Japanese school grade vs age

[Kurt Kohler]

I ran into something in a manga that has me confused. A character is
referred to as 高校２年生 a high school sophomore, but then his age is
given as 17. In a US high school a sophomore would be 15 or 16. Is the
Japanese school system offset a year from the US system? Or is the
dictionary translation "sophomore" wrong?

[Marc Adler]

On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 2:51 PM, Kurt Kohler <koh...@ao.com> wrote:

referred to as 高校２年生 a high school sophomore, but then his age is
given as 17. In a US high school a sophomore would be 15 or 16. Is the
Japanese school system offset a year from the US system? Or is the
dictionary translation "sophomore" wrong?

Most Japanese high-schools correspond to the last three years of American high schools. A "second-year" high-school student is therefore the equivalent of a junior.

--
Marc Adler
Austin, TX

لا شيء إلا الضوء

[Marc Adler]

On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 2:51 PM, Kurt Kohler <koh...@ao.com> wrote:

I ran into something in a manga that has me confused. A character is

Wait a sec, are you translating this manga?

 

[Manako Ihaya]

"Sophomore" is wrong for 高校２年生、 which would be equivalent to the 11th grade in the U.S.

(中学１年生、中学２年生、中学３年生、高校１年生、高校２年生、高校３年生 correspond to the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades -- the last four of course are more commonly referred to as freshman, sophomore, junior and senior in high school)

Manako


--
Manako Ihaya (aka Monica)
ATA-Certified Japanese-English Translator
Lake Forest, California

[Anthony Bryant]

A 高校２年生 is a junior (second year of senior high), not a
sophomore. 17 is possible.

Tony

[Kurt Kohler]

Thanks! Junior it is. That's what I get for believing dictionaries.

Is it correct to say that the Japanese grade system is the same as
what's now common in the US, i.e.,
Elementary school is grades 1 through 5
Middle school is grades 6 through 9
High school is grades 10 through 12?

Re: Mark Adler's question-so far I'm just reading, not really
"translating." I just wanted to make sure I understood what it was
saying. Which I didn't obviously.

[Richard VanHouten]

Kurt Kohler wrote:
> Kurt Kohler wrote:
>> I ran into something in a manga that has me confused. A character is
>> referred to as 高校２年生 a high school sophomore, but then his age is
>> given as 17. In a US high school a sophomore would be 15 or 16. Is the
>> Japanese school system offset a year from the US system? Or is the
>> dictionary translation "sophomore" wrong?
>>
>>
> Thanks! Junior it is. That's what I get for believing dictionaries.
>
> Is it correct to say that the Japanese grade system is the same as
> what's now common in the US, i.e.,
> Elementary school is grades 1 through 5
> Middle school is grades 6 through 9
> High school is grades 10 through 12?
>

No. Elementary is 1-6, middle school is 7-9 and high school is 10-12.
小学校一年から六年まで、中学校一年から三年まで、高校一年から三年まで。
And there is no "common" division between elementary, middle/junior high
and high/senior high in the US, it varies from one school district to
the next.

[Anthony Bryant]

On Jun 28, 2008, at 6:17 PM, Kurt Kohler wrote:

> Is it correct to say that the Japanese grade system is the same as
> what's now common in the US, i.e.,
> Elementary school is grades 1 through 5
> Middle school is grades 6 through 9
> High school is grades 10 through 12?

Close.

Elementary: grades 1-6
Junior High: grades 7-9
Senior High: grades 10-12

Tony

[Steve Venti]

Kurt asks:

> Is the Japanese school system offset a year from the US system?

You already have all the info you need, but to beat a dead horse just
a little, under the Japanese 6-3-3 educational scheme, generally
children who have had their 6th birthday by March 31 start first grade
in April. This means that most have already turned 18 by the time they
graduate from high-school. Therefore, most turn 17 while they are
juniors.

--
Steve Venti

How can it be that twenty years ago I used to dream of being fluent
enough in Japanese to translate but nowadays meeting yet another
deadline does not make me feel as if I am living a dream come true?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------