Coming together to learn, students engaged in the fourth session of a voluntary Japanese class Jan. 28 in Irby Hall 312. 

They engaged in activities ranging from kanji practice to casual conversation to Shiritori, a Japanese word game. Various resources were incorporated as well, such as formal textbooks, online learning resources and student-made presentations.

Senior Tyler Nicholson said, “I am the sensei. I teach it because I don’t know a lot of Japanese, so I’m learning with them… While I am the sensei, I am still very humbled and very bad at Japanese.”

The course itself is designed to cover all manners of topics relating to Japanese, whether that’s the language itself, the culture or how to make learning enjoyable.

“We’re here to have fun. We’re here to forget that we’re actually learning,” Nicholson said.

Other students in the class agree with this sentiment.

Senior Graham Clark said, “I’ve enjoyed the class quite a bit. I’ve learned something new every day that I wouldn’t in a formal classroom context.”

Nicholson said, “Sometimes we have pizza; we had pizza the first day.”

To support this environment, Nicholson’s lesson included fun facts, memes and an unusual structure, all paired with Japanese and English translations.

Nicholson said, “I formatted the class as a JRPG, so we’re divided into sections. Each class isn’t called a lesson, it’s called a quest — we’re on an ultimate journey to get to N4.”

Jan. 28’s session included discussions about the difficulty of learning Japanese, different ways to learn kanji and resources to use outside of class. The atmosphere was relaxed, with both the teacher and the students talking a lot.

Clark said, “The best part about this class is the learning style and the personalized touch that Tyler brings.”

The group of students who created the class didn’t do so randomly, though; in fact, it was largely the result of a course conflict.

“This class was designed to substitute a course conflict because a lot of students — especially linguistics students — had a spring-only class and it took the place of the Japanese class,” Nicholson said.

Though its beginning may have come from a course schedule issue, students have made the most of the opportunity. Now, the class has students with varying levels of Japanese, working together to create a learning environment.

Nicholson said, “We are a Japanese classroom designed for all levels of learning. It helps if you know some, but we are separate from the Japanese club.”

Clark said, “It’s nice to have both a formal and an informal context to learning Japanese… I think it functions adequately as a supplemental Japanese class.”

Nicholson and the other members of the class worked together to create an engaging curriculum, but this new class, not sponsored by a student organization, had trouble reaching new members. 

“I think one of the main limitations is its visibility,” Clark said. 

Nicholson said, “Most of the time it’s only about three to four people.”

This student-led Japanese course will continue to hold sessions for the foreseeable future and invites students of any level to join.

Nicholson said, “We are in classroom 312 in Irby during x-period if you would like to come for free and learn Japanese.”