Title: 日本人の知らない日本語 Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo
English Title: The Japanese Person that Does Not Know the Japanese Language
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2010
Episode: 12
Cast:
- 仲里依紗Naka Rīsa
- 池田成志 Ikeda Narushi
- 朝加真由美 Asaka Mayumi
- 青木崇高 Aoki Munetaka
- 原田夏希 Harada Natsuki
SYNOPSIS
Kano Haruko is a fashionable individual who works as a shop assistant and she has been featured in a lot of fashion magazines due to her charismatic personality and unique fashion sense. However, she has always wanted to be a high school teacher and she intends to make this dream a reality.
Haruko was asked by her former high school teacher to teach Japanese language to foreigners for a few months. They have an understanding that if Haruko performs well, her former teacher will recommend her as a Japanese language teacher in her old high school.
Haruko begins to teach a class composed of different nationalities and with different interests in Japanese culture. As she teaches her students about the Japanese language and culture, she earns her students' trust and respect as their teacher.
REVIEW
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo is a must-watch for all foreigners studying the Japanese language since it is about foreigners learning about the nuances of the Japanese language. It's very interesting to know about the different theories about how the different kanji and hiragana came about as well as how these characters evolved over time.
One cannot really learn about a particular language without learning about a particular culture because these two definitely go hand in hand: the language is a reflection of the culture and the culture is a reflection of the language. It's also interesting how modern Japanese perceive their own culture and how the traditional culture is practiced in modern times.
However, the drama is quite formulaic and episodic that it sometimes seems too crafted and surreal. Usually, one of Kano Haruko's students gets into trouble (more often than not, because she has influenced or encouraged them to do something crazy or out of ordinary) and then she goes to save the day, leading her to share an important lesson or two about the Japanese language and culture.
Haruko is not a very good teacher; in fact only one of her students passed the evaluation exam after finishing the course that she taught. But her passion and concern for her students apparently makes up for her shortcomings as a teacher.
I'm not really sure if I'm convinced about this premise. I do acknowledge that passion and concern for students are important to become a good teacher. However, if the students are not making any progress with their studies and they are failing their exams; then perhaps the teacher should improve on her teaching skills and methods.
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日本人の知らない日本語 Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo
