Many returning students expressed their frustration as they learned that this year they could not take Japanese 100 as part of the 2+1 language pathway. The decision was driven by various reasons, including high demand for the course and priority for new students, according to Caroline Odden, Dean of Studies.
As described in Andover’s official Course of Study, the 2+1 language pathway is an alternative path to completing the world language diploma requirement. Students take one language to the 200-level and another language to the 100-level. The latter language must be listed as “less commonly taught” in the Course of Study, namely Chinese, German, Ancient Greek, Japanese, and Russian.
This year, the switch to Japanese was not permitted for students interested in the 2+1 path. Odden explained that Japanese was a particularly popular course this year, leading the office to prioritize new students when making language placements.
“In scheduling students into language classes, we prioritize new students, making every effort to ensure they are able to take their first-choice language. This year, some languages were particularly popular during the scheduling process, and back in the spring we predicted that we would not be able to satisfy all requests for returning students. We therefore asked returning students who wanted to change languages to provide an alternate language choice,” wrote Odden in an email to The Phillipian.
She added, “Demand for Japanese was particularly high, and, for staffing reasons, it did not make sense to open another section of Japanese 100. Therefore, we made the decision not to place students following the 2+1 pathway into Japanese 100 this year.”
Jaewon Choi ’28 petitioned to switch from Latin 200 to Japanese 100 last January and was initially approved for the 2+1 option. However, he was instead switched to Chinese 100 with minimal explanation.
“Japanese is still classified as a lesser taught language but what I’ve heard is they’re not going to switch people into Japanese because of other reasons. My uncle’s a fluent speaker of Japanese, [and] my mother’s a fluent speaker of Japanese, so I had very legitimate reasons to switch that even Ms. Isaza-Bishop approved… The entire pathway for Japanese 100 being shut off is truly a disappointment because I thought that the main objective of this language department was to give students a choice,” said Choi.
Katherine Feng ’27 expressed that the school could offer a more flexible solution rather than barring students entirely.
“It’s a little unfair. For a student to want to learn another language is completely normal, even if some people do think that it’s easier… They should make a rule that they should hear out the students first and why they want to switch into that class before they just say you can’t do it,” said Feng.
Teruyo Shimazu, Instructor in Japanese, clarified doubts about the reasoning behind Japanese 100’s removal from the 2+1 language pathway. She offered a solution for making the limitation less restrictive and beneficial for both her and the scheduling office.
“I understand why this feels disappointing to some. The limitation is not about Japanese being ‘easy’ but rather about enrollment capacity and school policy. The Academy has chosen to prioritize students who are brand new to the program. If any restrictions [are] to be administered, I would say, 2+1/1+2 option is allowed only to returning lowers [and] not offered to returning Uppers and Seniors. This will actually make my life so much easier in terms of designing the lessons [to be] more focused on young learners and hence more cognitively/developmentally suitable,” wrote Shimazu in an email to The Phillipian.
Reflecting on his experience of being unable to take Japanese, Choi suggested that the Dean of Studies Office could have announced this potential limitation in advance. In doing so, Choi noted that the school could avoid confusion and uncertainty about course capacity.
“It took me so many different meetings to even get a slightly vague hint of the reason why Japanese 100 was not an option. I’ve asked the department chair for Japanese, [but] they didn’t know, and they said it was a decision [by] the Dean of Studies. The Dean of Studies could clarify their intentions [to students], because Japanese is a very preferred language for so many 2+1 applicants. Transparency is the first thing… I don’t think this response was appropriate at all with all the precedents and the values that this academic community should reflect,” said Choi.
