Hello there,
I am reaching out to just try to learn more about schools and how to sort through all of them.
I’d like to do a year or so, maybe 2 if I really enjoy the first year. I have very little ability currently. I would be moving with my partner who wants to be an English teacher. I prefer kind of smaller, quieter areas – somewhere with a little larger space for housing, but still close enough to a larger city with English speaking Drs since I have some autoimmune disorders that need monitoring/treatment. I have enough money saved up to do it for a few years without working part time. I’m just starting to do research to understand what I should be looking for. It would be nice to feel like I don’t have so much homework that I can explore on weekends sometimes if I want.
Hachijoji, Mitaka, Futtsu, Fuchu, Sapporo, and Fukuoka all interest me in terms of areas. But I’m very open to other areas as well. Okinawa could be cool too.
I’ve visited Narita, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Mitaka, Shiodome, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Sapporo, Otaru, Furano, Ebetsu, Naha and most of Okinawa, as a tourist.
I’m very much a nature person and work in conservation in Hawai’i, so having access to beautiful green spaces is also important to me. I’ve lived in Hawai’i for 10 years and Minnesota for 19. So I am really tolerant of a lot of temperatures.
I would love to be at a school where I’d meet interesting people from the all over the world.
Any recommendations or stories of experiences would be appreciated.
Thank you!
by Living_Corgi6662
3 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Language school suggestions **
Hello there,
I am reaching out to just try to learn more about schools and how to sort through all of them.
I’d like to do a year or so, maybe 2 eventually. I have very little ability currently. I would be moving with my partner who wants to be an English teacher. I prefer kind of smaller, quieter areas – somewhere with a little larger space for housing, but still close enough to Tokyo or other large city with English speaking Drs since I have some autoimmune disorders that need monitoring/treatment. I have enough money saved up to do it for a few years without working part time. I’m just starting to do research to understand what I should be looking for. It would be nice to feel like I don’t have so much homework that I can explore on weekends sometimes if I want.
Hachijoji, Mitaka, Futtsu, Fuchu, Sapporo, and Fukuoka all interest me in terms of areas. But I’m open to other areas as well.
I would love to be at a school where I’d meet interesting people from the all over the world.
Any recommendations or stories of experiences would be appreciated.
Thank you!
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I recently went through the process of researching language schools that I’d like to attend starting next year. One thing I’ve found is that most people only attend one school. That makes sense, since most people are getting their visa sponsored through the school they’re attending and do not switch schools while they are there (not even sure how that would work, logistically).
What this means is that a person will have an opinion on their school, and at most hear about other schools they may know of through other students they’ve met.
My recommendation is to search this sub, and also the Japanese language subs because others have posted extensively about this subject. You will find discussions of practically every language school in Japan. I personally have chosen ISI in Takadanobaba due to the good review score and posts/comments I’ve seen about it on Reddit. I also know someone who attended a language school in Tokyo (just graduated), and met a few students that went to ISI and enjoyed it.
Go Go Nihon! has a scale that filters schools by “intensity.” I am not sure how accurate it is, but it can give you a starting point in what schools might fit what you’re looking for. Most schools, from what I’ve seen, are about three-ish hours a day. Add in a few hours each evening studying and you can get idea of how busy you’ll be. Most people seem to still have plenty of time to enjoy being in Japan, as well…so it’s not something I’m worried about, personally. I’m doing this to potentially move there permanently, so I have a strong motivation to learn as much as possible.
You’re guaranteed to meet people from all over the world at pretty much any school, but some are more geared toward Westerners than others. What I see recommended by everyone is to study as much as you can before starting your program, or at least learning Hiragana and Katakana, since that’s easy to learn on your own. I am using Genki and really enjoying it so far. Best of luck to you!
Hi OP, I’m currently a language school student with an autoimmune disease (lupus) and I go to ISI Takadanobaba! Classes started three weeks ago and I’m having a nice time so far (we’re currently on Golden Week break until May 7). I’m not a total beginner to Japanese but my language ability has degraded by A Lot so I opted to start from the beginning.
I highly recommend staying in the greater Tokyo area to be closer to English-speaking practicioners; this is what made me choose to be in Tokyo vs. Osaka. The suburbs of western Tokyo sound like they would be ideal for you! (I also get Social Security so I need to be close to the US Embassy but that’s another story) No matter which school you go to make sure you let them know that you have an autoimmune disease – it will not preclude you from being accepted but it’s nice to get it out of the way. My teachers have been really understanding about my condition so far.