How is that a middle schooler
(I meant to make a quick comment and instead posted a presentation. Sigh.)
- The extra chapters are often out of the continuity of the main story, so it might be showing them in the future.
- The naming of the Japanese levels of school is a bit weird, and mapping to other schooling systems isn't exact. At the moment they are in third (last) year of "Junior High". Yamada has just turned 15 in chapters 143-144.
Grade | Age | Japan | US 1 | US 2 | US 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | 10-11 | Elem | Elem | Elem | Elem |
6 | 11-12 | Elem | Elem | Elem | MS |
7 | 12-13 | MS 1st year | JHS | MS | MS |
8 | 13-14 | MS 2nd year | JHS | MS | MS |
9 | 14-15 | MS 3rd year | HS Freshman | MS | HS Freshman |
10 | 15-16 | HS 1st year | HS Sophomore | HS Freshman | HS Sophomore |
11 | 16-17 | HS 2nd year | HS Junior | HS Junior | HS Junior |
12 | 17-18 | HS 3rd year | HS Senior | HS Senior | HS Senior |
I've never heard of US 2. That just sounds... weird.(I meant to make a quick comment and instead posted a presentation. Sigh.)
It's especially difficult to map because while Japan has a standardized school system in the US things are managed by the state and local government. Also it appears (from me looking up verification data) that in Japanese Middle School vs Junior High may just be a translation issue. Google Translate gives the same Japanese word for both English terms: 中学校 or Chūgakkō. Going the other way it says "Junior high school".
What I experienced I'll call "US 1" in the table and then a couple of variations that I have heard about. I don't know if the 3-year US high schools call 10th graders Freshmen or Sophomores. I'm going with Sophomore being the skipped term because there's no right answer and I've never liked the word anyway (because "sophomoric" is used as a slur).
Elem = Elementary
MS = Middle School (I'm using this term only for 3-year schools)
JHS = Junior High School (I'm using this term only for 2-year schools, but sometimes MS is used)
HS = High School
Grade Age Japan US 1 US 2 US 3 5 10-11Elem Elem Elem Elem 6 11-12Elem Elem Elem MS 7 12-13MS 1st year JHS MS MS 8 13-14MS 2nd year JHS MS MS 9 14-15MS 3rd year HS Freshman MS HS Freshman 10 15-16HS 1st year HS Sophomore HS Freshman HS Sophomore 11 16-17HS 2nd year HS Junior HS Junior HS Junior 12 17-18HS 3rd year HS Senior HS Senior HS Senior