Any chance anyone has recent-ish experience with the Kumon kokugo program as a Japanese language learner and wants to share what it was like? I’m about to finish up the Nihongo program, and can move to the Kokugo one, but am rather torn on if it’s worth it. I don’t have specific goals of passing JLPT or any other tests, and I don’t really need to be able to write kanji, I just really would like to get my reading skills and vocabulary up to be generally more independent. I’ve heard from folks who started Kumon before they had the Nihongo program, but am not finding much feedback from anyone who has done the Nihongo (which I have been happy with but which basically tops out at N2 level) and moved on to the Kokugo one.
3 comments
I’m not familiar with this one, but I hear good things about WaniKani which goes up to N1 kanji (1000 characters alone). It might also be a good refresher for you
Don’t know about Kumon but there are many Japanese schools that teach reading, writing, conversation up to n1 and beyond. Though they are mostly all full time, i.e. every day 9 to 12.
I’ve done both the Nihongo and Kokugo, many years ago.
If you like the Kumon method for you, I’d highly recommend doing the Kokugo, even if just for having a study resource/additional input originally directed at native speakers. I personally think the immersion makes a world of difference.
No need to start from the initial levels, as those are made for little kids, so talk to your instructor to decide your starting level.