arry gah toe

Serendipitously, a friend of mine just forwarded me the following link:

http://www.gogonihon.com/en/learn-japane...y-in-japan

It's something his friend has been working on, and he was asking what I thought of it. I've not had a chance to have a good look (mainly because I'm not looking for a course in Japan), but I thought I'd post it in case it's of any use to anyone here.

http://hajl.athuman.com/e/index.asp?code=100121

Friend from Osaka told me about this one. I'm pretty sure he's bringing me info. They have a Tokyo and Osaka campus. I have no pants on.

Just stating the facts.

I pretty much decided to go with Yamasa, that school just appeals to me. I'll only find out if it was a good idea after I've been there anyway.
I think I'll go rather later than sooner, so I can study before I go and get into a high class.
(Listening and speaking, especially ->Tandem...)
Two questions I have:

- How many days before course start should I arrive?
The placement test is on the first day of the course, right? So 2 days before?

- Any tipps on the appartments? I'll probably go with student village (shared) as option 1, because I need to save money, I just hope it won't be too loud...

If you feel like sharing your knowledge with me, feel free to email me xD

I don't really think there's such a thing as an intensive course in language. Either a language is taught effectively (like on ISI or when you selfstudy properly) or it's taught incorrectly (most US colleges from what I hear). There's a limit to how much of a language you can internalize in a given time, even if a course tries to cover more in less time, you won't actually learn more since you can't actually cover that much in such a short time.

It may be different for schools, but in Sophia, some uni in Waseda, and some language school in Tokyo, intensive courses were two classes back-2-back. (I went to Sophia, guy that lived in my building went to Waseda, met a guy who went to a language school)

Speaking of Sophia, it was structured like this. One class that focused on one area, followed by another class, with another teacher that focused on another area. So there is a good chance that there would be 2 quizzes/tests on two on topics, from two different texts on the same day.

The "areas" differ depending on class/school. Generally it will be kanji/grammar, speaking/listening/writing, etc.

lanval Wrote:I pretty much decided to go with Yamasa, that school just appeals to me.
- How many days before course start should I arrive?
The placement test is on the first day of the course, right? So 2 days before?

There's a limit (few days) on how early you can arrive, it says what this is on their website somewhere. I suggest arriving as early as they'll standardly let you (2 days sounds about right) so you have time to get over jetlag, unpack, etc. (Will depend a bit on what sort of flights you can get, too.)

Quote:- Any tipps on the appartments? I'll probably go with student village (shared) as option 1, because I need to save money, I just hope it won't be too loud...

I've stayed in villa 4 (when I was there nine months) and villa 2 (six weeks) before. Villa 2 is likely to be quieter than the village if you care about noise, but if it's full there's probably going to be a big queue for the bathroom in the morning. (When I was there there were only three of us rattling around in it, which was fine.) The website's pretty good for giving an idea of what the accommodation's like.

Hm,
I might choose Wahaha instead of Yamasa, but maybe you can help me decide (my head is spinning). Reason:
I'm on a really unpractical level: lower intermdiate/upper beginner in speaking/listening, lower intermediate/intermediate in reading.. so I cant enter ACJS yet.
about SILAC: Intermediate classes are usually offered using Seminar Format... It's only 15 hours a week. Also, I don't know if talking so much will really help me. I can do that outside of class, can't I? I prefer grammar in school, Wahaha seems more balanced, on the other hand they offer only 3 hours /day, and it seems kinda easygoing. Dunno how much a japanese roommate would make up for it.

puuuuuuuuuuuuh.

Edit:
Even if I do a placement test before, they don't test speaking, right?

lanval Wrote:Hm,
I might choose Wahaha instead of Yamasa, but maybe you can help me decide (my head is spinning). Reason:
I'm on a really unpractical level: lower intermdiate/upper beginner in speaking/listening, lower intermediate/intermediate in reading.. so I cant enter ACJS yet.
about SILAC: Intermediate classes are usually offered using Seminar Format... It's only 15 hours a week. Also, I don't know if talking so much will really help me. I can do that outside of class, can't I?

Well, it seems to me that if you think your speaking/listening is currently lagging behind your reading then a course format biased towards speaking/listening would be a good idea. SILAC is I think to some extent designed for students who've been studying in their home countries and end up with the same imbalance you have -- textbook/exam ability but a lack of conversational fluency. You can study grammar outside of class too :-)

Quote:so I cant enter ACJS yet

Not sure what you mean here on two levels: firstly, I'm guessing you mean "AIJP" -- "ACJS" is just all of Yamasa's on-site classes including SILAC. Secondly, AIJP covers all levels from absolute beginner up.

