wle-japan - good 1-month japanese program?

[indogaijin]

hi all!

does anyone have any information about this program?

http://www.wle-japan.com/index.html

for about us$5k you get a room in tokyo for a month, and a fairly intensive japanese course. sounds like just the thing to get my japanese kick-started, and hopefully i could look around for some dj gigs/a contract for my band while i'm in tokyo.

however, i know absolutely nothing about the quality of this school, and googling only gets me a few hits that dont reveal much. anyone know of it? are there other similar programs (ie. one month, ~$5k or less, including a place to stay, preferably not a homestay, as i like to go out to nightclubs and stuff, not to mention i'm approaching 40 and a bit to old for that sort of thing) that you guys could recommend?

thanks!


-indogaijin

[Charles]

$5k for one month sounds a little steep to me. If I might ask, what's your current level of Japanese study? I personally don't recommend studying in Japan if you're an absolute beginner (or near beginner). Regardless of what school you attend, IMHO it's better if you do the basic studies at home where it's cheap, and then go to Japan with some advance preparation, to maximize your return on a very expensive learning environment.

[Greji]

IMHO it's better if you do the basic studies at home where it's cheap, and then go to Japan with some advance preparation, to maximize your return on a very expensive learning environment.

I agree with Charles. It is much better to do the basics first if you are going to a non-traditional school. But, as you have posted here, you need to find out more about this place. I don't know this place myself, but as Charles says, it does sound a bit pricey and there have been a lot of fraud "sagi" carried out under the guise of a so-called language study programs.

[indogaijin]

i'm an absolute beginner. i took one course (private, about 15 2 hour lessons), but it was in one ear and out the other. i can see what you're saying about studying at home, but the only way i've *ever* been able to learn a language is to learn it in the country where it's spoken. i've studied 2-3 years each of french, spanish, and german, all wasted, i dont remember a word of any of them. whereas a 2 week course in thailand, coupled with a month of living there practicing daily, got me up to market level thai pretty quickly. and one 3-month course in indonesian, given that i practiced every day with my friends, staff, and random strangers on the street, has me speaking a reasonable level of indonesian.

there are loads of japanese people [ie. girls - ed] hanging out in bali whom i could practice my japanese on once i got started in it, and i'm thinking a month of hardcore study would really get my japanese off the ground. honestly, i found the local classes all but useless. they're fine for some people, but i just find i'm terrible at studying languages, *unless i'm hearing and practicing it day in and day out*, in which case i do alright.

by the way maybe i should maybe be clearer about the price - it's us$4.8k with a private apartment, $3.8k in a single dorm room.

so do any of you guys know a cheaper/better course? one of my japanese friends suggested some of these courses are simply fronts to get phillipina hostesses visas into the country! so i'd like to try to find *someone* who's actually taken this course, or can suggest one that's legit.

[amdg]

I haven't taken the course but I know this business (I dated the ex-director of the chinese arm of the business in Beijing). It's a worldwide concern and it's legitimate although some people have also made comments about the price being too high. Their website has feedback from some current students, and there is also a net forum (I forget where) where some prospective students and ex-students can exchange comments about their experiences - have a look for that.

[Charles]

Sure an intensive program would give you a good boost in proficiency, but learning Japanese has some unique problems that will hinder a newbie. Specifically, the problem of kana and kanji. I went over for a summer study program after doing 2 years at a university, and I always had to help out the poor hapless newbies who couldn't even read kana. I remember one incident where a woman begged me for help at convenience store, she was desperate and almost in tears because she could not figure out how to buy tampons. "Tampon" was not a word I personally ever needed to remember, so I had to look it up in a dictionary, then I helped her find what she needed.
While this specific problem isn't going to affect you, it's an example of what you'll encounter on a daily basis as a total newbie. Japan is a complex linguistic environment and you're going to have problems with some of the most basic aspects of daily life if you can't even read kana.
I saw newbies at my school spend the whole summer trying to learn all the kana, and they barely got through it in 2 months, when this is a task you could do at home in a week with flashcards if you worked hard at it. They were too distracted by the problems of basic daily survival to put sufficient effort into their studies.
So at a minimum, I would recommend you at least totally memorize hiragana and katakana before going over. You should also start learning some basic kanji, which will give you some insight into whether you really want to do this. Kanji study is going to take you YEARS, and you'll have to develop new study methods to learn them, if you just don't have a visual memory for this sort of thing, you better find that out sooner rather than later. But don't be discouraged after struggling at the beginning, it gets easier after your first few dozen kanji.
I would also suggest you look into summer programs, which are pretty common, many university students like to do a 2 or 3 month program during their summer breaks. There are some pretty good summer programs, and the signup time starts right about now, usually ending around the end of January. Most of these programs are promoted through universities, so you might check with the Japanese department of a nearby university to see if they can recommend a good summer program.

