What Going to a Japanese Language School in Japan is Like

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

A few comments about the question title cards. Some wanted it to be read out loud, some to take away the music. Fair enough. Here's what I'd like to know, since it's not that big of a difference for me. Would you like A) Me to go "on camera" and speak the questions, B) Me to take away the music and read the questions, keeping the title up on screen, C) Keep it as it is, with title and music, but also read the question. I have 3 more interviews, so might as well do it in a format that people prefer.

[@Bim0fr]

B ! (Great work by the way)

[@toiletrol]

B :)

[@Isa.isa.isa.]

B please!

[@ザバウンサーTボブ]

C :p

[@camilapontes7942]

I think B would work better!

[@Lee-ml9uw]

Thank you for the video! This is the most detailed experience of someone else who went to a Japanese Language school I've seen. I've been self-learning the Japanese Language kind of at a snail's pace for the past 2 years, because of working full time and being a full-time college student while doing this. But, I am learning it all the same. I've used multiple sources to study from like Rosetta Stone, Genki, and Human Japanese. I recently started learning how to speak on a native level from someone who lives in Japan because I know the textbooks mostly teach me how to sound like a foreigner know matter what. My goal is to live and study in Japan after I am done with college in the US. I figure learning as much Japanese now may make things easier when I get there.

[@GlitchPredator]

Lee Go look up AJATT, that will make you close to native level fluent. Once I started this it upped my japanese level a lot. For example you'll finish all joujo kanji within around 4-5 months.

[@Lee-ml9uw]

Thanks! I'll be sure to check that out.

[@clarence-theregularcat7708]

Good Tip to learn Japanese: Check if your country has a Japan Foundation. Its funded by japan and provides classes that are cheap and focused on conversational skills. They use a book called Marugoto whose learning materials can also be easily found online. Its definitely too slow for people who want to become sufficient in a very short time, but if you are working next to classes its a perfect way to untangle many of the mysteries of the language.

[@oscarchavezart]

wow really, i have never heard this. I will look into this, thank you

[@Juichi]

The Japan Foundation only offers very minimal classes in Los Angeles, probably to a similar level as the woman took before going to Japan. It might be different elsewhere. However it is a great place to start. In Los Angeles they do monthly conversation sessions where you can practice Japanese with native Japanese speakers and it's helpful for people at any level.

[@Anymouse2]

Yes. There is also the Japan Foundation Program for Specialists, which does provide training for Grad students, librarians, and curators in Osaka. There are some other programs in Osaka they run too.

[@PrettyTranslatorSarahMoon]

I learned Japanese by a combination of classes (high school and college), living in Japan, and "self-study." I get very bored and tune out with textbookish things, so I found the best way to learn was through hanging out with Japanese people and talking to them (for general fluency, slang, the emotion/feeling in Japanese), and through memorizing and singing Japanese songs (for vocabulary, grammar, and kanji.) As for "self-study," I never sat down and studied (because....eew, studying) but I've been translating for almost 20 years now, first as a hobby, now as a profession. I can't help but learn vocabulary and kanji and the like from doing so, but I honestly don't retain it as well as I do from singing.

[@jeanieinjapan]

It's interesting to hear someone else's perspective from another school - I'm currently in my second semester of full-time Japanese study here in Tokyo. Thanks as always for the videos! :)

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

Yeah, I found it quite interesting as well. I'll have another interview out with someone else who went to Japanese language school as well as share my overall experience learning Japanese. But I think I'll be saving the video about myself until last :-)

[@jeanieinjapan]

I look forward to them! :)

[@tee1694]

I have studied Japanese for many many years...so I find listening to other people's experience with Japanese very interesting.

[@tezdower8370]

Jeanie Hi Jeanie,Ive been thinking of doing this for awhile. Is it hard to learn at the school? Like is it harder than you think? Regards Terry

[@qaisarfarooq919]

i want to learnt japani languages

[@mayabewsher6987]

Perfect timing. I am currently in the process of applying for language school. It would start this October. It's always good to hear somebody's perspectives and experiences.

[@TheESMAT07]

So.. How you doing now?!

[@billjpq5578]

If you are still looking for cheap Japanese language school, we can help you to find best school

[@gothivore2414]

I have to say thank you to the both of you. This has given me more of a perspective on what it is like to study in Japan. I plan to study at a language school in the next year and have come to the conclusion I might want to attend some classes near me before moving to Japan. This has been so helpful! Thank you!

