Are you thinking of studying the Japanese language in Japan? It is certainly the best option for learning Japanese, but also the most expensive. The cost of living in Japan is very expensive and courses at private language school don’t come cheap. If you are saving up for a extended stay to attend a Japanese language school make sure you do plenty of research to find a school that can meet your learning needs.
I have put together a list of Japanese schools that I recommend you consider.
Meguro Learning Center (MLC)
Location: Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Meguro Learning Center provides Japanese lessons for English speakers with a focus on daily conversation, business Japanese, and lessons for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. The teachers at MLC have all graduated from a standardized, 420-hour Japanese teaching program and also have taken 11-months of MLC’s own in-house teaching program. MLC has been operating since 1990 and has the reputation of being one of the best Japanese language schools in Tokyo.
Website: http://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/
Yamasa Institute
Location: Okazaki City, Okazaki
Yamasa Institute is an independent, non-profit teaching and research center under the governance of the Hattori Foundation. They provide an innovative, international, and professional learning community for Japan Studies and Japanese Language Studies. If you are keen on mastering Japanese then this is school I would recommend.Yamasa Institute courses include the most intensive accredited programs in Japan. They offer unmatched facilities, flexibility and choice – and as a non-profit organization, provide all of our programs as affordably as possible. Amazingly, tuition fees of the Yamasa Institute have not been increased since 1999! I recommend that you sign up for there newsletter at their website.
Website: http://www.yamasa.org/index.html
Genki Japanese and Culture School (GenkiJACS)
Location: Fukuoka City, Kyushu
One of only two Japanese language schools in the world that are currently accredited by the International Association of Language Centres, Genki Japanese and Culture School is an internationally acclaimed communicational Japanese language school that offers short-term study courses. The school is all about learning the Japanese language and culture in a relaxed and friendly environment. Nominated by popular vote in both 2009 and 2010 as one of the world’s top language schools, this could be the school for you.
Website: http://www.genkijacs.com/
International Institute of Japan
Location: Akihabara
Established in 19977, the Intercultural Institute of Japan offers both long term (up to two years) and short term courses to meet the needs of individuals wishing to study Japanese. The school also offers an intensive business course. A 10-week, five-day-per-week intensive course for business persons, company trainees, and individuals wishing to obtain jobs in Japan. They are also one of very few schools that offer a homestay program for students.
Website:http://www.incul.com/eng/index.html
If you are serious about studying in Japan make sure you hunt around to find a school that will meet your needs. Studying and living in Japan was a life changing experience for me. I had many great adventures and established some great friendships. Make sure you make the most of your investment by having clear learning goals to help you decide what school to study at in Japan. More importantly, explore the country, make friends and try to understand and respect the Japanese culture while you live there.
A lesson for beginners -- Days of the week in Japanese. I have fond memories of when I first started learning Japanese. For me, the Japanese language seemed so cultured and mysterious. I found it very attracting and desperately wanted to learn. Yet, learning the basics wasn’t easy. Just trying to learn the days of the week seemed like a challenge. Eventually, I discovered that the more I studied the easier it became for me to retain words and progress. But those early days were hard. Getting my head around the backwards grammar, polite Keigo language and those long greetings took quite a lot of study and effort.
I think the hardest aspect to learning the Japanese language is breaking through what I call the “basics threshold”. Most people stop learning a language because they feel that they are not progressing. The basics overwhelm them and they give up. So if you are struggling with the basics of Japanese DON’T GIVE UP. Persist and study everyday for a few more months and you’ll be surprised by how much your understanding of the language will improve. You must allow for some time for the old grey matter to adjust to learning a different language. Study for short periods everyday and do lots of revision to retain what you learn.
Enjoy the lesson -- Days of the week in Japanese.
If you want learn how to read Japanese check out -- http://readjapanesefast.com
If you are looking for something a bit more challenging check out our intermediate course -- http://speakjapanesefluently.com
We are going to continue our study on Japanese grammar in this post with our third lesson on particles. We are going to take a look at the particle も.
The particle も can be used to indicate similarity as in the words ‘too’ or ‘also’. This particle replaces が or は, when used:
A: 私がえいがすきです。
B: 私もえいががすきです。
A: I like movies
B: I also like movies
This is a reasonably simple use of も, which can also be used in a double patternsuch as in the following sentence:
A: えいががすきですか、おんがくがすきですか。
B: えいがもおんがくもすきです。
A: Do [you] like movies, or do [you] like music?
B: [I] like both movies and music.
Remember that because も marks a similarity to something previously mentioned, you cannot use も out of the blue. It requires a prompt either by someone else, or by something you yourself just said.
A second use of も is after the て form of verbs and verbal adjectives. In this use, も acts as an emphatic contrasting particle, meaning something like the English “even [by/if] …”. The phrase below
“Even [by] leaving now, [you] probably won’t make it.” translates to いま いっても まにあわない でしょう。
There are two special things that concern this particle. One, a special case of this use of も is in combination with the copula です, which becomes でも. We will look at this in a later post.
The second is this particle can be used with question pronouns. Have a look at the examples below:
なに means “what”, なにも means “anything” when followed by positive verb or “nothing”, when followed by a negative verb.
どこ means “where”, どこも means “anywhere” when followed by a postive verb or “nowhere”, when followed by a negative verb.
だれ means “who”, だれも means “anyone” when followed by a postive verb or “no one”, when followed by a negative verb.
This rule continues for words like どんな (what kind of?), どっち (which way?), いつ (when?), どうして (why?) and so forth and so forth.
As you can see the simple use of particles can greatly change the context and meaning of the Japanese language. If you have ever taken the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) before you will know one whole section of the grammar test is devoted to particles. Particles are important. So we will continue our study of them. Look forward to the next post on the particle の.
