Absolutely an amazing professor. The best I have ever met. He is never selfish when sharing his knowledge of Japanese culture, and his understanding of Japan is deep and comprehensive. He is also friendly and cute if you get to know him. It is an honor to take a course taught by an Emmy Award winner and a true master.
I like him very much. He gave us a lot of stories about his understanding of some Japanese writers. The course is not hard. You'll need to read 6-7 books. If you read the book, final is easy.
I feel like I learned nothing from his class. No analysis about any of the novel at all, just some general intros about the authors. One question on the final represents how ridiculous the course is : "what did you learn from this course?"
The best Japanese teacher I have ever had! So knowledgable on Japanese and he is nice and funny I love his classes. There r quizzes only. No finals. :) Make sure u do well on quizzes
We read Soseki Natsume's Bocchan in JAPAN146. Grading is based on short quizzes held every two weeks and how well you were able to understand the material during class (no midterm or final). You are expected to be able to read and translate the text during class so make sure to read and look up words beforehand! Very nice and great translator.
Professor Nathan knows what he's talking about and does want his students to do well. I say class is mandatory because he doesn't follow the syllabus. He'll tell you before if there's a quiz (not by e-mail), so don't skip class. His lectures are more talks about his past than lectures, but that's cool. Just read when you should and you'll pass.
His lecture was so boring, feel so sleepy during his lecture, slides doesn`t help at all, didn`t get anything from his lecture.
His lecture slides are useless, he straight up reads from his notes and mumbles sometimes. There is zero class interaction. His final study guide turns to be very different from the actual final. He was not helpful at all. Class was boring and very very bad.
Lectures are interesting, but it's hard to figure out what his key points are since he often rambles on in details. Hardly has anything on his slides and mostly just talks. His lectures aren't too helpful for the exam.
boring, his lecture was so boring. slides doesn`t help at all, didn`t get his point for the lecture.
Don't be intimidated by the people around you or your skill level. Nathan Sensei only hopes that we understand the reading (and are able to translate it in Japanese if possible). It was a challenging class, I feel very proud of myself for being able to read a Japanese novel afterwards. Nathan Sensei is great! Rewarding class. Take it!
Prof. Nathan really cares that his students improve their writing and reading skills. He is great at explaining to the class about the text and really goes into detail. He's a great literature professor! He's also very chill and a cool person to talk to. It's an honor to be a student of his because he has quite a reputation in hollywood and Japan!
Prof. Nathan is a very cool older guy with a seemingly infinite supply of stories about life in Japan, culture, etc. Class consisted of weekly readings, but only about half did you have to write short (2 pg) papers about. Doesn't give a lot of guidance as far as writing, but I prefer having freedom, although it can make grading very subjective.
Awful professor. Cannot even work email. Impatient to answer your questions and get on with the class. Besides the grades for the several quizzes, you will not know your grade for bigger assignments (final essay, exam) until he posts your final grade up. You are left puzzled as to how you got to that low point when you were doing well all along.
prof. nathan is an extremely interesting guy. the class is pretty easy and its wonderful to hear all his experience and stories with the contemporary famous japanese writers/entertainment industry. i wud def take his class again.
Terrible, Knows his stuff but you have no idea how your going in the class until its too late. Can't see him in dead week... too busy writing his books
Old school guy. Interesting. Intelligent. Well traveled.
if you are a girl, or queer, or a sexual assault survivor, classes with this dude could be kind of traumatizing.
Nathan knows what he is talkin about. He has not just read about his topic in books, he has known the living breathing writers and the culture they come from. The course was interesting, BUT his assignments were a bit mysterious. I had no idea what grade I was going to get until I checked GOLD.
John Nathan's classes are worth taking just to hear his stories about the time he met John Lennon and how he knows all sorts of culturally important japanese people. If you have any interest in Japan, take his classes for the history and the experience. I love this man!
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Not ur typical prof. good bc its interesting, not stressful, not power points, tests, grades, blah blah blah, but bad bc its hard to know what hes expecting, not too interested in students understanding/performance. Overall a cool guy, with real life experience and a unique intelligent style
This guy is awesome. He is a filmmaker and has great stories of adventures with 1/2 the people in the movies we watched. Our assignments? We are 2/3s of the way through the quarter and we have done 1 500 word essay. No book, No Reader, No reading! Perfect for those with senioritis