Tomoko Kato - College of William and Mary

Professor: Tomoko Kato

Department: TBD

College: College of William and Mary

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Prof is caring and encouraging, but learning Japanese is tough! She gives lots of graded assignments so be ready to work. Sometimes instructions will only be said once and almost always in Japanese. A very immersion based class, but she appreciates enthusiasm. Make use of syllabus, read the txtbook sections before class, and you'll stay afloat :)

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201202
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Kato's a great Japanese teacher. She really encourages students to talk to each other in Japanese, which really improved my speaking skills. However, if you've taken AP Japanese in high school, you'll know most of the new grammar elements from 201-202.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: JAPN307
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I love her class in 201 and 202 but she changed her style 360 in her 307. Firstly, this class is poorly organized as we talked about the same movie for a whole month!? Also, although they are take-home exams, her grading starts to get very arbitrary since she will grade you down if you do not sound like Japanese.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Kato is such a nice teacher who is very caring about her students. If I have some problems, she will try her best to understand me and figure that out for me! Though there are some quizzes and exams, they are actually quite simple if you pay attention to the class and finish your homework.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: JAPN202
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Kato is great! She's enthusiastic about teaching the Japanese language, and goes the extra mile to make sure everyone understands concepts in grammar, language, and vocabulary. There is a steady amount of work, but if you keep up with the homework, pay attention in lecture, and do your best to participate, you'll do fine.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201202
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

kato sensei is wonderful! she is very helpful and is always willing to help you out if you need it. correctness is important, but she definitely recognizes effort and a drive to improve. dont worry about making mistakes and just try your best! kato sensei will definitely meet you halfway.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: JAPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Interactive and interpersonal, she gets in with the students and makes them part of the class Open to questions and interruptions and understands the need for clarification.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: JAP102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Kato-sensei is fair and she is genuinely concerned about her students. If a student displays genuine interest in her class (and bugs her with emails), she's willing to give the person an override into the class. The classes are interactive and interesting--so much to the point that the 50 minute long lectures feel like 5 minute long lectures.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: JAPN101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She's a wonderful teacher; very understanding and fair. If you ever have any questions, she will go out of her way to help you.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: JAPN102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Study hard, practice with your classmates, and ask Kato if you have any questions or are confused -- you'll do well and learn a lot of Japanese. She's a fun professor, even though she seems stern. Her tests are fair.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: JAPN101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Kato-sensei is awesome! As other raters have said, at first she seems intimidating, but you'll quickly realize how nice she is as soon as you make a mistake. On several occasions, she's asked me a question and recieved only a blank, nervous stare, and she just smiled and prompted me until I got it. Good effort = A. Don't skip class, though.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Seems slightly scary at first, but she's actually really nice. Only thing that bugged me was the mandatory attendance to both the lecture and drill class - every single day. Follows the textbook quite closely, so you know what to expect on tests and such.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Kato-sensei tends to come off as somewhat icy during class, but she's actually quite nice one-on-one, and her material is the perfect balance between difficulty and language acquisition. Put in the work, and you'll learn a ton and get an A.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: JAPN101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

At first, Kato Sensei is really intimidating, but she's a really friendly person and is genuinely interested in teaching you, make sure to get on her good side. The tests, quizzes and homework are easy if you pay attention in class. She does call on everyone in the class frequently, so that's another incentive to stay awake...

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: JAPDRILL
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

SOOOO encouraging! A lot of people are afraid to make mistakes, so they don't talk. Even if you attempt to ask how she is in Japanese, she will tell you how great you are doing!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: JAPN201202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very good sensei. There was a two year break between 201 and 202, and she was very patient with me and helped me remember things I had forgotten in the time. She was also very understanding when I had to defer midterm stuff because of an illness. She seems scary at first, but she's great.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: JAPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She is so much more relaxed with the homework loads and does seem to lighten up a little during the 200 level Japanese. I remember being so scared of her freshman year. Now I look forward to two more years in her class :)

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: JAPANESE
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

She's so cool! I can't help it! She's the reason I'm sad if I accidentally miss class because aliens abducted me in to NYC over the weekend. She's very helpful and understanding. One of my best ever professors.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: JAPANESE
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Easy int he 200 level, a little harder at 400. She's a little hard to get to know, but after four years, I've found she's really nice!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: JAPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Her professional demanor may be off-putting at first, but she's a really nice person. Very helpful, very well organized, good courses. Had her for several semesters, no complaints.