Edexcel

Claudia – St Pauls Girls School

Dear Kazuo-sensei,
We were given our GCSE marks today, and to my joy I received an A*.
It was thanks to your teaching and time that I was able to achieve this result, and so I thank you muchly!

I simply hope I can do the same in the AS exam…
Again, thank you~
Claudia

Alistor Logan

I started studying Japanese with Kazuo about six weeks ago with the intention of taking a GCSE at the end of this academic year.GCSE-1
With very little previous experience of Japanese and with four other AS subjects to study towards the prospect of taking an exam in a language I had only been studying for a year was very daunting. However with just six weeks of study, thanks to Kazuo’s teaching I feel far more confident about this aim and with the best part of a year still to go before my exam I think obtaining a high grade at GCSE is not unrealistic.
I have one 1.5 hour lesson a week and look forward to each one and each week I really feel I have taken another step towards my goal.
Over all I am extremely happy with the lessons and with the progress that I have made and hope to continue my lessons even after my exam.

Jenna

I like Japanese because I’m dislecksick (sic) and I’ve never really learnt English so it comes very easy to me.
Sounds are easy because they are phonetic. Hiragana is also easy because they are like pictures to pictures.

Quan (Holison)

I’ve studied Japanese with Mr. Udagawa for almost one year. The course is an good opportunity to combine my interest with a high level understanding of anothers culture.summaryhand4
Thanks for Mr. Udagawa and his good teaching, although I started with a beginner level, it was only took me two mounths time to pass the GCSE Japanese Exam, and I was pleased with the result.
Then I decided to continue my Japanese course with Mr. Udagawa this year, and I am trying to do my best to get a content result in the A-Level Exam next year.
Holison

Gillian Nothard- September 2006

Having lived and worked in Japan for three and a half years, you might think that passing AS-Level Japanese would be a walk in the park.
However, I’ve been back in the UK for almost 6 years now and the kanji just seems to fade by the day!
Cue Kazuo-sensei!

京都駅
京都駅

Kazuo-sensei is an excellent teacher; he checks exactly what your objectives are and then assesses your level of Japanese to see how much work is needed.
In my case, I needed an additional AS-Level for an application to university and had very little time in which to prepare (only a couple of months). Japanese seemed an obvious choice, since I had already passed the 2-kyu exam whilst living in Japan, but looking at the AS-Level past papers,
I discovered that I would have to write an essay as part of the 3 hour exam and it was then that I felt I needed some guidance in the form of Kazuo-sensei!
Essay writing was never my strong point at school, but Kazuo-sensei helped immensely.
He set me a few essays to write on various topics and then highlighted the key areas in which I most needed to improve.
Having been fluent in spoken Japanese, it became very apparent that I was often writing as if I were speaking, and there are many spoken words and grammatical constructions that are not permitted in proper, formal written Japanese.
After laughing at some of my colloquialisms in my essays, I worked hard at home (though I think Kazuo-sensei might debate that!) and sat the AS-Level exam in May 2006.
I needed to get an A-Grade for my university application and kept my fingers crossed that my work hadn’t come too late. Results day arrived and would you believe that I achieved 300/300 in the exam?!


I couldn’t believe it either!
I was so extremely happy at my result and it most definitely would not have been achievable had it not been for Kazuo-sensei’s classes.


In summary, I highly recommend Kazuo-sensei as a Japanese teacher, no matter what level you’re at.
Kazuo-sensei: makoto ni, arigato gozaimashita!

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Joseph – August 2012

Dear Mr Udagawa, I am happy to inform you that I received a 97% score and an A* grade for the Japanese A-Level exam. Thank you very much for all of your help.

イギリスでAレベル日本語を受験する日本人の方へ Makiko Tomita (富田まきこ) – 2009

私は英国で2年間日本語を学びました。
日本人として日本語のA-levelを取るというこ とは、つまり、英語の試験を受けるのと同じことです。日本語のレベルとしては、小 学生~中学生程度の漢字が書ければ全く問題ないですし、文章のレベルも、そう難し くはありません。
17,8歳という年相応の日本語力があれば、まず問題ないでしょう。 しかし、本番のテストの前にしっかりと傾向の対策をしておくのとしておかないので は、結果に随分差が出ると思います。
まず、A-levelで日本語を選択する日本人のみなさんにとって、ネックとなるのは 日本語より英語だと思います。A2-2
A2-levelでは英文和訳の問題がありますが、そこで大 きく点数を落とさないためには、日ごろから少しずつで結構ですから、英語の語彙を 確実に増やしていくことが重要だと思います。英文和訳の問題で点数を落とさなけれ ば、他の部分で点を落とすということはまずないと思うからです。


第二に、これが最もみなさんが苦戦する問題だと思いますが、エッセイは日本でいうところの作文とは違います。
エッセイは、言うなれば小論文です。作文のように自 分の考えをただ述べるのとは違います。まず意識すべきことは、問題に沿った論文を 展開すること、次に意識すべきことは、いかに相手に自分の考えたことをクリアーに 伝えるかということです。
最初にエッセイを書くときにきっと、こんなに単純な文章 でいいのだろうかと思ってしまうと思いますが、書き込んでいくうちに、慣れてきま すから、とにかく数をこなしてパターンを読み取ることが大切だと思います。
また、 出題傾向も例年そう大きくは変わりませんから、Past paperを着実にこなすのも一つ の手だと思います。
宇田川先生の教えてくださることをしっかりと勉強すれば、A gradeをとること は、そう難しくないと思います。勉強もしっかりとしながら、ぜひ英国での生活を思 う存分楽しんでください。
富田まきこ

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