Japanese Language School

Hello All,

I am thinking of going to Japan over the winter period, and wanting to make as much as I can out of the time, I want to attend Japanese Language School to learn and practice Japanese to a level that I am able to converse in daily routines or even better.

I have searched up on internet and found a few different language schools, but before I jump in and apply, I was wondering if anyone know if it is worth the money? and has anyone ever attended one and would recommend a school?

Kind regards,

Hello,
I myself have not been to Japanese language school but my best has been so I hope this helps in some way.

I think it depends how long you are planning to stay here, how much you know the language and at which level you want to reach.
My best friend, she was here for 3 weeks and most she did in a school was to travel around with other students and some Japanese teachers. She did go to school everyday but it was more like "use phrases you already know in real life".
She also stayed at Japanese host family. And that also depends on you if you are comfortable doing that and feel that you would learn something out of it. I don't think it will be guaranteed that the family speaks English, well, it's a good thing if you want to learn the language though, it can be difficult too.

Personally, I was an exchange student in other country, so I know how difficult it is to learn the language.
Good luck anyway if you decide to come here :) Wish you the best!

Hello,

If you will stay long in Japan, probably years. Of course, you should learn the language. But if you will only go for a vacation. It's not worth to learn the whole language. I suggest that you should only learn the basic communication needed for your vacation. It will be better if you will learn their culture rather spending your time and money on learning their language.

I disagree with Yanawatch, i think you learn most about Japanese culture from Japanese language.

I mean the different Level of politeness, the way you speak about younger relatives. I think that is much more revealing than you can learn without language.

When you buy a travelguide about a country you buy one most likely produced in your country, the best books for foreigners about Japan are still made in Japan. At least i prefer them way more.

Also sometimes Japanese might feel uncomfortable to discuss things that might be frowned upon on the west, than that barrier is not there if you can just learn it from the language.

My english skill is sadly not very developed, but you know they speech is the System used for thought, Japanese is so completly different...

Hi Kenshiro, what I meant by learning the basic communication of Japanese language involves the essence of being polite. As we all know Japanese people are known to be polite, as a tourist he should be aware of that because that is the most important thing when you travel abroad, not only in Japan. If a tourist will only spend a little time in Japan, I do suggest that he should maximize his/ her time embracing the culture of Japanese people.

Thanks for clarifying it, yes sometimes i completly Forget the context, only later when i already posted it did it dawn on me what you ment.

Yes Japanese are very polite, but i actually ment the Level of respect and authority, the distinction of people an classes...
But then again thats actually my Impression, i probably not know enough myself and am probably wrong.

thanks for the reply.

It's ok Kenshiro, sometimes we mixed things up. At least we are on the same page now. Thank you