand japanese, and consider yourself truly advanced in the language.
I took J102 with her, and let me say that she seems great... on the surface level. As a Japanese student here at UCLA, it was great to be back in a Japanese class, or it was, until she didn't take into consideration the difference in levels of the students. Some of the students were obviously Japanese American, while others came from Japan. Now, this is an advanced class, so this all made sense, until I realized that there were only ten students in the class (with some of the students working super hard while others breezed past), and that this is the only heritage speaker class offered for Japanese students on campus. If there is only this level, let alone the fact that everyone that's in it is supposed to be capable of the level of this class, I don't think she graded the class very fairly. This isn't to say she was a bad teacher, she's very good, but she didn't take into consideration that some students grew up in Japan, while others needed to be able to catch up. The kid sitting in the back of the class not paying any attention should not equal the same as the student going to every office hour considering both students were admitted into the class after the placement test... If the school says they are capable, every student should be actually ready for that class, and not be put in there just because that is the only option. She won't change though, so my warning would be to any J102 student- make sure you fully understand japanese, and consider yourself truly advanced in the language.
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