Laptop Recommendations for Japanese Language School?

9 comments

1. Hmm i been using an ipad and ipencil since 2017. For apps, i use Midori (japanese dictionary) and Notability for note taking.

   Since apple products are synced to each other, it was easy to transfer my work around my apple devices.

2. unless you’re planning on using your laptop to do anything more than go on the internet, take notes and make flashcards, you don’t have to worry about specs.

3. Something lightweight so carrying it around isn’t a pain. Something with a long battery life so you can be out studying all day without charging it.

   My friend used an iPad it with an Apple Pencil when she was in language school in Korea and she really liked it. She could annotate readings easily using the pen, then switch to the keyboard and stand attachment to use it like a normal computer.

   I use I Microsoft Surface tablet for work and I like how portable and lightweight it is. It’s also nice that the kickstand is built in. Work gave me the cheapest keyboard option available, but I think it’d be an even better experience if I had a better keyboard

4. For dictionary, handwriting recognition, note taking, and language learning apps I’d just use a tablet, since it’s optimized for this kinds of usage. For Japanese immersion, I’d use a Windows laptop, since it’s hard to beat in terms of various plugins that simplify your life (chrome+yomichan, Textractor for visual Novels, various OCR apps for manga and games, mpv plugins for video watching, LLN for Netflix, etc)

5. In language school you need a pencil an eraser and a little notebook. Everything will be on paper. Japan and Korea are very different animals

6. iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, and Apple Pencil will be the move from my experience.

7. I only have experience with Kanji practice apps on iOS but I never found that they were something I wanted to use much. A cheap notepad and a good pen will give you much more value for money.

8. I’m a huge fan of the Surface Pro line. Surface pen is good, it has windows on it, you can dual boot it if you want another OS, can do some mid-tier gaming on it, and it’s light. Got a Surface Pro 4 back in 2015, and I’m just now looking at upgrading to the SP9.

9. I would say a laptop is NOT critical to studying in Japanese language school. Take notes in class with pencil and paper. Pre-pandemic I don’t recall any schools permitting devices beyond specialised “electronic dictionaries” ).

   To practice writing kanji, I would recommend pencil & paper, so a touch screen is not required.

   Check your housing has wifi (some places are on cabled networks).

   Japanese electricity may differ, so check any power bricks are compatible.

   Some electronic warranties only are covered in country of purchase.

   Consider traveling light without valuables, that makes it easy to move around. And losing stuff isn’t devastating.

   You might consider an inexpensive lightweight laptop or tablet. Remember power bricks can be very heavy to carry around. My 2015 Dell still works fine (albeit with a lot of upgraded and replaced parts).