講座 and 受講: course content and taking a course
Compare signing up for photography, learnable writing content, and ongoing attendance at an evening language course. Read the course, participant, registration, and request separately.
A course and the person taking it
講座 (こうざ) means a course or lecture series, while 受講 (じゅこう) concerns taking a course. Distinguish the subject and content offered from a person's participation.
Registration, ongoing attendance, available learning content, and a request to fill in a form describe different situations. The photography course and evening language course are separate examples rather than stages in one person's story.
Registration and learnable content
「市民向けの写真講座に申し込んだ。」 — “I signed up for a photography course for local residents.” 申し込んだ reports signing up for the photography course. Registration alone does not report attendance or completion.
「この講座では文章の組み立て方を基礎から学べる。」 — “This course teaches the fundamentals of organizing a piece of writing.” The course offers the fundamentals of organizing writing. Japanese 学べる describes what can be learned; it does not report that every participant has already mastered it.
Ongoing attendance and a request
「春から夜間の語学講座を受講しています。」 — “I have been taking an evening language course since spring.” 春から and 受講しています describe participation continuing from spring. 講座 names the evening language course, and 受講 describes the person's activity of taking it.
「受講を希望する人は申込書に名前を書いてください。」 — “Those wishing to enroll should write their name on the application form.” The request is directed to people wishing to enroll. Preserve both the prospective participants and the request; the sentence does not report completed attendance.
What do 講座 and 受講 each identify in the evening language-course example?
Show the answer and why
講座 identifies the evening language course offered, and 受講 describes taking that course from spring onward. The existence of a course and a person's participation are different information, and this example does not report course completion.