Professor
Yumiko Kawanishi
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - I didn't plan to write review initially, but one day I just came across Kawanishi Sensei profile on bruinwalk and realized that the reviews for J1 are totally not helpful. So, I will tell from perspective of student who had no prior Japanese knowledge (like 0 knowledge) and who in addition has dyslexia. Personally, I loved the class. I am on level 3 now and still with Kawanishi Sensei. But I will try to give comprehensive review, so you know what to expect. First, J1 has a lot of work to do, but it is nothing compared to J2 and J3. You have 2 homeworks every week, and each takes like half an hour to do, but it gets harder with time. You strar learning hiragana and katakana on first day, and expect to know them by the end of second week because week 3 you start kanji (chinese characters). You are expected to know all kanji from lesson (~40 kanji) every week and a half or so. There are bunch of quizes, such as vocab, lesson content (grammar), sentance recotations, compositions, etc. You end up having a test every week (in J3 you have 3 tests every week on avarage). Week ten is intense especially because you'll have 3-4 tests and maybe your final speaking test. There is no midterm, but there are two part final: speaking and listening/reading/grammar. So, yeah, it is going to take a lot of your time, but this constant testing literally forces you to work and study every day. This works great for language learning. For first time in my life I felt like I really learned language. I can chat a bit with my Japanese friends. So, it works! Now, Kawanishi Sensei will push you. She will use as little English is possible, but she is very understanding and nice. She will joke around and explain culture behind language. She is available to ask questions almost 24/7. She answers emails super fast and accomodates all needs. Like I had a final conflict, and she arranged special time for me to take J2 final. So, I highly recommend this class with Kawanishi Sensei to actually learn language, but it is bad class for passing your language requirement easily. P.S. - discussions are crucuial for grade and understanding, so switch immidiatly if you don't like your TA.
Fall 2015 - I didn't plan to write review initially, but one day I just came across Kawanishi Sensei profile on bruinwalk and realized that the reviews for J1 are totally not helpful. So, I will tell from perspective of student who had no prior Japanese knowledge (like 0 knowledge) and who in addition has dyslexia. Personally, I loved the class. I am on level 3 now and still with Kawanishi Sensei. But I will try to give comprehensive review, so you know what to expect. First, J1 has a lot of work to do, but it is nothing compared to J2 and J3. You have 2 homeworks every week, and each takes like half an hour to do, but it gets harder with time. You strar learning hiragana and katakana on first day, and expect to know them by the end of second week because week 3 you start kanji (chinese characters). You are expected to know all kanji from lesson (~40 kanji) every week and a half or so. There are bunch of quizes, such as vocab, lesson content (grammar), sentance recotations, compositions, etc. You end up having a test every week (in J3 you have 3 tests every week on avarage). Week ten is intense especially because you'll have 3-4 tests and maybe your final speaking test. There is no midterm, but there are two part final: speaking and listening/reading/grammar. So, yeah, it is going to take a lot of your time, but this constant testing literally forces you to work and study every day. This works great for language learning. For first time in my life I felt like I really learned language. I can chat a bit with my Japanese friends. So, it works! Now, Kawanishi Sensei will push you. She will use as little English is possible, but she is very understanding and nice. She will joke around and explain culture behind language. She is available to ask questions almost 24/7. She answers emails super fast and accomodates all needs. Like I had a final conflict, and she arranged special time for me to take J2 final. So, I highly recommend this class with Kawanishi Sensei to actually learn language, but it is bad class for passing your language requirement easily. P.S. - discussions are crucuial for grade and understanding, so switch immidiatly if you don't like your TA.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2018 - Have fun self studying the class for hours each night, then reviewing the material during lectures. The pace of the class, especially during the second half, is extremely quick. I spend just as much time if not more time on this class than honors upper division math. My interest in the subject helped me get through, but this class is not a cake walk if you have little to no prior experience. Professor Kawanishi is generally quite rigid, but on occasion will be understanding. However, some of the teaching assistants are self important jerks that don't understand the realities of the existence of other classes and are generally strict.
Fall 2018 - Have fun self studying the class for hours each night, then reviewing the material during lectures. The pace of the class, especially during the second half, is extremely quick. I spend just as much time if not more time on this class than honors upper division math. My interest in the subject helped me get through, but this class is not a cake walk if you have little to no prior experience. Professor Kawanishi is generally quite rigid, but on occasion will be understanding. However, some of the teaching assistants are self important jerks that don't understand the realities of the existence of other classes and are generally strict.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - I recommend you take Japanese 2 with 川西先生. She always in a good mood and I enjoyed being taught by her. The workload is a lot (homework, quizzes, and other online assignments) due every week, but if you take the time to study the material, then these assignments become more like review. In-class participation is a significant portion and what made the class engaging! My only critique was that some of the new vocabulary included kanji that we had not yet learned the meaning and stroke order for, which made is very difficult at times to prepare for some quizzes. Despite this, I plan on taking J3 with Kawanishi, so I recommend you do the same.
