Hi,
I want to take EAS121, but until the interview, nobody said anything about having to attend a lecture, just tutorials. My schedule has space for me to attend HALF the EAS lecture, but in the second half is a class I really want to take. Are the Japanese language lectures mandatory? Is it possible to attend just the first half of the lecture?
Thanks.
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Hey hey
I’m going to be very blunt with you.
(You know, as if I’m one to beat around the bush…)
Lectures aren’t really something that anyone needs to remind you of.
Lectures are a given.
Tutorials are basically always attached to a lecture. There is no tutorial without lecture.
That being said, if you’re trying to learn Japanese for the first time in your life, then heck yeah are the Japanese language lectures mandatory. No one is going to stop you from leaving halfway through the lecture. You can. It’s frowned upon — especially when you’re being disruptive — but it’s possible. You’ll miss a lot, but, again, possible.
But I really really don’t recommend going through with a timetable conflict. Technically, if you have one, no one is going to remove your from the two opposing courses. HOWEVER, if midterms come around and you conflicting midterms or something along those lines, neither professor is going to be particularly accommodating.
So really this comes down a matter of priorities.
What do you want more: to learn Japanese or to take that course you really want?
Personally, once upon a second year, I reaaaaaally wanted to take Japanese but couldn’t fit all the lecture/tutorials into my schedule and gave up on the dream. If it comes down to having to pick between different courses, keep in mind that a language is something you can learn at any point, in many places, and probably for a lot cheaper.
Cheers!
aska
3 Comments
Gill
Hey there,
So I actually attempted to take EAS120 this summer and because of work and the other courses I was taking my attendance was, shall we say, less than admirable. I ended up doing a LWD and am going to retake it this year. The problem with skipping lectures is that (at least in the summer) there were quizzes every lecture and while they aren’t worth a whole bunch, missing a good chunk of them can hurt your mark. If you aren’t willing to dedicate a lot of time to it (because lets be honest, Japanese is difficult), I’d recommend taking the other course. It’s a beautiful language, but it requires a lot of dedication and time (like any language) when you’re first learning it.
Good luck!!
SJ
Lol. I chose the Japanese class over the one I wanted to take. I self studied so I can speak a bit but the writing’s the problem. But I guess as a fluent Chinese speaker I have some advantage? Now I’m more worried about getting to classes on time–full schedule…
And Gill, quizzes EVERY lecture? Is the teacher insane?
Gill
It sounds crazy, but it did force you to study before the classes which, in the long run, made it a little easier to follow since you went in knowing which parts of each lecture you were going to struggle with.
You should definitely have some advantage with the Kanji. The kana characters are simple enough to learn since they resemble each other; once you learn hiragana the katakana will be quite simple, I guarantee it!