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Other lives in YIS

Pros and Cons of being a “gaikokujin”

Article by: Kento Watanabe Date: September 12 2008 Friday Interviewed people: 01001, 01002, 01003, 56498

I am a student going to YIS. I am 12 years old, and I decided to make an article about the good side, and the bad side of being a foreigner in YIS. This article shows the opinion of other students and the thoughts of me. Introduction Japan is a small country located at the east of Asia. The capital is Tokyo, and is known as the land of the rising sun. This article is about the good side and the bad side of being a foreigner in YIS. Some students have answered the questions that involve what is good, what is bad, what can change, and how it feels. Great thanks to the people who answered to the article. The main idea of this article is to find out the pros and cons of being a foreigner in an international school. The school I locate is named Yokohama international school, which was built in 1924 in Kanagawa. The best way to collect the students opinion was to interview them. Some people had interesting opinions.

Students of the school pretty much had the same answers but it was slightly different. I asked what kind of environment YIS is for the foreigners. Some students said the school was a comfortable environment since there were many students, some said they dont even think they are a foreigner. What I think YIS is not bad environment. “YIS is a good environment because it is well organized” -by 01003. The secound question I asked was about the positive side of YIS. The common answer was that there is a HKC that is fun, and the balance of the school is organized. I think the good part of this school is that we can learn Japanese while we learn english. This way we can use it as long as we are in Japan. “The good part is that we can be connected with Japanese people and non-Japanese people” -by 01001 On the other hand, this time I asked the negative side of YIS, and how it can change. The response of the questions were a little bit different. Some students said the homework wasn’t organized. I agree with this opinion. Other people think the play ground is too small. I think the size is OK. “There is not enough people. The playground is too small.” -by 01002 “I think the teachers should communicate more about homework so it balances out.” -by 56498. At last I asked the students why they came to YIS. Most of the students said that it’s their parents that came to Japan. The other students said they were already living in Japan. For me, my parents were already living in Japan.

After interviewing other students, Then I thought of some cons. I thought of some pros and cons. -YIS is on top of a hill so some Pros. students have to walk up the hill. -Can be friends with other -The school fee is expensive. nationalities. -The school is small -Can learn about other countries. - There is too much people -There is a HKC so it’s different. compared to the volume -we can learn Japanese while we - Homework is not balanced. learn English.

School is a good place for the students to be connected. if the foreigners and non-foreigners are in the same environment, we can make a better environment. Great thanks and this is the last time.

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