Professor
Yoko Nogami
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - (My class was over zoom) I've had Nogami Sensei for al 3 quarters (J4-J6), and while she may have the reputation of being scary and tough, she is one of the best professors I've ever had. It is definitely not an easy A, but without a doubt your Japanese will get exponentially better. The class was very participation-oriented where she would constantly call on random people and ask questions based on what you're studying, and if you didn't know the answer or took too long she would move on to someone else. If this happens do not take it personally; she's just trying to get the class going. If she sees that you're genuinely trying, she will do all that she can to help you get better. If she sees that you're constantly failing to speak/read Japanese and answer questions, she will have less patience with you. This can all be avoided if you do your part and review, which I highly recommend you don't skip (review grammar, vocab, kanji, dialogue & yomimono). If you're ever struggling, I recommend emailing sensei about what you're having trouble with and scheduling an office-hour meeting so she doesn't just assume that you're not trying. We had a schedule of the quarter which we followed to the tee, so the class as a whole was very structured and organized. The tests were textbook-oriented and we had a packet of homework due about once a week, along with a few essays and speeches (all doable). If you are truly passionate about learning the language and want to truly get better (ESPECIALLY if you're a Japanese Major), do yourself a favor and take this professor.
Fall 2021 - (My class was over zoom) I've had Nogami Sensei for al 3 quarters (J4-J6), and while she may have the reputation of being scary and tough, she is one of the best professors I've ever had. It is definitely not an easy A, but without a doubt your Japanese will get exponentially better. The class was very participation-oriented where she would constantly call on random people and ask questions based on what you're studying, and if you didn't know the answer or took too long she would move on to someone else. If this happens do not take it personally; she's just trying to get the class going. If she sees that you're genuinely trying, she will do all that she can to help you get better. If she sees that you're constantly failing to speak/read Japanese and answer questions, she will have less patience with you. This can all be avoided if you do your part and review, which I highly recommend you don't skip (review grammar, vocab, kanji, dialogue & yomimono). If you're ever struggling, I recommend emailing sensei about what you're having trouble with and scheduling an office-hour meeting so she doesn't just assume that you're not trying. We had a schedule of the quarter which we followed to the tee, so the class as a whole was very structured and organized. The tests were textbook-oriented and we had a packet of homework due about once a week, along with a few essays and speeches (all doable). If you are truly passionate about learning the language and want to truly get better (ESPECIALLY if you're a Japanese Major), do yourself a favor and take this professor.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I took Nogami sensei for J4 and J5, and while her teaching style stressed me out to no end it was the kind that I needed. Nogami teaches the entire class in Japanese, and it’s a little over an hour of her asking questions and calling on students randomly to respond. You’re expected to be familiar with the grammar and vocabulary before class, and be able to utilize it when speaking. However, she utilizes the vocabulary and grammar you’ve learned up to that point and hearing it used in conversation over and over really helps it stick to memory. It’s complete immersion and terrifying, but insanely helpful. If you know you won’t learn a language unless you’re absolutely forced to, this is the class for you. She assigns all the workbook pages for the chapter at once, but it’s only due every few weeks. The tests are easy to prepare for once you know what you need to study. This class isn’t for everyone and it’s challenging, but if you put in the effort you will be rewarded.
Winter 2022 - I took Nogami sensei for J4 and J5, and while her teaching style stressed me out to no end it was the kind that I needed. Nogami teaches the entire class in Japanese, and it’s a little over an hour of her asking questions and calling on students randomly to respond. You’re expected to be familiar with the grammar and vocabulary before class, and be able to utilize it when speaking. However, she utilizes the vocabulary and grammar you’ve learned up to that point and hearing it used in conversation over and over really helps it stick to memory. It’s complete immersion and terrifying, but insanely helpful. If you know you won’t learn a language unless you’re absolutely forced to, this is the class for you. She assigns all the workbook pages for the chapter at once, but it’s only due every few weeks. The tests are easy to prepare for once you know what you need to study. This class isn’t for everyone and it’s challenging, but if you put in the effort you will be rewarded.
