Learning in a Japanese highschool

Next year school year (grade 9) or the one after that (grade 10) I'm going to live with my mother in Japan and of course I'm going to continue my education there. Right now my japanese knowledge is minimal and I can only speak basic conversations and around grade 1ish kanji

We would really really prefer for me to go to either a public or private school around Saitama (around the Kawaguchi area) I know that apparently the highschool I am going to needs to have a teacher or council thingy for foreign students?
I would prefer to not go to a international school because I really want to experience a normal japanese highschool life while I have the opportunity

So I know that I have to improve my japanese A LOT for me to be able to study, and even with that I will still have a hard time but do you have any tips to make the transition easier? For now, and when I finally arrive at japan? Is cram school applicable for my case?

Btw im from the Philippines if that can help in any way

Welcome to Japan. I think, this is not the right time for you to study in Japan. So after completed 12 years education in your home country, you will come Japan as an university student like million of other foreigners.

You will not be applicable to study in high school.
(I do not know if you have Japanese nationality)
the reason, if you do not speak the language how will you study.

1) finish your school in you home country first
2) Go to a private English High school, which is exspensive

�umy japanese knowledge is minimal and I can only speak basic conversations and around grade 1ish kanji�v
�uI really want to experience a normal japanese highschool life�v

At the risk of sounding mean, those two things aren't really compatible. You want to experience normal Japanese high school life, but you don't have normal Japanese high school-level language skills.

Imagine, for example, that someone in your home country could only read and write the local language at a first-grade level, but wanted to study in regular high school-level classes. That's a huge difficulty for the school and teachers. In Japan, high school starts from the 10th grade, so you're essentially asking the school to either simplify its lessons by nine years' worth of language proficiency, or to somehow pull your language skills up by that amount through supplementary lessons and instructions.

The first isn't going to happen, and the second would take a huge amount of time/effort from the instructors. Situations like yours are one of the precise reason international schools exist: to help foreign immigrants get a competent education even without speaking the country's primary language.

Making things even more difficult for you is the fact that high school is not required in Japan. While the vast majority of people in Japan do go to high school, it's an optional level of education, and so it's going to be especially hard to convince a regular, non-international school that it should accommodate your lower Japanese language level.

As for what you can do to make your transition easier, learning as much Japanese as you can, especially reading and writing, will be a must-do. That said, if you're planning to arrive in Japan at the start of the next school year (which would be this coming April in Japan), it's unlikely you'll be anywhere near high school-level proficiency in Japanese, and you probably should brace yourself for the possibility of most, if not all, regular Japanese high schools saying they're unable to accept you as a regular student. I know you want to "experience a normal Japanese high school life," but it's not the schools' job to provide that to every foreigner who wants to live in Japan. Their job is to provide high-school level instruction, in a variety of subjects for students, not teach them elementary and junior high-level Japanese.

As a side note, you may have a better chance of finding a regular school that will accommodate you if you're moving to Japan because of some sort of political or financial duress. If that's not the case, though, you really shouldn't expect a school to alter its instruction just because you like the idea of going to a regular Japanese high school.

senior high school is not mandatory in Japan.
you need to have a permission from a school. they will request you that you have an education as similar as other students.

Although Japan is yet to become a dream world for foreign high school students, ordinary schools do accept them even if the student doesn't fully speak the language.

Show the website below to your family in Japan, and let them discuss the issue with the Board of Education in Saitama.
https://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/f2214/kikokugaikokujinsapoutojigyou2401...

Hello Uco,

Could you explain because this does not sound like a school but more like a language school.
"Saitama Prefectural International Exchange Association General Consultation Center for Foreigners Saitama"

I cannot imagine that someone with low or basic skills can follow the same level like Japanese students.

My daughter is going to junior high school and speaks 3 languages perfectly.
Although the school had several foreign students, but they could not keep up with the study and had to stop and transfer to a more international school. The main issue is they could just speak basic japanese which is not enough for writing and reading.