Dummy me. I didn't really consider that program because it has fixed schedule. But it's not really a problem. "Pre-advanced classes usually reach Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 2 (JLPT2) by the end of a quarter." That sounds very good.
So if I take that program, I don't have so much speaking I guess.
I just dont like speaking all the time in class. I always prefered listening to the teacher. I feel like producing the little content that's in my mind won't create much new knowledge. Besides, my first goal is understanding, talking comes second.
Only problem is:


AIJP Plus with Culture sem. And 3 day exc.
12 weeks
550,775 yen 4 886,55919 Euro - 10% = 4550
class size is 10.7


SILAC: 394 800 Yen = 3 502,72538 Euro – 260 =3240
In the off-peak and shoulder seasons the average class size is usually less than 6.

Wahaha estimation: 3 331,49285 Euro (11 weeks) -
3 h/day
japanese roomie

Ok, I'm going crazy... I read somewhere that the SILAC prog has more progress, and on the other side, that it's the other way around. Also read that long time students have less motivation. I just dont know whats better..

@pm215: Sure you have a point, HOWEVER: I really really hate repeating grammar that I already know or heard a lot. And I have no clue how low they would place me according to my speaking.
If you ask me, good grammar basis = less mistakes in speaking,
So far, I studied grammar so that I could read texts, in other words: I have some gaps, but maybe I can improve that in the time remaining.

lanval Wrote:Ok, I'm going crazy... I read somewhere that the SILAC prog has more progress, and on the other side, that it's the other way around. Also read that long time students have less motivation. I just dont know whats better..

SILAC = Intensive Conversational Japanese Studies
AIJP = Intensive Japanese Studies

If your primary interest isn't conversation then SILAC doesn't sound right for you?

SILAC goes faster than AIJP but doesn't go into as much detail. AIJP will have
lessons on reading comprehension, essay writing, etc. I've not done SILAC
but I'm sure they won't do those.

Quote:@pm215: Sure you have a point, HOWEVER: I really really hate repeating grammar that I already know or heard a lot. And I have no clue how low they would place me according to my speaking.

The placement test for AIJP is a paper test and an interview. In my experience
the majority of people do better on the paper test than the interview, so end up
getting placed based on their speaking ability.

If you're thinking of doing AIJP, my recommendation would be to stay for longer
than 3 months, so that even if you get placed low you can treat the first 3
months as revision and speaking/listening practice even if you have seen
all the grammar before.

If you can only do 3 months, do as much as speaking practice as you can
i.e. You will need to able to answer questions using 〜させる, 〜そう etc.
to get out of the real beginners classes.

Evil_Dragon Wrote:日本語お上手ですね

Jeez I really hate that sentence...

start_three Wrote:If you're thinking of doing AIJP, my recommendation would be to stay for longer
than 3 months, so that even if you get placed low you can treat the first 3
months as revision and speaking/listening practice even if you have seen
all the grammar before.

I'd agree -- I don't think AIJP makes much sense unless you're going to do at least two terms (6 months). One thing to consider (if whatever visa you're on permits it, standard student visa probably won't) is doing two or four weeks of SILAC to get yourself up to speed before the start of AIJP. When I was doing AIJP I placed in a slightly lower class than I was hoping for because although I knew all the basic grammar my grasp was a little shaky. In fact that first term spent revising and getting the basics really solid was really useful and I'd have been totally floundering if I'd gone straight into an intermediate course. But if I'd only have had three months there rather than nine I think I'd have been really irritated by it.

I only have 3 months, Sept.-Dec., since my money is limited, and I dont wanna pay 200 Euro just for the student visa.
So if I pick SILAC, even if I get placed lower than I want to ( can't you talk with them about your wishes?), I wouldn't suffer from so much reviewing, right?
Thinking about it, I don't mind speaking if it teaches me grammar and vocab along the way.
But if I get put into seminar format class, I will only have 3 lessons a day! If that's the case, Wahaha or the AIJP program might be the better choice...
And my head keeps spinning. I really suck at deciding.. Gomen nasai.

If you're from Germany, then you are probably native german. If that's the case, forget about japanese and Japan, go to India instead. I saw a deutsche-welle Tv-Sendung about India, and that german as a foreign language booms there, it's in high demand, since a lot if german companies are moving their production over there. So, drop japanese, and go for hindi and teaching german in india. It might work out

Nah, but thanks for the tip xD