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Most Helpful Review
I took Nogami Sensei for J4, J5, and J6 and I had to say, she was pretty strict, and can seem a little intimidating, but as long as you make an effort, she's really an amazing teacher. She constantly drills the language into your head and doesn't really give your brain a break, but its totally worth it and my Japanese is way better for it. She always puts hard work into her lectures and even though the textbook is silly, she finds ways to make the class fun and funny. Although you really have to be on your toes at all times, there's no better way to go about learning a language, and I think Nogami has it down. The teaching I mean. I've had her for a year straight, and she really gets to know you and figure our what your strengths and weaknesses are so you can improve. Really amazing.
I took Nogami Sensei for J4, J5, and J6 and I had to say, she was pretty strict, and can seem a little intimidating, but as long as you make an effort, she's really an amazing teacher. She constantly drills the language into your head and doesn't really give your brain a break, but its totally worth it and my Japanese is way better for it. She always puts hard work into her lectures and even though the textbook is silly, she finds ways to make the class fun and funny. Although you really have to be on your toes at all times, there's no better way to go about learning a language, and I think Nogami has it down. The teaching I mean. I've had her for a year straight, and she really gets to know you and figure our what your strengths and weaknesses are so you can improve. Really amazing.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - This class was very demanding but I learned a lot. Nogami-sensei teaches with Socratic method: you're expected to study the material beforehand then she cross-examines you during class. For students comfortable listening to Japanese, this is very beneficial and helps you improve speaking a lot. But for students less so, it will be very stressful and you're likely to fall further behind. Also, she doesn't really go over kanji, so you are expected to learn it on your own time. If you're serious about learning Japanese, definitely take her class. Just know that you'll spend a lot of time studying and probably still not get an A. ETA after 100C: Everything I wrote still stands. Workload increases by the quarter and she is not an easy grader. If you're thinking of adding this as a 4th class, I would proceed with caution.
Fall 2020 - This class was very demanding but I learned a lot. Nogami-sensei teaches with Socratic method: you're expected to study the material beforehand then she cross-examines you during class. For students comfortable listening to Japanese, this is very beneficial and helps you improve speaking a lot. But for students less so, it will be very stressful and you're likely to fall further behind. Also, she doesn't really go over kanji, so you are expected to learn it on your own time. If you're serious about learning Japanese, definitely take her class. Just know that you'll spend a lot of time studying and probably still not get an A. ETA after 100C: Everything I wrote still stands. Workload increases by the quarter and she is not an easy grader. If you're thinking of adding this as a 4th class, I would proceed with caution.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - If Professor Nogami likes you, she will be the nicest person in the world. If she doesn't, then, well, you're in a world of trouble. Unfortunately for me, I have been on both ends of the stick. Below is a lengthy review of this person, and I wish you read every word before taking her class. If you want to take this class, you have obviously taken her 100A, as it is apparent that she is the only lecturer for 100A and 100B. You know her workload, it is tough, it is demanding, and it is soul killing. She requires you to study the materials to at least 80% proficiency before every class, and if you have failed to do that, she will give you the “I’m disappointed” look and ask you to self study next time. She will ask you questions based on the textbook, broad or specific questions alike. If you cannot answer, your best bet is to apologize to her for not being able to answer and she’ll move on. Yes, you really have to apologize to her. Her grading is tough, but it has became clear that she expects you to be better compared to when you were in 100A. That is why she has been grading tougher in 100B. This is not just me, everyone I have talked to said so. I gave in my work in a quality consistent with 100A, and it almost destroyed my grade. I had to divert all my energy away from my major classes and just devote all of them onto Japanese, which I am just taking out of interest of the subject. For the final, the Japanese final was the first one I did because I needed to focus everything onto that one class, and had to brush off all the other awaiting finals. Lucky for me I have maintained A’s in all other classes, but it is still a horrible and traumatizing experience. She also has a policy of don’t contact her through email unless it’s something of an emergency. She replies to emails extremely fast, always within an hour of you sending yours, provided that you are sending it in normal hours. She will ignore your email completely if she doesn’t like you personally. You cannot contact her for anything else through email, and you can only do so in office hours. In 100A, you cannot do talking exercises with her, because office hour is only for questions. However, she changed her policy in 100B, where you need to provide specific topics so she’ll do talking practices with you. Now, back to my case. Even though this might seem as I have a problem with her class, I really don’t. She gives really good lectures. Some students find it boring, but I find it engaging. She also notices when someone strays from the lecture. It is true that her class is as difficult as… nothing to compare it to, but if you really want to be good in Japanese, her challenging ways might help you. For some reason, she has made the learning environment extremely toxic for me, and I will report her to the proper departments. However, her personal relationship against me is not making me biased against her teaching methods. She is a super nice and helpful person if she likes you, and she is just the absolute worst if she hates you personally. Last words? Yes. If she is the only lecturer available for this class, take her, you don’t have a choice and she is not half bad if she is neutral against you. If there are other lecturers available, definitely take the other lecturer. For your life.