Hello Uco,

I just red better.
It seems the school has a special department for foreigners so still separated department

@justmyday Looks like your Japanese language skills aren't great either. That's a webpage from the Saitama préfecture board of education, where they introduce the support measures that are available to foreign students at public schools in Saitama.

Thank you, guest. And just to add, these measures are encouraged throughout the country by the Ministry of Education, in other words a division in the Japanese government.

could you explain the measures in detail ?
according to my understanding, there is almost nothing which may be helpful for OP.

Thanks everyone for answering

Im part japanese from my mothers side and she wants me to go with her since she is transferring there to work.

Is my choice just really to go to and international school of some sort? I read in the saitama board of education there is apparently 10 schools now in Saitama which may provide for special selection for foreign students but how will they base it on?

I may be selfish but i really want to try for normalish schools, and if that doesnt work out then international school is my only choice

To the OP, Ken and anyone interested,

I apologize if my previous post was difficult to understand, but I was just trying to say that going to international school is NOT the only choice for the OP.

There are support measures that are available to foreign students at public high schools throughout Japan including those in Saitama. The measures are all explained in detail on the link I provided on Nov 14, so I won't bother to explain it here. (If the link doesn't work, please do an Internet search on �é‹Ê ŠO�‘�lŽ™“¶�¶“k‚Ö‚Ì‹³ˆç�[ŽÀƒTƒ|�[ƒgŽ–‹Æ or phone the Board of Ed directly.)

I'm sorry that most of the English info there is automatic translation, but what I am saying is that if you want to have a student with language barrier enroll in public senior high school, you can show the website to the Board and negotiate, with an interpreter between you and the board.

Additionally, here is some info on Saitama International Association. Perhaps you should contact them first. As you can see, they also provide guidance for foreign students wishing to enter high school.
http://sia1.jp/en/foreign/

My understanding is that the measures are being encouraged for the benefit of both Japan and the students who come from abroad. That part, I can explain.

Teenagers with language/cultural barrier is increasing in Japan, because (A) foreign parents are increasing and (B) more Japanese families are living temporarily in foreign countries. For the record, I used to be a child of B in the 1970s.

If no one supports these children, they would be left out of the Japanese-speaking community. If they feel left-out or have less opportunities, they may end up with various problems including less income and more crime. Then the other Japanese people could become involved in that poverty or crime and the society may become a mess.

Meanwhile, senior high schools aren't really that difficult to enter, for better or for worse. A lot of kids, including those without language barrier, enter high schools of lower academic levels, end up being behind their studies, and drop out both from the schools and society. So, it's not only foreign students who need support, but at least you can support foreign students by providing language/cultural lessons.

Now, whether these measures are working or not is another story. It is indeed only recently that the government became aware as this, but I suppose it depends on the school, the year, the student, etc. For those who already tried the support and were finally forced to chose other schools, I'm sorry. But in my case, it wasn't just because of the lack of support. I couldn't handle the different values that existed in the specific public school my parents forced me to go. So I was very happy when they encouraged me to attend a private (Japanese) school for the following year. The values at the private school was closer to my family's, and I felt more at home there.

IN SHORT:
It's not at all impossible for a teenager with language barrier to attend ordinary public senior high school in Saitama, because the government is telling you that it's possible. So, you should negotiate if you really want to go. Whether you will be happy with the result or not, I don't know. But, personally, I don't think it's right for us Internet users to deny the hopes of a young student, especially when the measures are supposed to be there.

I hope this information helps.

I'm a teacher at international high schools (including in Japan in the past) and have seen an increase in non-english speaking students enter in the past decade. I'll make some general comments which may or may not be relevant (or helpful) to you. I also taught a large number of refugee students in my home country so have some understanding of students learning a new language.

(1) Students who have often spent time in an intensive language (reading/speaking/writing) program normally preform much better when in the mainstream. I've seen programs like this in both my home country (Australia) and at my current school (in Singapore). Do some research and see if Saitama or Tokyo wards have schools for people new to the country to get a crash course in Japanese.

