Reflection 8

Last week we had a discussion with Japanese students about the Japanese educational system. Overall, I think it went quite well. I was able to ask all the questions and follow-up questions without too much trouble. The only problem was my group had several questions that were similar, so we tended to step on each others toes a lot, but I was still able to use the answers to their questions, so I guess that worked out. I didn't have too much trouble reading the questions, but I was so nervous that any extra questions that weren't written down were very hard for me to say. I also didn't understand the vast majority of what was said: the problem was not the words/grammar used, but rather the speed. I understand spoken language very slowly, and it's much worse when I'm nervous. Despite this, I was able to get the main idea of what was said and fill in the blanks of what I didn't understand with context. Since my issues were primarily skill-based, I can't really say I would do anything different.