Winter 2020 - I recommend you take Japanese 2 with 川西先生. She always in a good mood and I enjoyed being taught by her. The workload is a lot (homework, quizzes, and other online assignments) due every week, but if you take the time to study the material, then these assignments become more like review. In-class participation is a significant portion and what made the class engaging! My only critique was that some of the new vocabulary included kanji that we had not yet learned the meaning and stroke order for, which made is very difficult at times to prepare for some quizzes. Despite this, I plan on taking J3 with Kawanishi, so I recommend you do the same.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - Professor Kawanishi is a teacher that evidently shows her care for ensuring she teaches the students the material properly, going into good detail, being welcoming to questions and explaining things very well. However, the biggest issue with the class is within the curriculum, which is somewhat disorganized and set up on CCLE homework assignments and a PDF textbook designed by UCLA. The textbook isn't really always explained in depth regarding the grammatical points - there seems to be a lot of nuances that aren't covered by the class or the textbook, and the homework has errors and varies drastically in difficulty. Beyond that, however, is also the extreme amount of work you must expect - with two weekly homework assignments and two to four weekly quizzes, this class is filled with work (not even considering the projects and additional assignments.) However, the class is rewarding, and Kawanishi-sensei is quite a good teacher and is understanding and usually clear.
Spring 2019 - Professor Kawanishi is a teacher that evidently shows her care for ensuring she teaches the students the material properly, going into good detail, being welcoming to questions and explaining things very well. However, the biggest issue with the class is within the curriculum, which is somewhat disorganized and set up on CCLE homework assignments and a PDF textbook designed by UCLA. The textbook isn't really always explained in depth regarding the grammatical points - there seems to be a lot of nuances that aren't covered by the class or the textbook, and the homework has errors and varies drastically in difficulty. Beyond that, however, is also the extreme amount of work you must expect - with two weekly homework assignments and two to four weekly quizzes, this class is filled with work (not even considering the projects and additional assignments.) However, the class is rewarding, and Kawanishi-sensei is quite a good teacher and is understanding and usually clear.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - Kawanishi's class was my personal favorite class from this quarter. She is a great teacher, really nice and very willing to help you out if you are struggling with the material. Japan 4 as a whole to me felt like a class with particular emphasis on grammar and speaking. While you can expect to see some kanji and some listening exercises, you really want to focus on particles and grammar points introduced in class. The other focus was on new vocabulary, so make sure to memorize the words introduced throughout the quarter. When I took the class, 30% of the class grade came from the final (20% written, 10% oral), 34% from quizzes, and the rest from homework and participation. Classroom environment is very casual. Since we're all just entering intermediate Japanese, she's okay with mistakes and was very forgiving in my experience, often helping you along during speaking practice in class. Also, despite what it says on the syllabus, I would arrive 10-15 minutes late to class all the time and I never got docked points for it even though in the syllabus she said she would. However, absences must be excused, and this is one of those classes you're expected to attend so don't skip lecture. When covering grammar and vocab in class, she would use lots of examples and videos. Homework is by-the-book. Tobira II textbook and workbook, and nearly every assignment came from the workbook. Kanji and grammar is at the start of each chapter in the textbook, and Ch. 11-13 were covered in my experience. Homework is time-consuming and graded on correctness, but Kawanishi returns the homework to you with annotations showing where you messed up, and allows resubmission for full credit. All in all, great teacher who teaches you a lot. This isn't an easy A class, but as long as you pay attention during lecture and do the homework, you should be in the clear. Would take again.
Fall 2024 - Kawanishi's class was my personal favorite class from this quarter. She is a great teacher, really nice and very willing to help you out if you are struggling with the material. Japan 4 as a whole to me felt like a class with particular emphasis on grammar and speaking. While you can expect to see some kanji and some listening exercises, you really want to focus on particles and grammar points introduced in class. The other focus was on new vocabulary, so make sure to memorize the words introduced throughout the quarter. When I took the class, 30% of the class grade came from the final (20% written, 10% oral), 34% from quizzes, and the rest from homework and participation. Classroom environment is very casual. Since we're all just entering intermediate Japanese, she's okay with mistakes and was very forgiving in my experience, often helping you along during speaking practice in class. Also, despite what it says on the syllabus, I would arrive 10-15 minutes late to class all the time and I never got docked points for it even though in the syllabus she said she would. However, absences must be excused, and this is one of those classes you're expected to attend so don't skip lecture. When covering grammar and vocab in class, she would use lots of examples and videos. Homework is by-the-book. Tobira II textbook and workbook, and nearly every assignment came from the workbook. Kanji and grammar is at the start of each chapter in the textbook, and Ch. 11-13 were covered in my experience. Homework is time-consuming and graded on correctness, but Kawanishi returns the homework to you with annotations showing where you messed up, and allows resubmission for full credit. All in all, great teacher who teaches you a lot. This isn't an easy A class, but as long as you pay attention during lecture and do the homework, you should be in the clear. Would take again.
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