Winter 2021 - If Professor Nogami likes you, she will be the nicest person in the world. If she doesn't, then, well, you're in a world of trouble. Unfortunately for me, I have been on both ends of the stick. Below is a lengthy review of this person, and I wish you read every word before taking her class. If you want to take this class, you have obviously taken her 100A, as it is apparent that she is the only lecturer for 100A and 100B. You know her workload, it is tough, it is demanding, and it is soul killing. She requires you to study the materials to at least 80% proficiency before every class, and if you have failed to do that, she will give you the “I’m disappointed” look and ask you to self study next time. She will ask you questions based on the textbook, broad or specific questions alike. If you cannot answer, your best bet is to apologize to her for not being able to answer and she’ll move on. Yes, you really have to apologize to her. Her grading is tough, but it has became clear that she expects you to be better compared to when you were in 100A. That is why she has been grading tougher in 100B. This is not just me, everyone I have talked to said so. I gave in my work in a quality consistent with 100A, and it almost destroyed my grade. I had to divert all my energy away from my major classes and just devote all of them onto Japanese, which I am just taking out of interest of the subject. For the final, the Japanese final was the first one I did because I needed to focus everything onto that one class, and had to brush off all the other awaiting finals. Lucky for me I have maintained A’s in all other classes, but it is still a horrible and traumatizing experience. She also has a policy of don’t contact her through email unless it’s something of an emergency. She replies to emails extremely fast, always within an hour of you sending yours, provided that you are sending it in normal hours. She will ignore your email completely if she doesn’t like you personally. You cannot contact her for anything else through email, and you can only do so in office hours. In 100A, you cannot do talking exercises with her, because office hour is only for questions. However, she changed her policy in 100B, where you need to provide specific topics so she’ll do talking practices with you. Now, back to my case. Even though this might seem as I have a problem with her class, I really don’t. She gives really good lectures. Some students find it boring, but I find it engaging. She also notices when someone strays from the lecture. It is true that her class is as difficult as… nothing to compare it to, but if you really want to be good in Japanese, her challenging ways might help you. For some reason, she has made the learning environment extremely toxic for me, and I will report her to the proper departments. However, her personal relationship against me is not making me biased against her teaching methods. She is a super nice and helpful person if she likes you, and she is just the absolute worst if she hates you personally. Last words? Yes. If she is the only lecturer available for this class, take her, you don’t have a choice and she is not half bad if she is neutral against you. If there are other lecturers available, definitely take the other lecturer. For your life.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Writing this review now since the quarter is pretty much over and I'm 99% positive that I will be getting a B as I did in 100A and 100B. I did a review of Professor Nogami's 100A class but didn't bother doing one for 100B since it was pretty much the same. This review, however, will be my overall review and experience with Professor Nogami and the Advanced Modern Japanese course(s) offered at UCLA. To begin, and as stated by many of the other students, Professor Nogami plays favorites and I absolutely cannot stress this enough. Being completely honest, I have (mostly) been on Nogami's pleasant side but I have also experienced my fair share of rubbish with her to put things lightly. From her getting overly upset just for eating a snack during the first few minutes of class, sitting improperly, or even writing an email to her not using "proper formatting." Being a skilled Japanese speaker before even taking this class, I can affirm that she does take learning Japanese to a ridiculously high and unnecessary level. Learning Japanese should be fun and enjoyable and I 100% sympathize with some of my classmates' grievances describing the "toxic learning environment" present in Professor Nogami's class. While I do not regret taking Japanese 100A-100C with Professor Nogami, I think she should lighten up a bit rather than creating a stiff, unbreathable learning environment. TL;DR: She plays favorites and makes learning Japanese unnecessarily difficult but if you enjoy these types of classes, go for it.