(2) It normally takes 3 years to learn an another language academically. This may be more for a written language such as Japanese which has letters as words instead of sounds.

(3) For students to perform their best in Grade 12 - it's best to start learning the language before Grade 8 in a fluent environment. Then again - you might not be looking to be a lawyer or doctor so this might not be a problem.

(4) I've often seen students repeat a grade to help learn the language. Note that I've also heard of some teachers going really far in Japan (the local system) to help non-Japanese speakers get their skills up. If your lucky enough to be one of these students - don't forget to show your teacher gratitude (not sure if this is the right word - just show that you are thankful) as this is the reason we teach - to make a difference.

(5) Japan has a very diverse set of high schools compared to other countries. As such - if there is more than one in your area which has the subset of what you need - look at all and choose the school which you feel 'is right for you'.

"International schools" are not counted as a school in Japan. Even if you graduate from one, you can't get a diploma.

While there are more skilled people contributing to this thread and some with better knowledge of the topic at hand, I can provide a little experience.
Today I attended a presentation at a high school in Tokyo with my friend and her son who is going to junior high next year (second one I've been to). My Japanese is still terrible, but I can probably read better than I can speak, so I spent my time this morning reading what I could of the presentation (a little) and listening to the presenters. While the school had a light emphasis on English in their curriculum, there was none used at all in a 90 minute presentation (zero, zip, nada). All of the information at the school and associated area were pure Japanese. (I was probably the only western face in a crowd of many hundred (I didn't see any foreigners).
If the OP has minimal Japanese, they are hardly going to be able to experience school life. More likely suffer from a degree of social isolation unless they luck into some people prepared to interact without spoken language (that happens). Also, there is the small issue of the entry examination - for the schools in the private sector I've been learning about, the tests are in (you guessed it) Japanese. You don't just rock-on-up and enroll from what I've seen.
An "international" school to continue your education, and then return to your home country to finish your studies. Living in Japan for two years might be a great opportunity/experience, but don't ignore that you still need to finish school, even if it puts you back a year or two. I've seen that with Japanese people going over-seas and then returning to Japan with their kids struggling to catch up even after five years - they missed out too much of their own schooling.

@ ".." : My comments were general in nature and not specifically related at international schools. It was based on the 13 years of teaching mainly secondary language learners.

I can't directly talk about the intricate details of the Japanese education system - but tend to stick to what I know. When I worked in Japan between 2011-14, International schools were in some type of 'grey zone' - similar to a hair cutting academy. It tends to be the outside of Japan organizations such as the IB, AP, CIS, NEASC & WASC which allows students to get a diploma. Note that it will be an IB or overseas country diploma - but is can get you into Japanese universities mainly if content is presented in English.

International schools are often quite expensive and often differ in quality significantly. It's only really the Indian schools which are reasonably priced but I would not want to move to Japan to attend an Indian school.

I'll still stress that I can't make comments on Japanese public schools and what they offer as it's not my area of expertise.

I agree with JapanCustomTours. that is reality which I know about schools.

Hi again,

I happened to find more non-private-school options the OP can think about. Sorry that the info is in Japanese, but I hope someone near you can read and discuss it with you.

A TV documentary about foreign SHS students struggling shows a student attending night junior HS. By attending junior high, a student would be able to catch up easier so that (s)he could take a senior high entrance exam.
https://www.nhk.or.jp/ohayou/digest/2019/02/0207.html

There is a night JHS in Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama Pref.
https://www.pref.saitama.lg.jp/f2213/yakanchugakusetumeikai.html

I'm not sure if you are qualified, but here are some public SHS in Tokyo that accept foreign exchange students.
https://gplusmedia.com/ja/press-room/10-japanese-high-schools-accept-f...

Note, again, that I'm not saying that it's easy or practical. I'm just laying out facts, because the OP wishes to know.