Japanese language school recommendations?

[yakitori]

Hey all! Does anyone have any recommendations for a good Japanese language school. Going to be attempting 1kyu this year and I figure I am going to need some professional help. Any location is fine. Right now I am thinking about Kichijoji Language school. Thank you

[yakitori]

Any recommendation for the Hokkaido area?

[Samurai_Jerk]

I can't recommend a good school, but DON'T go to KCP. It's a piece of shit.

[GomiGirl]

I can't recommend a good school, but DON'T go to KCP. It's a piece of shit.

Am interested to hear what you (and anybody else) thinks about schools - even criticisms. We are looking into a few courses now for some intensive study.

gomichild recommends Kitchijoji Language school and some other people have recommended one at Takadanobaba.

[yakitori]

I cannot say that my two months studying at KCP was all bad. The teachers I had were very helpful but there was hardly any Japanese spoken among the students as all were Korean. The curriculum was basically memorization of grammar points and kanji for the Japanese proficiency test with little emphasis on everyday conversation or anything useful for that matter. I have heard good things about Kichijoji language school. I have already checked out other schools on the interet. I was just wondering if anyone has something to say about a particular school.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I was at KCP for 9 months so I have a pretty good idea of how it is. The classes are far too big with 20 students (a typical breakdown would be one American, 12 to 15 Koreans, and the rest Chinese). The in-house textbooks are piss poor plagarizations of better texts. They have no method of teaching kanji. Basically, they just teach vocab that happens to be in kanji and presented in order of the kanji's onyomi. They never talk about the meaning of an individual kanji or why is carries that meaning. Just a list of words that happen to include that kanji to remember. The worst part about that is the words you have to remember often have kanji you haven't learned yet. There is almost no conversation in class and very little listening practice. The facilites are over crowded, old, and dirty. They is no language lab either so you can't even practice listening on your own outside of class. The grammar is also pretty poorly presented with little explanation as to why something works a certain way. On top of that they are dishonest and if you have a visa through them they will hold that over your head to keep you in line with their stupid rules. And yeah, the rules are stupid. They basically try to micro manage your life and behavior and do things like reduce your grade if you are 30 seconds late or go to the restroom too many times during a term. They won't let you even drink water during the class and have required outings and sports days that if you don't attend will also end up in grade reduction. Basically it's day care for immature kids from China and Korea. I could go on but I'll stop.

[yakitori]

You are correct in all you say. I could not find one of the buildings on the first day so they took away 1% of my total grade from the first day. I suppose the good aspects of my experince there had nothing to do with the school but the connections I formed there. But to make it through 9 months there, that is nothing short of impressive. KCP aside any suggestions? anyone?

[Samurai_Jerk]

But to make it through 9 months there, that is nothing short of impressive.

They sponsored my visa and I was getting US college credit so I could use student loans to pay, so I pretty much had to stay or leave Japan. I would have stayed till March of this year and gone all the way to the top level but they pissed me off so much I went full time at my last job and got a new visa. They all but destroyed my will to study Japanese. I haven't cracked a book since leaving.

[Charles]

I was at KCP for 9 months so I have a pretty good idea of how it is. The classes are far too big with 20 students (a typical breakdown would be one American, 12 to 15 Koreans, and the rest Chinese). The in-house textbooks are piss poor plagarizations of better texts. They have no method of teaching kanji. Basically, they just teach vocab that happens to be in kanji and presented in order of the kanji's onyomi. They never talk about the meaning of an individual kanji or why is carries that meaning. Just a list of words that happen to include that kanji to remember. The worst part about that is the words you have to remember often have kanji you haven't learned yet. There is almost no conversation in class and very little listening practice. The facilites are over crowded, old, and dirty. They is no language lab either so you can't even practice listening on your own outside of class. The grammar is also pretty poorly presented with little explanation as to why something works a certain way. On top of that they are dishonest and if you have a visa through them they will hold that over your head to keep you in line with their stupid rules. And yeah, the rules are stupid. They basically try to micro manage your life and behavior and do things like reduce your grade if you are 30 seconds late or go to the restroom too many times during a term...

OK, hold it right there. Your complaints about the curriculum seem like you could remedy them on your own, no class can provide ALL the knowledge you could need, so for example, if you need more grammar, there's nothing stopping you from additional study on your own. That's what everyone did in my classes here in the US. You will only get out of a class what you put into it.
But your objection to the late-for-class rule seems petty. My teacher had a rule that if you were not in your seat when class started, you were marked late, and if you were late or absent even ONCE without a written excuse from a doctor, you would not get a 10% bonus on your grades. I had this teacher for 3 years, and I always got my bonus, which often made the difference between a B+ and an A-. But one winter, I was absent for one day, due to the flu. After inspecting my note from the doctor, she demanded I write a formal letter of apology for my absence, which she taped up on her wall in a prominent spot. Every time I visited her office, I got to see her little trophy of my shameful letter. I visited her a few years after I graduated, the letter was still hanging up, almost 10 years after I wrote it. There were only a couple of additional letters posted next to it.
So regardless of whether or not you liked the class, is it really that hard to be on time to class?

