So,

I will have some time off from work next spring and I would like to enroll in one of the intensive Japanese courses a lot of the language schools in Japan offer. Im currently situated on the Tokyo/Kanagwa boarder so if anyone could point me towards a good, reputable school I would appreciate it. I did a trial lesson at a school a few months ago (not the intensive course mind you) and it was awful so I'd like to get a good one if Im going to throw down the kind of money they require.

thx

I spent two months at one of the Arc Academy schools several years back. Not quite as rigorous as my college-level courses, but there was homework, projects, tests and I did learn a fair bit. They also tried to teach proper pronunciation, something I've never been taught anywhere else. Most students there were Chinese studying for entrance exams. At the very least, worth checking out.

http://en.arc-academy.net/

I made good progress in the intensive course at Japanese Language Institute (Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin).

http://www.nichibei.ac.jp/jli/index.html

Probably a silly question but I assume you can work while on a student visa? Is there a maximum number of hours per week?

harhol Wrote:Probably a silly question but I assume you can work while on a student visa? Is there a maximum number of hours per week?

Maximum of 4 hrs/day.

IIRC there's also some process you have to go through to get approval and a few restrictions on what you can do. Not an obstacle, just a few bureaucratic hoops to jump through. (caution: information is five years old, so go check the details on the relevant official websites)

Belated thanks to vileru & pm215.

harhol Wrote:Probably a silly question but I assume you can work while on a student visa? Is there a maximum number of hours per week?

My university sorted that for me. I can work 28 hours a week, so as has been said 4 hours a day roughly. You need to fill in some forms (nothing difficult) and take them to the immigration bureau and they re-stamp your passport with something. My Uni too the passports and did it for us rather than have us all traipsing one at a time to bureau.