Spring 2021 - Writing this review now since the quarter is pretty much over and I'm 99% positive that I will be getting a B as I did in 100A and 100B. I did a review of Professor Nogami's 100A class but didn't bother doing one for 100B since it was pretty much the same. This review, however, will be my overall review and experience with Professor Nogami and the Advanced Modern Japanese course(s) offered at UCLA. To begin, and as stated by many of the other students, Professor Nogami plays favorites and I absolutely cannot stress this enough. Being completely honest, I have (mostly) been on Nogami's pleasant side but I have also experienced my fair share of rubbish with her to put things lightly. From her getting overly upset just for eating a snack during the first few minutes of class, sitting improperly, or even writing an email to her not using "proper formatting." Being a skilled Japanese speaker before even taking this class, I can affirm that she does take learning Japanese to a ridiculously high and unnecessary level. Learning Japanese should be fun and enjoyable and I 100% sympathize with some of my classmates' grievances describing the "toxic learning environment" present in Professor Nogami's class. While I do not regret taking Japanese 100A-100C with Professor Nogami, I think she should lighten up a bit rather than creating a stiff, unbreathable learning environment. TL;DR: She plays favorites and makes learning Japanese unnecessarily difficult but if you enjoy these types of classes, go for it.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - I really liked this class!! Nogami Sensei is very understanding, and I believe wants you to succeed. I think that if you are taking this class, you should expect a challenge -- the grading for participation can be rigorous, because you have to answer correctly in order to get credit towards your grade. This can be difficult during advanced reading sections, but it keeps you on your toes. Luckily, this is a very small portion of your overall grade. Homework, however, is the strong majority of your grade, so take it seriously! There are only ~3-4 assignments that are based off the readings. The take-home final is the same format as the homework, so it is expectable and fair. I loved the content that Nogami Sensei chose to lecture on, and felt that her textual choices were tasteful and relevant to the modern day Japanese society. I felt as though I learned a lot culturally about Japanese society that I otherwise wouldn't have had I not taken this class. Overall, this class was quite challenging, but rewarding! 頑張って！
Fall 2024 - I really liked this class!! Nogami Sensei is very understanding, and I believe wants you to succeed. I think that if you are taking this class, you should expect a challenge -- the grading for participation can be rigorous, because you have to answer correctly in order to get credit towards your grade. This can be difficult during advanced reading sections, but it keeps you on your toes. Luckily, this is a very small portion of your overall grade. Homework, however, is the strong majority of your grade, so take it seriously! There are only ~3-4 assignments that are based off the readings. The take-home final is the same format as the homework, so it is expectable and fair. I loved the content that Nogami Sensei chose to lecture on, and felt that her textual choices were tasteful and relevant to the modern day Japanese society. I felt as though I learned a lot culturally about Japanese society that I otherwise wouldn't have had I not taken this class. Overall, this class was quite challenging, but rewarding! 頑張って！
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Nogami sensei has very high expectations for her students. As a result, we're expected to do all we can to research the readings/prepare for lectures beforehand. That means understanding the foreign language material before coming to class. Unfortunately, those who do not completely understand the material (which is entirely in Japanese) before coming to class will be subject to embarrassment. Nogami sensei uses the socratic method---it's very effective at making sure students are actually doing the reading, but at the same time, it can be debilitating for those who did their best to understand these new readings in their non-native tongue but need more guidance from the teacher to understand it 100%. Those who do not completely understand the material before coming to class will stutter when their name is called on, and instead of helping the student understand the reading/grammar, sensei will often just ask a different student to answer instead. As a result, those who are already good at Japanese will benefit/improve, while those who aren't as good will quickly start to fall behind. That being said, once you get over the embarrassment of not always knowing the answer/knowing the proper grammar required to answer the question, you end up learning a lot. Like an insane amount. After the first couple weeks in this class, I think I started to understand why sensei always says, "This is an advanced level class. That means it's a class where you study independently, and only come to me when you've exhausted