Learn japanese in Japan

Hi, I want to learn japanese in Japan, Tokyo preferably. I have been searching for schools that teach Japanese but most of them teach at a higher level and i don't know any Japanese. I was wondering if anyone on here knows schools that teach begginers Japanese in Tokyo. I am willing to stay 6months - 1 year in Japan.

Btw, on Japanese embassy's webiste says thati have to prove that I have completed 12 years of education. Is that correct? How do I prove it?

Thanks.

There are language schools (schools specializing in teaching the Japanese language to non-Japanese natives) and they provide courses of different levels.

I'm not familiar with the details on the embassy website, but maybe you read the requirement to enrol in a Japanese *university*???

Many if not all language schools have classes from beginners to moderate to advanced.

You can prove you completed 12 years of formal education by showing school transcripts, graduation diplomas etc.

If you went from Elementary school to high school then that is generally accepted as 12 years of formal education.

thanks for your help. So do i have to have all those documents translated into Japanese by a lawyer or someone like that?

Well, I googled 'japanese language school' and most of the ones that came up offer only short courses from 6 hours to 3 months. I am looking for something longer, like 6 months.

Whether or not to have the documents translated depends on your nationality. The school you apply will tell you which documents need to be translated. If you come from an English speaking country generally no, but if you are Chinese, Korean etc, then usually yes.

Try researching Tokyo Language Schools instead of Japanese Language Schools.
http://www.jref.com/language/japanese_schools.shtml

I have checked the link you posted, thanks.

Can you just tell me what all this Shibuya-ku, Nakano-ku and other words that finish with -ku means? Is it something important or can I ignore it?

-ku means ward. Shibuya-Ku means Shibuya ward in Tokyo.

Is it important? It depends, it matters to some people (especially in calculating how far it takes them to get there from where they live), it might not matter to you. Its pretty much the area in Tokyo the school is located.

oh, I think I know what all those -ka means! are they like different parts of Tokyo?
i wish these schools had offices in London so I could go to them and deal with them directly.... sorry, i didn't mean to moan...:)

hehehe, you both were just a second faster than me... i guess I am not as clever as i thought...

Has anyone here gone to a japanese language school? Any recomendations? Advice maybe?

If you cannot find a school to your liking, there are always online courses that you can take that start from the beginning and work their way up. You can usually complete about two years of education (American education) in a year. However not every learning site has that option.

Well, you see my plan it to actually go to Japan and experience it as well as study Japanese there.

Online classes have no area boundaries. You could easily go to Japan while enrolled into an online class and use what you learn. Also, it comes with materials, books and cd's, that will greatly help you're Japanese skills.

but can I still get a student visa if i study online???

That I am not sure on. It is something you are going to have to look up unless someone else knows.