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Classes are good in terms of practicing speaking/writing skills. While self-study is better in terms of kanji, vocab and understanding/listening. But I believe that, you can improve you're speaking/writing if you just practice it out with native speakers. So hanging out with a lot of Japanese people would help a lot.
All that matters is that, in the long run get to a good level of Japanese(preferably fluent)
Joined: Jul 2009
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I'll agree with ThomasB.
The reason I began studying Japanese was because a friend of me started studying Japanese after we graduated from high school.
However, nearly four years later I'm now nearing graduation and have learned a useful degree for getting the job I want. His options for a job however are fairly limited, his best bet being getting a crappy job at some Japanese company in our home country.
His Japanese IS still beter then mine though (somewhere between JLPT2 and JLPT1, for the record), however I didn't start seriously learning 日本語 until July last year. So I can't help but wonder how our skills would have compared would I have started this serious learning right at the beginning.
Joined: Sep 2008
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It really depends on the university. I skipped to the hardest level of Japanese and we only cover the last 4 chapters of Genki 1. We don't even start book number 2.
=__=
Joined: Dec 2005
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I have a Japanese major with an A average from a fairly good university, and I didn't pass JLPT 2 after graduating. Thank God I did a double major, I would have felt completely useless otherwise. But I have friends who studied at Berkeley and UBC, both with big and prestigious Japanese language programs, and they were much closer to fluency when they graduated.
Nonetheless I think self-study is more efficient and effective, especially with the materials assembled by the many people in this forum who are generous with their time.
You can take Japanese language classes to boost your grade average and to impress employers that you managed to do something "hard", but don't count on it being a fast-track to fluency.
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JLPT 2? People at my college would be lucky to pass JLPT 3. I'm a Japanese major and I can definitely say without a doubt that taking Japanese in college is just a waste of time. (or in my case an easy ticket for a degree) People are still stuck on their precious little hand-made flashcards where I come from.
Also, is it just me or does everybody think that Japanese teachers in general suck at teaching? The majority of them just read straight from the book and make everyone talk to each other half the class in broken Japanese. The only good teacher I had was an American that lived in Japan for about 10 years. That guy actually added a lot to the class.
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I'd have to agree that classes are of no real use. After self-teaching for less than two years I jumped into the high-end of the courses and had absolutely no problem tackling their material. The people in the class barely knew any kanji, couldn't read any actual books or manga, and were just altogether mediocre at the language. I was extremely disappointed to see people who had been learning for a longer period than me struggling so much.
The only thing classes are good for is an easy A and to meet people with somewhat similar interests. Oh, and they can give you speaking practice if you don't know anyone else learning the language or that speaks the language.
Something funny is that the professors were so amazed by my self-taught Japanese that they've added Heisig's books to the curriculum.
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It really depends on the program, your professors, and your motivation for outside study.
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I just wanted to add that having a Japanese degree is not a total loss. That is, if you are planning on doing anything in the military. Because I have self-studied Japanese before taking college courses I have a really high GPA because of it. (over 3.8) It just so happens that if you do something like Army ROTC that your GPA is one of the biggest factors in getting what job you want. Also, since it is a language degree, you get additional points with them as well. But other than the military, I would say a Japanese degree is pretty worthless.
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The way I see it and read from the current responses, if you majored only in Japanese, you'd have enough knowledge of the Japanese language to get you by and be able to speak to the same level as a junior high school student. Why would anyone hire you then? There are well over 100 million people who are able to speak Japanese quiet fluently. The key is to have something over them than just the language which will get you the desirable career choice. While still using Japanese, I might add.
Just my two cents.
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You'll be incompetent with any degree if you only do what it takes to get the grades. Classtime and assignments shouldn't be the sum total of your education.
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Well to put it plain and simple, you could study for 4 years+ in college and take Japanese classes which require minimal effort to pass and have the majority of your days eaten up by taking all of the other general classes not included in your major...in ENGLISH!
Or...
You can self-study 24hrs/day at home limiting your study time only to the amount of effort you want to put in it.
If you are one of those people who take college courses in Japanese because you are "too lazy to do it on your own". You might as well give up on learning the language all together.
Joined: Jan 2011
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I'm also coming from an almost entirely self-taught background (would have liked to take some Japanese courses but the schedule didn't fit in with my main courses).
I've met quite a few people who did study Japanese at various universities though. There has been quite a range of abilities from only around JLPT 3 level to above JLPT 1. Obviously it depends almost completely on how much effort the person puts in. Generally, as other people have said, their conversation and writing ability has tended to be better than self-taught students I've met.
Keep in mind that university is supposed to be about more than just learning your main course and learning other skills or even just getting used to living away from your parents can take up just as much time.
Having said that though, obviously if your only goal is to intensively learn a language then a normal university course is a poor choice. Also, usually you'll be in a much better position if you study another subject and then pick up a language as an extra. The exception to this would be if you really are interested in Japanese language, culture, literature, history etc. in an academic sense.
I get the impression that there are jobs in Japan for people with native English and good (but not fluent) Japanese other than teaching. However, good luck, persistence and contacts seem to be the key. There are plenty of English teachers in Japan who have good Japanese waiting to jump on any better jobs that are offered.
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American upper education for the win.
*wave flag
)