[Western All Stars]

Personally I'm always a little weiry of books, schools, etc. that use the prase "Real Japanese!" or "Real Life Japanese!". The if the classes have more than a couple English speakers besides yourself it can really hinder your progress. Basically you wanna force yourself into a situation where you can't use English if if you wanted to. I'm sure that's how you learned Indonesian and Thai so fast. Go for the dorm room; you'll get more exposure to meet people that can help you out.

You need to at least learn both kanas before you get there. If it takes you more than a week or two just to remember those, you're not trying hard enough. Just wait until you have to memorize 2,000 Chinese characters

[Mike Oxlong]

Try the Yamasa Institue in Okazaki, Aichi. They have a SILAC program that starts every two weeks. It's centred on learning speaking & listening skills, and can be as short as a two-week course, up to 6 months IIRC. Their website is pretty informative, and I doubt a month would run your more than a grand or two. Five large seem x-treme!

[indogaijin]

thanks for all your responses guys!

Try the Yamasa Institue in Okazaki, Aichi. They have a SILAC program that starts every two weeks.

the price sounds good, but it's in okazaki, aichi. "The population comprises 185,651 males and 182,550 females, reflecting the number of young men who move to Okazaki to work in the manufacturing sector." ummm, i think i'd be better off in tokyo! ]I would also suggest you look into summer programs, which are pretty common, many university students like to do a 2 or 3 month program during their summer breaks.[/QUOTE]


heh, i *wish* i was still a college student! though i suppose being a professional musician is almost as fun. still, no way i could get a whole summer off my job, a month is about as much as i can swing, plus summer is the high season in bali so i'll have to stay here...

You need to at least learn both kanas before you get there. If it takes you more than a week or two just to remember those, you're not trying hard enough. Just wait until you have to memorize 2,000 Chinese characters

ok, fair enough, i'll look for some flash cards or something. i'm looking at doing this in march 07, so i have some time to prepare. i could also take some private japanese lessons again once i finish my level 2 indonesian class in december - i've met some japanese people lately i could practice with...


i've just looked at like 20 different schools listed here:

http://www.realestate-tokyo.com/info/j_school/

and none of them seem to offer a month long, full time course with accomodation... does anyone else have any suggestions for something cheaper?

[Charles]

heh, i *wish* i was still a college student! though i suppose being a professional musician is almost as fun. still, no way i could get a whole summer off my job, a month is about as much as i can swing, plus summer is the high season in bali so i'll have to stay here...

I saw plenty of older nonstudents in the program I attended. You don't have to be a college student to go on these summer programs, I'm just saying why these are IN the summer. I also note that during summer, many university Japanese instructors are on their own vacations, and lots of them use the time to pick up a little extra cash teaching in summer programs.
It's worth checking out, maybe you can find something that fits your schedule. Some programs are shorter than others, you don't have to go for the whole summer.

[Mike Oxlong]

[quote="indogaijin"]thanks for all your responses guys!

the price sounds good, but it's in okazaki, aichi. "The population comprises 185,651 males and 182,550 females, reflecting the number of young men who move to Okazaki to work in the manufacturing sector." ummm, i think i'd be better off in tokyo! ]
Okazaki is only 30 min. by train from Nagoya...economy is good out there. And you'd only be there a month. The flexibility to start/stop the program when you like, the reasonable price, and the facilities all make for a decent option.

[indogaijin]

ok guys, thanks for all the info! i'll look into yamasa institue, though i'm still leaning towards tokyo. also i'll dig around to try to find a suitable summer course, though the summer timing isn't really very good with my job (summer = busy with loads of tourists)

i'll keep checking here and on the board for other suggestions if anyone has any more...