How many hours do Japanese study per day/week?

Do people really study for hours at a time?

• I can't study for more than 30 minutes without getting incredibly bored or fall asleep, if it's a topic or class I have no interest in or is taught in a non productive way. To study for hours at a time would take either rather above average levels of self-discipline, or a sort of passion for the subject. Those with passion however, should have no trouble passing the test, the rate of most classes, is actually rather slow when compared to the learning speed if you have a teacher who can instil passion and teach in an artful and productive manner. "Studying" however implies a test, a frantic final sprint the relearn everything. Which would pertain to those students who didn't really get much in the classes, or didn't do their homework completely. I'm sure people who say they study for hours at a time take breaks, perhaps they say something like 5 or 10 minutes, a walk or w/e...but maybe it's just a common fabrication? (Perhaps they fall asleep for much of the time, or perhaps "studying" includes sitting unproductively at a desk for hours staring a book as if trying to absorb information through looking alone) I usually ignore the people who say they take a break by doing a puzzle or doing some math problems, or w/e...I think they're just showing off... So, how long can YOU study for? ** **I find that most tests, at least undergraduate and primary/secondary education are actually based on shallow material, many classes are drawn out, trying to explain some abstract notion that the teacher and people who DO get the material just "get". Rounding about in circles explaining things the same way...Sometimes, it's the scientists fault for not knowing how to explain something properly, or forgetting that things that are currently inherently obvious weren't, previously. (Usually, if you don't understand, you're considered ignorant, which would damper any question asking excitement) Being good at a subject doesn't make you a good teacher at that subject...

• Answer:

  When you study, it has nothing to do with your teacher, unless you are one of those people who tries to guess what is going to be on the test as to avoid studying everything (I actually have a couple of friends like that, I personally would never have the guts to spot study). I sit down and study for hours, but I do not do it every day, sometimes I will spend a half an hour on a subject, just to keep it fresh in my mind, then on a random day I will spend three hours on it, then do it another day for a different course. I teak breaks by eating a snack and watching television for a bit. I have to by in bed with no noise or lights to fall asleep, my breaks are usually 30-45 minutes after two or three hours. As to my first comment, when you study, you are reading over all of your notes, material provided by the professor, and the book, you cannot blame that on a boring teacher. Maybe because I am a history student I am just used to essay tests, where we are given a specific question to take a stand on and then left to argue our point, it is more of a discussion and interpretation of the primary sources than a random recalling of facts and formulas. Math, for me, is about as shallow as it gets, and when I try to ask someone about it they just go on and on with theories and don't give a solid answer for anything! I study History, German, and Geography, three things that all build off of each other, to understand something you have to understand what came before it. So we keep things current by tying everything together, so we don't have to frantically relearn material. But for the lower level history classes, students think that they can mindlessly take notes and read them the day before, they do not understand because they do not want to. That, I think, is the point. I don't get the importance of the math that I am doing (I was told it was problem solving, but when I asked why don't we do real problems, I was given an abstract and vacant answer) because I really don't want to, it has yet to show itself to be practical (at least the particular type of math that I am studying currently). Yesterday I worked on and English assignment for six hours (Summer classes are half the time and thus require twice the study time, and I have bad health and did not get to work on it Saturday or Sunday. I usually study math for 4 hours, only because I am so motivated to get it done (if you get all three lower-level math classes done in one semester you only have to pay for 3 credits instead of 9, and I am seriously that frugal!). I can work on English because I love writing papers, but I can only read 20 pages before completely losing my focus.