[yakitori]

I was placed in level five when I got there so if I think if I had stayed any longer my head would have exploded. Just over emphasis on the Japanese proficiency test. Find my college classes here where they are having us read natsume soseki more my style.

[Samurai_Jerk]

OK, hold it right there. Your complaints about the curriculum seem like you could remedy them on your own, no class can provide ALL the knowledge you could need, so for example, if you need more grammar, there's nothing stopping you from additional study on your own. That's what everyone did in my classes here in the US. You will only get out of a class what you put into it.
But your objection to the late-for-class rule seems petty. My teacher had a rule that if you were not in your seat when class started, you were marked late, and if you were late or absent even ONCE without a written excuse from a doctor, you would not get a 10% bonus on your grades. I had this teacher for 3 years, and I always got my bonus, which often made the difference between a B+ and an A-. But one winter, I was absent for one day, due to the flu. After inspecting my note from the doctor, she demanded I write a formal letter of apology for my absence, which she taped up on her wall in a prominent spot. Every time I visited her office, I got to see her little trophy of my shameful letter. I visited her a few years after I graduated, the letter was still hanging up, almost 10 years after I wrote it. There were only a couple of additional letters posted next to it.
So regardless of whether or not you liked the class, is it really that hard to be on time to class?

Well, Charles, I am pretty much never late to anything. If the school was great otherwise, I wouldn't have cared. All the petty little rules made the shithole even shittier. Your former teacher sounds like a real bitch. I would have laughed in her face and told her to fuck off if she made a ridiculous demand like that.

There really wasn't much time to do additional study as the place was just an endless stream of tests that you have to constantly cram for. I spent 4 to 6 hours a day outside of class studying on my own and did pretty well. The problem was I had to spend a lot of that time studying for their tests which really didn't help me much. I also worked 6 or 7 days a week.

The final straw for me though came when I found out they were lying to us about immigration law. That's when I decided to leave and give up filltime Japanese study about nine month's earlier than planned.

This is not just sour grapes. Most of the students I knew at KCP were unhappy and really regretted choosing that school.

[akira117]

gomichild recommends Kitchijoji Language school and some other people have recommended one at Takadanobaba.

What level should I get before going one of these schools in japan?
(Is this the school that was meant)

[GomiGirl]

What level should I get before going one of these schools in japan?
(Is this the school that was meant)

They will take people right off the boat with no japanese at all. A good school will give you a level check first and put you in the right course.

[Bedi]

İ studied at ABK in Komagome/Sugamo for a year and got my 1kyu + entered university. İt's 5 days a week from 9 - 15.30 (fırst 6 months) and then from 9 - 14 o'clock the last 6 month or something like that. İf you're eager to learn and study everyday till you more the less master japanese İ recommend this school. They help you with lots of things except school as well, do fıeld trips etc.. most students are pretty young (17 - 25) and want to enter japanese companies or university so the pace is quite good.
http://www.abk.or.jp/jls/abk.html

if you dont have time to study many hours a day you should try KAI in Shin Okubo. They have morning and noon classes, both 3 hours a day so its a little more flexible than abk. most of the students here are working or dont have any time pressure in learning japanese so the pace is a little slower.
http://www.kaij.co.jp/e/

[Oh!Saka!]

I'm going to be attending ECC in Osaka in a few weeks. They were the most helpful to me when I was deciding on which language school to attend and even after I applied, they still are extremely helpful in all my newbie coming-to-Japan questions (emails responded to within a day with clear and helpful answers).

[akira117]

Anyone have a self study week to week goal layout?
Since I don't plan on attending a language school for at least a good year.

Thanks for any help!:kanpai:

[Western All Stars]

I was at KCP for 9 months so I have a pretty good idea of how it is. The classes are far too big with 20 students (a typical breakdown would be one American, 12 to 15 Koreans, and the rest Chinese). The in-house textbooks are piss poor plagarizations of better texts. They have no method of teaching kanji. Basically, they just teach vocab that happens to be in kanji and presented in order of the kanji's onyomi. They never talk about the meaning of an individual kanji or why is carries that meaning. Just a list of words that happen to include that kanji to remember. The worst part about that is the words you have to remember often have kanji you haven't learned yet. There is almost no conversation in class and very little listening practice. The facilites are over crowded, old, and dirty. They is no language lab either so you can't even practice listening on your own outside of class. The grammar is also pretty poorly presented with little explanation as to why something works a certain way. On top of that they are dishonest and if you have a visa through them they will hold that over your head to keep you in line with their stupid rules. And yeah, the rules are stupid. They basically try to micro manage your life and behavior and do things like reduce your grade if you are 30 seconds late or go to the restroom too many times during a term. They won't let you even drink water during the class and have required outings and sports days that if you don't attend will also end up in grade reduction. Basically it's day care for immature kids from China and Korea. I could go on but I'll stop.