all your options." It's not that she doesn't care about her students: her expectations are just that high. It just has the negative side effect of deterring students from reaching out to her for help sometimes. Also: most foreign language teachers (in my experience) will overlook grammar/vocabulary errors in your speech/writing as long as they understand what it is that you want to say. Nogami sensei, on the other hand, will correct a student right away. While getting lectured by her on what grammar to use or what vocabulary is appropriate can be embarrassing (especially during class/in front of your peers), if you take her corrections to heart, then your Japanese skills will only improve. Nogami sensei is a strict teacher with high expectations. Before taking her class, I thought my Japanese was pretty good. But in her class, you never feel like "I'm really good at Japanese, I'm good enough." It's a constant feeling of, "I need to work hard," "I need to get better at Japanese." At first, I was haunted by this feeling of not being good enough, and I thought that sensei must've hated me, but after a couple weeks, I got over that fear and focused only on getting better at Japanese. Only then was I able to fully reap the benefits of Nogami sensei's strict tutelage. I'm not sure if I would take this class again in the fall (Japan 101A with Nogami sensei). Compared to other classes, it is much harder to get an A. I might spend 20 hours outside of class per week studying the material, but walk out of the class with only a B+ or A-. Compared to other classes where putting in 10-12 hours of hard work per week outside of class is more than enough to earn an A, the grade aspect of this class is not very rewarding. Only if your Japanese is at the native-speaker level will you be able to get an A.
Winter 2025 - Nogami sensei has very high expectations for her students. As a result, we're expected to do all we can to research the readings/prepare for lectures beforehand. That means understanding the foreign language material before coming to class. Unfortunately, those who do not completely understand the material (which is entirely in Japanese) before coming to class will be subject to embarrassment. Nogami sensei uses the socratic method---it's very effective at making sure students are actually doing the reading, but at the same time, it can be debilitating for those who did their best to understand these new readings in their non-native tongue but need more guidance from the teacher to understand it 100%. Those who do not completely understand the material before coming to class will stutter when their name is called on, and instead of helping the student understand the reading/grammar, sensei will often just ask a different student to answer instead. As a result, those who are already good at Japanese will benefit/improve, while those who aren't as good will quickly start to fall behind. That being said, once you get over the embarrassment of not always knowing the answer/knowing the proper grammar required to answer the question, you end up learning a lot. Like an insane amount. After the first couple weeks in this class, I think I started to understand why sensei always says, "This is an advanced level class. That means it's a class where you study independently, and only come to me when you've exhausted all your options." It's not that she doesn't care about her students: her expectations are just that high. It just has the negative side effect of deterring students from reaching out to her for help sometimes. Also: most foreign language teachers (in my experience) will overlook grammar/vocabulary errors in your speech/writing as long as they understand what it is that you want to say. Nogami sensei, on the other hand, will correct a student right away. While getting lectured by her on what grammar to use or what vocabulary is appropriate can be embarrassing (especially during class/in front of your peers), if you take her corrections to heart, then your Japanese skills will only improve. Nogami sensei is a strict teacher with high expectations. Before taking her class, I thought my Japanese was pretty good. But in her class, you never feel like "I'm really good at Japanese, I'm good enough." It's a constant feeling of, "I need to work hard," "I need to get better at Japanese." At first, I was haunted by this feeling of not being good enough, and I thought that sensei must've hated me, but after a couple weeks, I got over that fear and focused only on getting better at Japanese. Only then was I able to fully reap the benefits of Nogami sensei's strict tutelage. I'm not sure if I would take this class again in the fall (Japan 101A with Nogami sensei). Compared to other classes, it is much harder to get an A. I might spend 20 hours outside of class per week studying the material, but walk out of the class with only a B+ or A-. Compared to other classes where putting in 10-12 hours of hard work per week outside of class is more than enough to earn an A, the grade aspect of this class is not very rewarding. Only if your Japanese is at the native-speaker level will you be able to get an A.
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