I have a friend who is looking to transfer to Tokyo for business to improve his Japanese. He won't have time to take full college courses, but he would like to go to a school where he can practice conversation and reading in Japanese.

That's what he told me. I know reading practice can be done on his own, so we really are looking for a conversation place where he can have conversations with Japanese who will correct his mistakes and help him to improve.

Anyone have any recommendations?

There are Japanese language schools all over Tokyo. I went to Arc Academy (http://en.arc-academy.net/) for about two months. Not a lot of conversation practice, unfortunately, but they taught grammar and kanji, etc. Another (better) option might be to hire a private tutor. I've practiced both conversation and reading with a tutor, and it's been really helpful.

If he wants just conversation and is low on money, he might be better off posting an ad for a conversation partner/language partner. I think I did mine on craigslist and got several responses. The one I connected with was really worth her weight in gold--her English was much better than my Japanese, but she was so patient with me and was able to explain things quite well (in English).

If I had the money, I'd probably go the tutor route and possibly supplement it with a language partner for extra conversation practice. I think he'd get the most bang for his yen that way.

You'd need one to one, as group stuff is like highschool: less talk, more listen.

Go to sharedtalk.com and ask around. Otherwise, LANG8 or language exchange sites. Better to do this for free.

I second the private tutor route. Private lessons are fairly inexpensive here. It's not unusual to find tutors asking for half of what an English tutor requires. It's simple supply and demand. I've seen people asking for as little as １０００円 for an hour. It's true that you sometimes get what you pay for, but at prices like that, one can afford to try a bunch of different tutors and separate the wheat from the chaff.

That's what I was afraid of. Unfortunately, this friend is extremely unmotivated. Intelligent and wants to learn Japanese, but is so busy with his job that I doubt he will go out of his way to hire a private tutor. Then going to meet them? Probably even less likely. He needs that whole "gym mentality" thing, where people pay for a gym membership and show up out of the guilty feeling they will get if they don't go.

Anyone have any other experiences with schools? I'll be telling him about Arc and will recommend the private tutor as well... let's see how that goes.

It sounds like your friend will never learn Japanese. Trying to help him is probably just wasting your time.

If he doesn't have the motivation to look for a tutor, he doesn't have the motivation to do the work and take the time learning the language.

any good sites for looking for private tutors or language exchange partners in japan?

also, a lot of japanese schools offer intensive short-term programs. i havent tried one of these but would like to hear from someone who has.

Just be careful about his goals. I've seen that attitude work for some people, but the time frames get very long... 20 years long for quite a few.

Putting that in perspective a bit. A student who goes to an Eikaiwa here one time per week for 30, 45 or 60 minutes (usually around these sort of times) and does nothing else but homework (or no homework) can expect to make some progress over time. Unfortunately, by "time" I mean 6 months to a 1 year per major development (say moving from elementary to pre-intermediate <--- there are a lot of labels between "suck bad" to "Wow, you're really from another country?"). A Japanese learner putting in 2 hours a day or more with immersion could probably be pretty skilled within 2-3 years. Time + effort are the most learners biggest weaknesses.

If he does do the gym thing, then get him a textbook for home as well. If he were to do Anki for memorizing things, a textbook for extra homework and did eikawa 2-3 hours a week + 2 hours of practice and time with friends at the pub then he will be making reasonable strides with the gym method.

Cranks Wrote:A Japanese learner putting in 2 hours a day or more with immersion could probably be pretty skilled within 2-3 years.

If you put in those hours, I would expect an intelligent person to be able to reach JLPT1.

Some areas also offer volunteer groups that will tutor you. You have to watch out though and you may get some that just want to practice their English with little to no help in teaching you conversational Japanese. Others are highly impressed if you can even write your name in katakana, let alone read any kanji. I find that I have to be firm but polite and tell these people that their "help" is not required until I specifically ask for it. I'm here to learn Japanese and not be their new gaijin doll.

I've also found that it's better to pay someone for their Japanese than to do a language exchange. I've met a lot of self centered people whose English was fluent and had no intention on helping me with my Japanese. They were just wanting a free English teacher.

I have found one teacher but she is on the high end of the fee range. That's too bad because I get along with her very well and she understands that I'm here to learn Japanese. I think I may weigh the fee and go with her if I can't get any results with my current tutor.