I used to be a student in Germany.
I went to a language school for a short period of time before entering university to prepare for the entrance exam.
There were all kinds of foreign students there, but there was one Greek guy. He had good grades. Even though I studied hard, he was always a little ahead of me.
Now that I think about it, he had an advantage because his native language, Greek, contains many English, German, and French words. The same is true of Japanese people who can read Chinese to some extent.
Other than that, he told me that he had memorized Homer in its original language. In Japan, it would be like memorizing the entire Tale of Genji.
However, his part-time job was cleaning streets and buildings. I thought to myself, “He is far more intelligent than the average German.
Forty years have passed since then.
The setting is Japan. Japan had experienced postwar economic growth, and many foreign students were coming to Japan.
I sometimes talk to the young gaijin at the cash register of Peacock (Vietnamese, Indonesians, Koreans, Chinese, etc.). They are very gentlemanly, serious, and pleasant.
When I talk a little with the students, they tell me that they are attending graduate school at Asia University, Tokyo Zokei University, or applying to graduate schools at Waseda and Hosei. They may be more capable than the average Japanese student.
The times are changing rapidly. We cannot afford to take it easy.