S_J, you wouldn't happen to be ex-military would you?...

I went to KCP a couple years ago just for the summer and we might have crossed paths. You're right about a lot of things at that school, but I don't know if it would be any different at other places. The teachers are strict as hell but that's just the only way they know how to teach. Personally they were really nice though and we'd go drinking sometimes after class. For me being the only English speakers was a major plus.

[jingai]

I went to Yamasa in Okazaki which was decent- try to avoid the "teach for the test" JLPT classes unless you *really* care about passing those tests more than proficiency. Yamasa also has online courses you can try out.

[Samurai_Jerk]

S_J, you wouldn't happen to be ex-military would you?...

I went to KCP a couple years ago just for the summer and we might have crossed paths. You're right about a lot of things at that school, but I don't know if it would be any different at other places. The teachers are strict as hell but that's just the only way they know how to teach. Personally they were really nice though and we'd go drinking sometimes after class. For me being the only English speakers was a major plus.

No, not me. I was there from Oct 05 to June 06. Some of the teachers were nice but the school is shit and there are better places out there. I learned about them after the fact.

I didn't mind being the only English speaker in the class, but the definitely have to come up with a better system for teaching kanji to people who come from countries other than China and Korea. I actually had a conversation with one of the teachers about that. She said that in the past not many American students went past the lower levels so they never really thought much about it. However, recently they were getting more and more US program students in the upper levels and realized that their method for teaching kanji wasn't working for them. They asked me for recommendations of good text books to use for that.

I forgot which school it is, but I know of place in Tokyo that has three types of kanji lessons. Kanji for Chinese speakers, kanji for Korean speakers, and kanji for everyone else. I think that makes a lot of sense.

BTW, there were several ethnic Koreans from China studying at KCP. They were native speakers of both Chinese and Korean. No point in even trying to compete with them. They can learn Japanese in their sleep!

[akira117]

Anyone have an idea of a school for me to go to for a year long session (I have only learned the kana and some kanji so far)

[akira117]

ok It looks like IES is a pretty solid program. Though I have one question about it, what is the best way to meet these requirments?

Japanese Language Program: Three semesters of college-level Japanese language or the equivalent is required for students in the Japanese Language Program

Given my University does not have a Japanese class

Thank you for any help!

[akira117]

It looks like a local class is basically non-existent, any ideas for a Collage level Japanese class?

[Kanchou]

The program at Nihon University in Tokyo was fun... although it's more catered to beginners and mid-level people, although I never took the advanced classes... the 'super advanced' class was apparently just reading novels. lol

(but IIRC the program was very cheap... don't know if you had to pay NU tuition though)

[HeyMonkey]

I was taking private lessons in the states and I just moved to Tokyo. I have the option to Skype with my same teacher to continue my lessons smoothly, but I also wanted to explore getting a private teacher here (in-person is nice).

I checked out this thread to see if anyone was talking about that topic, but it seems most people go to these schools / organizations. Which makes a lot of sense if your visa is riding on it or you need some sort of official certification.

But in my case, I just want to continue learning the language and that's it -- no visa necessary, no grades / credit, and no tests. But yes homework of course ^_^

Has anyone here taken private Japanese lessons in Tokyo? I don't mean private through an organization (because that is wayyyy more expensive than you can get it directly from a freelance teacher). I did Berlitz once a week for a year before I decided to try a freelance teacher for a fraction of the price. And then I was like... darn it, I should have done that sooner!!

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Has anyone here taken private Japanese lessons in Tokyo? I don't mean private through an organization (because that is wayyyy more expensive than you can get it directly from a freelance teacher). I did Berlitz once a week for a year before I decided to try a freelance teacher for a fraction of the price. And then I was like... darn it, I should have done that sooner!!

I haven't taken private classes, but if you're in Tokyo, you can probably find someone through Metropolis, craigslist or other online classifieds.
Why bother, though? Your entire surroundings are a classroom. Just get out and talk to people...it's easily the fastest, cheapest and most natural way to learn Japanese. Carry a J-E dictionary with you, mark down any new words you hear and then study them. You'll pick it up in no time.

[Iraira]

I haven't taken private classes, but if you're in Tokyo, you can probably find someone through Metropolis, craigslist or other online classifieds.
Why bother, though? Your entire surroundings are a classroom. Just get out and talk to people...it's easily the fastest, cheapest and most natural way to learn Japanese. Carry a J-E dictionary with you, mark down any new words you hear and then study them. You'll pick it up in no time.

Only problem I've found is that my friends do dumb down their Japanese and dispense with anything resembling honorifics or psycho-complex verbs forms. I do speak a wicked Kabukicho-ben as a result. Not good for interviews, unless the interviewer is clearly a perv. The normal conversation stuff and the stuff that you'll need for the job are different, at least until they sit you at your desk.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

[Iraira]

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

[Pochi]

[color="DarkGreen"]Greetings,

I was wondering what's the best Japanese Language School near Shinjuku that provides Intensive Japanese Language Course for 3 Months? (From your experience).
[/color]