Hello. This summer I will be getting my BA degree in Media studies, and ideally right after, during the fall admission period around September/October, I will be moving to Tokyo for some time in order to attend a language school. One of the more notable ones that caught my attention is the Shinjuku language institute. I did a lot of research on it and will personally message them for further information, however before I do that, I decided to see if someone has any firsthand experience, thoughts, opinions and/or advice. Some of the things that I’m mainly interested in:
1. I see that SNG arranged various partnerships with real state agencies for housing international students near the Shinjuku district, which includes apartments, dormitories and share houses. Does anyone have any experience with finding accommodation through SNG’s options? If so, do you have any tips or advice?
2. I am looking at weekday courses with a period of stay from 6 months to a year max. Are there any hidden/additional fees next to process fees, registration, insurance and textbooks?
For reference, I am 21 years old and of Serbian nationality. I have also lived in Australia, but currently I’m working and finishing for my bachelors in Slovenia. Ultimately this means nothing, since my passport is still Serbian, which brings me to the following question:
3. How strict are they towards new applicants? I’ve been told that language schools mostly care
about money and that there shouldn’t be problems. Does anyone have any experience with the
admission and enrollment procedure? What was it like for you?
I love languages and I’m looking forward to take initiative, stay focused and work hard in upgrading my skills. I also have a lot of Japanese and non-Japanese friends that I would like to see and spend some time with during the weekends. Thanks a bunch.
1 comment
They’re good for everything but speaking. 80% of my teachers were amazing, 1 of them being possibly the best language teacher I’ve ever had. I was in the conversation focused class, but was told if I wanted to practice speaking, to do it outside of class. If you want to study for the JLPT it is pretty good. I went at the start of COVID, so that could have played a part.
Overall a good school, but they definitely frustrated me at times. I went to a tutor 2-3 times a week, had multiple Japanese friends from previous trips, spent ~3 days a week with my Japanese girlfriend, in addition to SNG 5 times a week and rarely had issues in school. This definitely was not the case with my classmates.
I’d say most schools are the same. It’s all about the effort you put into it. The people who didn’t study and didn’t practice struggled and sometimes even failed. Usually having to retake a course.
I was told by classmates that there were 1 or 2 teachers that were pretty bad, but I only experienced one. She really only struggled due to her lack of knowledge with technology and was likely fine under normal circumstances.
I’d give them a 9/10 now. During my time there, I had moments I would give them a 3/10. This was mostly due to COVID issues and students inability to practice speaking outside of class due to lockdowns.
FYI: I went from only hiragana, katakana and numbers to around a JLPT 3 level. Let me know if you have any questions.