In a classroom
I take three political lectures in German in a large classroom. These are politics on Austria and EU, international politics and politics on Japan. Professors are talking almost all the time, but sometimes students ask questions. They are more positive than those in Japan. It's difficult for me to understand what students ask. One of the reasons is because I'm usually concentrating on what professors are talking, and questions come suddenly. Or simply students ask fast and maybe in a different way that I'm thinking. Today in the lecture on Japanese politics the professor asked us if we have any questions. I had a request, not question. The reason is that I know what he would be talking about, though it's difficult to listen to in German. I was confident that he forgot to lecture something important. BUT I didn't know how to ask him, because I know, not better than him, what I want him to tell as I know the background. I could ask, as most Japanese would do, "Maybe I could not follow what you have said, but could you tell me about...?" But I didn't. That sounds strange, because I didn't misunderstand. If I stayed longer here then I would have simply said, "You have forgotten to tell us about..." But I could not say in such a way. As I'm a foreigner here, it would be allowed to ask him in a rude manner - just point out. That's enough. Here I wrote "point out", not "ask". Why? I already know the things what I would tell him. Except me my action would have been useful. For the professor he remembered something important to explain, for the students they would get something important. Was I egoistic? Don't hesitate to ask something. That's one of the most important things we Japanese would learn while studying abroad. At that time German didn't matter. My German is far from perfect, compared to that of German speakers. I don't care about. Rather, in my mind how the professor thinks if he was pointed out by me, Japanese student. I just thought of an English teacher in Japan, who is teaching English and is pointed out a mistake by a pupil who has risen in a foreign country. Children can do that without hesitation. Now my German level is less than that of kids here. But is the attitude for professor same as kids do? I thought too much. I understand what I should do next time. I'm not sure if I can do that. Understanding is one thing, taking action is the other. It's not the matter of my language. The relationship between a professor and students matters.