Bring kids for high school in Japan?

Hi mina -san,
I need your advice.
My son is completing secondary school in our country and
I plan to bring him to Japan for the high school.
His English is good enough, but Japanese is just Hiragana and greetings.
I think International school is best for him but it is over my budget.
Do you have any experience in bringing bigger kids to Japan ?
Do the kids have difficulties in catching up with things ?
Is it easy for them go to university in Japan later on ?
I receive many advice to let him study in our country and come to Japan later for university,
which might be easier for him.
But I really want him to come asap...
Thank you for your reading and look forward to your support.

High school age is too late. Sorry.

https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+166629

Same question. Paints a grim picture of the situation.

My daughter is 12 and goes to Japanese school since the beginning.
This year she will go to Junior High school (April)

I do not think your son is applicable to join Japanese high school.
Since this is a process which takes time to apply, another point is the language.

If your son doesn't speak Japanese a Japanese high school will be impossible.
There is no English education system.
The only option is International school.

I do not understand the purpose to send your son to a Japanese high school while he cannot speak fluently.

If you or your son wants to enter university than it is possible to find universities which support international students.

The compulsory education (I.e., free education) in Japan is up to grade-9 (junior high school) only. High school (grades 10, 11, 12) education is optional and not free, and often requires passing of entrance exam.

A question to you.

How long did it take for you to learn the language in order just to function daily in Japan?

Now imagine doing that in high school, where everything is done and taught in Japanese.

Trying to understand the language and at the same times understanding the contents of the lesson will be nightmare.

Or try reversing the scenario, a foreigner bringing their child (with no or basic language) entering school in your country. How do you think it will do to the child ?

Furthermore, as other said to enter high school in Japan, your child need to go through entrance exam.

English is not much use in Japan high school except for English class lesson.

So best finish study in your country and come to Japan for university. Or enroll your child in International school.

For your reading purpose.

https://educationinjapan.wordpress.com/college-entrance-angst/the-gaij...

http://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/elsec/title02/detail02/13738...

You should consider the matter very carefully.

First of all, senior high school (age 16 – 18) is not compulsory in Japan. You�fd need to find a candidate school, talk with the school principal/teachers, etc. (do you speak and read Japanese yourself?) to find out what can be done, including whether they�fd even accept your child – but actually at age 15, 16, you cannot just expect to place your kid into school, where he doesn�ft understand anything, and get used to it over several months. He is very likely to suffer in class because he cannot understand the substance, and will not be able to complete the high school education properly.

What are your future plans? To stay in Japan with your family long-term?

One way that might be worth considering is let him finish his senior high school education in your country, then let him move over to Japan, let him attend a language school for a year or two, then enroll in a local university. This way he will properly complete the academic part (up to completion of senior high), which makes him eligible for different things and he will have an opportunity to, IF he wants to, to attend language school and then attend a local uni in Japan, to attend English language uni course in Japan, or even go to an English-speaking country for higher studies, etc.

Why do you "really want him to come asap" when you have received "many advice to let him study in your country and come to Japan later for university"? What kind of new advice are you seeking here that wasn't included in the "many advice" you have received already? Help us help you.

The former thread posted by Hakata is a really important one.

As a former international teacher in Japan who has taught students for many different nationalities, I do have some experience.

General policy for accepting students at international schools who can't talk, read and write to a very basic standard finishes in about Grade 7. This is because it takes 5 years to learn an academic language IF the alphabet is easily learnt. I current teach such a class, and there are two teachers in the class (one ESL trained) who intensively trains the kids with a literacy bent.

I am aware of some elementary schools in Tokyo that help with such an example, but high school is a totally different ball game. Elementary school is used to learn the Japanese writing system while content is heavily emphasised in high school. If he can't read the information, then he can't write it down.

One cheaper option for international schools is Indian Schools which are much cheaper and are taught in English.

The former thread posted by Hakata is a really important one.

As a former international teacher in Japan who has taught students for many different nationalities, I do have some experience.

General policy for accepting students at international schools who can't talk, read and write to a very basic standard finishes in about Grade 7. This is because it takes 5 years to learn an academic language IF the alphabet is easily learnt. I current teach such a class, and there are two teachers in the class (one ESL trained) who intensively trains the kids with a literacy bent.

I am aware of some elementary schools in Tokyo that help with such an example, but high school is a totally different ball game. Elementary school is used to learn the Japanese writing system while content is heavily emphasised in high school. If he can't read the information, then he can't write it down.

One cheaper option for international schools is Indian Schools which are much cheaper and are taught in English.

I will pose a different question - what does the kid want to do? Aside from finishing high school (locally or in Japan), do they want to live in Japan or do university in Japan? Get a job, live their own life?

I wouldn't expect parent to be so presumptive about dictating those future options for an adult. In my own case I left home at 17 for university in a different city - my parents wouldn't have assumed to tell me what course to take.

Also for your information, I do have some knowledge of people that have moved their children around the school system between countries. The result was not good. I know someone took their son to Australia for five years - he could speak English so could go to school there and did ok. Now, back in Japan, he is several years behind his peers and unable to catch-up to the required standard to get into university. His future is not bright. Another family I know are going to leave Japan because their kids are getting to high school age. Their future is back in the UK, not Tokyo - their university professor father will have to give up his job here because of that.