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Learn Japanese in Japan? 2009/2/2 05:35
Hi^_^
erm, well, Im 17 years old and I know its quite early to think about those stuff (as my mom says). But I really want to study Japanese in Japan, for something about a year, after I graduate. The money isnt a problem and I heard that theres alot of institutes for studing Japanese. I looked in Yamasa Institute website, and it looks good^^.
Is there anyone here that studied Japanese that way? I would be really glad to hear from experience. And well, would it be better to get at least BA before going to study in Japan? My mom keeps trieng to convince me its better that way.
by Nika (guest)  

Degree 2009/2/2 15:50
Getting a degree before doing any traveling is sound advise.
by educated (guest) rate this post as useful

degree 2009/2/2 16:36
since you're young i would say it's a waste of time for you to get a BA abroad before going to japan.

why not get your degree in japan. there are a number of universities that teach their entire curriculum in english.
by winterwolf rate this post as useful

What's it worth? 2009/2/2 18:48
But would you say a degree awarded by a Japanese university would have as much credibility as one awarded by a UK or USA (etc.) institution???

by Nula (guest) rate this post as useful

... 2009/2/2 23:05
I learned more Japanese in America than in classes in Japan. Better teachers I think.
by Beto (guest) rate this post as useful

Well 2009/2/2 23:32
For my opinion, if you want to learn a language its better to learn it in its country. I mean, its faster and better if you use the Japanese you study in your everyday life, its more effective.
I never heard of universities in Japan that teach in English, can someone give me their names?^^; it'll be very helpful :)
by Nika (guest) rate this post as useful

Communication? Not a lot.. 2009/2/2 23:43
If you plan to study Japanese in Japan, don't expect to be doing much communication.

Do expect to be whisked relentlessly and superficially through Japanese grammar, one 'atarashii pattarn' after another.

I have excrutiatingly painful experiences of Japanese language 'learning' at the key institutes in my locality: YWCA, Trident, Yamasa. The way of teaching is pretty much exactly and eerily the same - a Japanese take on the very old fashioned PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) teaching approach, only with way too much presentation, little real practice, and paltry communication).

Expect your teacher to teach to the book (which is doggardly the syllabus), and to the syllabus timetable regardless of whether most students get it or not.

Don't expect to have much pair or group interaction opportunities. I once had a teacher effectively put our group of 16 students on hold while she meticulously checked each student's homework. 20 minutes!

From what I gather regarding Yamasa, I'm probably in the minority here with a negative view, so read up on that. And on the positive side I will say that although the teacher training seemed to me to create clone-like teachers and teaching at all 3 places mentioned, Yamasa teachers were without a doubt the most dedicated and enthusiastic - just NOT the most au fait with communicative language teaching approaches.

So, if you plan to study in Japan, I hope you like grammar...

by Nula (guest) rate this post as useful

agree 2009/2/3 00:49
i agree that the japanese teaching method basically sucks at most schools across the entire country. as mentioned it's basically just rote learning and develops absolutely no real skills.

that being said if you're living in japan and can't somehow start learning to speak japanese you may be a hopeless case, i mean, everyone here speaks japanese, you have to communicate somehow.

you'll pick up japanese pretty quickly here even without studying it at a language school if you put effort into it. buy a good university level textbook back at home and bring it with you. try out the stuff you learn in real situations.

unless you take a japanese course from a western university located in japan (like temple or the sofia progam in english) i wouldn't bother with a japanese course in japan for anything other than a visa.
by winterwolf rate this post as useful

learning 2009/2/3 05:57
Here's what my sister did: Studied Japanese for a year straight at her university in the States. Then she went over to Japan on a 1 year exchange program at Kansia Gaidi (spelling?). She stayed with a home-stay family almost the whole time. She learned more convesational Japanese in 1 month during home-stay than the whole year in class. She was pretty fluent in conversational Japanese by time she got back to the states. She did not however, learn a lot of writing other than hiragana/katakana. Very little kanji.
Even though that was 20 years ago and she has not used Japanese much since then, she could comunicate with my Japanese mother-in-law when she was over here for our wedding.
by cf (guest) rate this post as useful

:) 2009/2/5 01:42
Thanks for everyones answers!
by Nika (guest) rate this post as useful

Immersion definitely best way 2009/2/5 07:42
If you are serious about learning a foreign language and being functionally conversant in the shortest amount of time then nothing beats immersing yourself in the language in its native country. Additionally, the experience of living and studying in a foreign country is a wonderful one that will be with you the rest of your life. Now is not a bad time to do it as you are quite young and have relatively few responsibilities.
That being said, should you choose to take some time off in between high school and college to study in Japan, be sure not to fall into the trap of never getting around to going back to school. I one year exchange program should be fine but I definitely would not stay for any longer.
I think cffs sisterfs method may be the best as she was in university and went on an exchange program. If you university has a well established exchange program with a Japanese university you may find that room and board and many expenses will be taken care of as part of the program. This is what I did (although I went to China rather than Japan) and was able gain a very good command of Chinese before I left.
I actually have kind of a related question regarding Japanese study. Can anyone give me an idea of approximately how long it would take to learn sufficient Japanese to pass the JLPT level 1 if one were living and studying in Japan? I understand everyone student will be different; but in general what would be a reasonable expectation?
by Mark (guest) rate this post as useful

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