{"id":237,"date":"2006-09-03T16:14:25","date_gmt":"2006-09-03T07:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-09-03\/237"},"modified":"2006-09-03T16:14:25","modified_gmt":"2006-09-03T07:14:25","slug":"why-im-not-attending-doshisha-universitys-center-for-japanese-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2006-09-03\/237","title":{"rendered":"Why I&#8217;m Not Attending Doshisha University&#8217;s Center for Japanese Language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\n\nA new semester of classes begins this month at the <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www1.doshisha.ac.jp\/~bekka\/en\/sitemap\/index.html\">Doshisha\nUniversity Center for Japanese Language<\/a>. <span class='nobr'>I can speak<\/span> Japanese fairly\nwell, but it's all self-taught so <span class='nobr'>I could<\/span> certainly benefit from some\nformal study.\n\n<span class='nobr'>I thought<\/span> I'd take Japanese classes at Doshisha, since it has<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a good<\/span> reputation.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nBut I won't be attending classes because the paperwork to apply was just\ntoo daunting. <span class='nobr'>It's not that<\/span> it was bordering on the ridiculous, but <b>way past<\/b> ridiculous.\n\n<\/p><p>\n\nAs one might expect, the application includes basics such as:\n\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><p>Name, address, place and date of birth.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>If currently in Japan, visa status.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>My &#8220;home country address&#8221; (okay, <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know what that might be, since my home country is Japan).<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>A 20,000 yen (about $190) application fee.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>Information about any previous Japanese-language study, if any.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>Info about my educational background.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>Self-assessed Japanese and English abilities.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>&#8220;Declaration of Japanese-language Proficiency&#8221;<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>3-minute audio cassette or MD, in Japanese, on why I'm applying.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>Written essay on why I'm applying.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>Written essay on what you plan to do after attending Japanese-language school.<\/p><\/li>\n<li><p>How I plan to come up with the funds.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p> I can understand most of that, but some of the stuff they require is\njust, well, ridiculous:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\n<li><p>My <b>entire<\/b> educational background, starting with my\n<b>elementary school<\/b> (which <span class='nobr'>I finished<\/span> 30 years ago, mind\nyou).<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>The name, age, and address of all family members (&#8220;including\nmarried brothers and sisters&#8221;). <span class='nobr'>How is this<\/span> at all relevant?<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>List of all previous visits to Japan, with copies of my passports.\nUh, I've entered Japan at least 40 times in the last 20 years, and had to\nhave pages added to my previous-previous passport. <b>If<\/b> <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> the old\npassports, and <b>if<\/b> <span class='nobr'>I can<\/span> find them, it would take me hours to compile\nthe list of dates that <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> in Japan. <span class='nobr'>Why is this<\/span> relevant, and why to\nthis level of detail?<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>A certificate of health filled out by <span class='nobr'>a physician,<\/span> including chest\nX-ray results and eyesight. This is just silly.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Occupational experience &amp; military service. <span class='nobr'>I washed<\/span> dishes for\nCasey's <span class='nobr'>Restaurant 25<\/span> years ago &mdash; will that help my application?<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Since I'd be paying myself, <span class='nobr'>I'd need to<\/span> produce copies of my\nbankbooks, a &#8220;Certificate of Employment&#8221; (whatever that is,\nit'll be tough because I'm self employed), and all Japanese tax records for\nthe previous year (which would also be tough, because I've not had to file\ntaxes in Japan since 1996).<\/p><p>Uh, why can't I just produce <b>the\nmoney<\/b> to pay for the year? <span class='nobr'>I have a<\/span> few bank accounts here, but most of\nour money is in The States. <span class='nobr'>One bank account<\/span> here that's in my name (as\nopposed to Fumie's name; Japan doesn't allow joint ownership) has about\n$25,000 in it &mdash; more than 5&times; the yearly tuition &mdash; yet <span class='nobr'>I\nwas<\/span> told that might not be enough to make them feel happy, and so <span class='nobr'>I should<\/span>\nproduce proof about whatever money <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> in The States. Wow.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>A &#8220;Letter of Guarantee,&#8221; filled out by my parents in\nOhio, assuming both financial and moral responsibility for me while I'm in\nJapan. (I'm 40 years old, don't forget.)<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>My high-school and college diplomas. Not copies, mind you, but the\noriginal diplomas. <span class='nobr'>I know that<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> my college and grad-school diplomas\nin storage somewhere in The States, but <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> no idea whether my\nhigh-school diploma (from 22 years ago) even exists.<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Full transcripts from my grad school. <span class='nobr'>How are transcripts<\/span> for\nclasses in computer science completed 19 years ago really relevant to my\nstudy of Japanese today? <span class='nobr'>I'm 40 freaking<\/span> years old!<\/p><\/li>\n\n<li><p>Five identical photographs. I can't fathom why they need even one. <span class='nobr'>Is beauty<\/span> <span class='nobr'>a pre<\/span>-requisite? (If so, it's just as well <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span>\napply.)<\/p><\/li>\n\n\n<li><p>The &#8220;Declaration of Japanese-language Proficiency&#8221;\nmentioned above is something that would cause me trouble, since it must be\nfilled out by an instructor of Japanese or <span class='nobr'>a diplomatic<\/span> or consular\nofficial of the Japanese government. I've never studied formally, so who\nwould <span class='nobr'>I get<\/span> to fill it out? It's silly, anyway, because it's so very vague,\nusing a &#8220;Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent&#8221; rating system that's\ncompletely dependent upon the writer's frame of mind. <span class='nobr'>I chatted<\/span> for half an\nhour with someone in the school's office, in Japanese, who said that my\nJapanese was excellent &mdash; why can't <b>she<\/b> &#8220;declare&#8221;\nmy ability?<\/p><\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>I suppose I could scrounge up most of what's required if <span class='nobr'>I really<\/span> wanted\nto, but the ridiculousness of the whole thing really turned me off.<\/p>\n\n<p>Can anyone suggest good Japanese-language classes in Kyoto at <span class='nobr'>a school<\/span>\nthat wouldn't treat me like <span class='nobr'>a child<\/span> and would be willing to accept my\nmoney?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> A new semester of classes begins this month at the Doshisha University Center for Japanese Language. I can speak Japanese fairly well, but it's all self-taught so I could certainly benefit from some formal study. I thought I'd take Japanese classes at Doshisha, since it has a good reputation. <\/p><p> But I won't be attending classes because the paperwork to apply was just too daunting. It's not that it was bordering on the ridiculous, but <b>way past<\/b> ridiculous. <\/p><p> As one might expect, the application includes basics such as: <\/p> <p>Name, address, place and date of birth.<\/p> <p>If currently [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}