The Japanese Letters Don’t Dance!

It was spring 2020, the world was upside down and so was our home life. Suddenly, my wife and I were thrust into the role of homeschool teachers after recently relocating to Portland.  Our son was in 1st grade at the time, still adapting to a new school that we would soon learn was not well suited for his neurodiverse needs.

Upon reflection, all the little signs of dyslexia, including low level anxiety, were present before the pandemic forced our home into a makeshift schoolhouse. Then, after months of waiting for testing followed by months of waiting for results, we had a diagnosis. However, it wasn’t until nearly a year later that we started targeted interventions with online tutoring that began to help our little boy. 

Around the same time, my wife learned of Cedarwood.  We were new to Waldorf education and immediately connected with the philosophical elements of the pedagogy.  I read the strategic plan with great interest and a specific focus on neurodiversity . The music and handwork complimenting reading, writing, and math seemed a great combination for our son who craves constant feeding of his left and right brain.

Then, there was the foreign languages. Spanish – totally get it.  Japanese?  While we have great affinity and respect for the Japanese culture having visited the country several times, we could not understand upon our initial introduction to Cedarwood why Japanese was being offered. Friends with dyslexic children warned us that foreign language would be hard for our son.

Fast forward to 2022 and our 4th grade son is thriving at Cedarwood where the “natural unfolding of the child” is celebrated and supported on every level.  Neurodiverse children are able to thrive at Cedarwood in part, I believe, because of the whole-child pedagogy (a word favored over curriculum).  This includes foreign languages where I have come to learn that just because a child is dyslexic in their native language it does not mean they are dyslexic in other languages, especially character (kanji) based languages like Japanese.

It was over dessert on a father-son outing at the end of 3rd grade that I asked our son about his favorite subjects. I was surprised to hear Japanese in the Top 3! So much for the caution flags on dyslexia and foreign languages! I enthusiastically asked him more questions. He told me that he likes writing the language and that the letters are like pictures. He began to share the simple rules of the language with me and that it wasn’t as hard for him as English.

Now, I’m really curious and start trolling the literature. Dyslexia is a complicated learning disability in how it manifests within each person, yet visual memorization is a skill used by many dyslexic brains. As it turns out, learning character-based languages like Japanese are relatively easier given that they are logographic (using characters for entire words) versus alphabetic languages like English that have many more rules and rely on different parts of the brain. 

A follow up meeting with our son’s Japanese sensei confirmed the research, added more color commentary to our son’s experience, and simplified the explanation through a true story of a severely dyslexic child who did exceedingly well in Japanese. At the end of the story, sensei said that when the girl was asked why Japanese came so easily to her, yet her dyslexia profoundly affected her other learning, she simply said, “the (Japanese) letters don’t dance.”

Our family is deeply grateful for the learning environment at Cedarwood where our son’s day-to-day experience reinforces our message to him that his unique, dyslexic brain is a gift to the world.

Written by Craig Vercruysse, grade 4 parent

Cedarwood’s Statement: At Cedarwood Waldorf School we pride ourselves on educating the whole child - Head, heart, and hands. This means supporting children by providing unique experiences, diverse learning opportunities, and meeting a child where they are. All children can do hard things, all children can be successful, and all children should love where they go to school. If you would like more information on how logographic languages can benefit dyslexic students please visit: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2021/10/15/language/visual-elements-make-japanese-easier-language-dyslexic-people/

If you would like more information about Cedarwood please visit our info page, if you would like to experience the Cedarwood difference, please schedule a tour.