College in Japan

7 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **College in Japan**

   Hello people of reddit

   For context I am a 18 yearo student who is not fluent in Japanese, but due to circumstances I have decided it was best for me to study in Japan. I want to study 3D animation and vfx. I was wondering if I had to know Japanese or if there was any international schools in Japan which teaches in English. Additionally if you know 3D cg schools plz help a brother out I’m dying looking for schools. 🙏🙏

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2. Get a fist of cash and set it on fire. That’s basically what you want to do to get education in English in Japan.

3. Right, so the question is, ‘Can I learn Japanese in Japan by teachers who teach it in English’?

   The technical answer is *yes…* but the practical answer is, ‘Learn Japanese properly from wherever you’re from before you arrive.’ I’d say spend at least a year just solely devoted to Japanese language study from an accredited school, get the basics down, learn how to speak and write somewhat coherently. You’re going to have a hell of a difficult time if you go to any country without the necessary language skills and expect to just jump in, academia especially. Good luck though.

4. One path is to study at a language school with a view to entering university or trade school.

   There are plenty of Chinese, Koreans, and other Asians on this path but it is tough. I met a few westerners who have tried but it is difficult. I think the biggest challenge is getting sufficiently fluent in 18 months of language school.

   Language schools in Japan typically start from zero and 100% in Japanese. You can apply for a special language school visa. If you study a lot of home, you could test out of the beginner classes. For reference, most western “semester abroad” students who are in their 3rd year of university would be enrolled in the beginner 1 or beginner 2 classes IME.

   Most students in language schools are not westerners.

   I don’t know any language school in Japan that teaches principally in English. There just are not many western students.

5. I assure you that your best option is not to study in Japan

6. You need to know Japanese for undergraduate education, any undergrads that are supposedly in English are meh at best.

   There are ***graduate*** programs where you can get a good education while knowing very little Japanese (still at least JLTP N3 for general survival), but VFX/Animation is NOT one of those areas.

7. You are going to need some Japanese skill no matter how you slice it, even if you found a school that would teach in English(can’t say I’ve heard of any, at least on the surface), you still going to live in Japan.

   That’s kind of like moving to Russia not speaking a word of it expecting it all to work out. How are you going to buy groceries, go to any business, fill out paperwork, read maps, understand directions, read signs, flush a toilet, go to a laundromat, or just about anything when you are illiterate and can’t understand the language? Once you add the culture shock on top of that, you are going to have a hell of a time.

   Study Japanese for a year or two, not casually but put in a couple hours every day, learn how to read signs, maps, directions, locations, a decent amount kanji, become able to speak basic sentences, and then go visit Japan. If you still really want to, keep working on your language skills until you can get into a Japanese program.