[@minexplosion2857]

Thank you very much for not putting everything under music. Your videos are so relaxed and I can really focus on what people are saying. Your channel really stands out for its quality. Have a nice day :)

[@nurikabintiismail240]

Thanks for sharing the advice. I'm still learning conversation in english, but I feel shy to make friend with foreigner.

[@jagolawgaming3377]

Try an app called Hello Talk, you can meet japanese people to help you learn japanese 👍

[@raph009]

15:00 I can totally relate to that... I'm in my late twenties and going back to university with people sometimes freshly out of high school is the cringiest thing I've ever experienced so far. I even switched university from one prestigeous to a less prestigeous one so that I was not being babied and held by the hand all the time. It seems to be a rather common thing for mid-twenties and up westerners...

[@Juichi]

I dread this. I ended up going to a private Japanese school in the US and for the most part it's people my age, but there's a few people in their late teens, early 20s. I'm considering taking classes in Japan, but I worry about the age gap.

[@bglobbi]

Love your interview videos. One request - please read the questions out loud. Those videos are great to listen to during workout or laundry. It worked out fine listening without knowing the questions but hearing them would be better.

[@MartinaTakano]

Really realistic and totally believable learning Japanese experience, thank you for this video.

[@daninjapan]

I'm currently attending a Japanese language school in Akihabara. I'm absolutely loving it here!

[@Nevermore093]

what are the requirements? i'd like to learn japanese in japan as well.

[@daninjapan]

Nevermore well the requirements vary from country to country. Getting a Visa is a very important step, assuming you're studying for any time over three months. Some schools teach beginner's Japanese, and some don't. I went through a service called Go! Go! Nihon, and they guided me through the entire process which took almost six months.

[@ejames80]

How much is your tuition?

[@daninjapan]

ejames80 about $5000 USD equivalent, for a whole year (April 2018-March 2019)

[@ejames80]

daninjapan thank you.

[@noname_nod]

Love the format and I really appreciate your additional comments - it makes your channel uniquely informative. Great job!

[@saintlouis1989]

I appreciate the questions... So essential and to the point.. Good Job Man !

[@roamiblu1833]

I loved this video. Towards the last part, she hit the nail right on the head. What you learn in school is not how people actually speak. It's the same with English. What a lot of foreign people do not understand is what they're learning in school, concerning the English language is important, but that's now how we actually speak.

[@fnscomedycrew]

Being immersed in Japan at the moment I'd say the thing that helped me most was the self study tool Pimsleur. My writing is greatly lacking but I can do basic life tasks just fine.

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

Yes! I'm doing Pimlseur right now as well and I find it very helpful.

[@rockinronnie2]

Hi Greg...thanks so much for this topic..very informative. Can you explain a bit more about the Pimsleur study tool. I'm considering it, but it's not the cheapest option. Also..I see you have the Genki books..why then Pimsleur if i may ask? Looking forward to the next videos on this subject.

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

If you do research or talk to anyone, they'll always say you can't only do a single thing. Genki is good for grammar, Wanikani works really well for me to learn Kanji, and Pimsleur has been working for learning to actually speak. But I recognize I need to do stuff on top of that, like read and write. I do try and watch Japanese video content and I think that's slowly been helping. Pimsleur is expensive, but nothing compared to classes. One tip I received was to buy off of Amazon or Audible. I bought level 4 and 5 for $55USD. Now it says $79.35 amzn.to/2HjAUL4, but that's still better than directly from Pimsleur. If you use Audible, you can use 5 credits to buy a level, which works out to $75USD if you have enough credits saved up from a monthly subscription.

[@Miadzaky]

Jess said that she've done a lot of research finding a school, but she never told the schools name. Could you please tell what school she attended?

[@piceofknowledge9296]

i think they intended on keeping it private

[@radhiaAndromida]

This vid was a brilliant idea very good to see a real perspective and also because I am at the end of my twenties I liked seeing what an older foreign students perspective is like. And the idea reentering education can be quite daunting.

[@kyaraAthena]

That was so interesting! As a spanish native speaker, I really though japanese was particularly easy to pronounce for us spanish speakers, so her perception was surprising to me, I wonder why, to me the sounds are basically the same so there should not be any issue with pronunciation (most of the time), compared with english speakers where the sounds are very different.

[@Kaskaderka016]

Is there a possibility for the questions to be read? I like to treat the videos with mostly spoken content as podcasts and listen to them while doing something else, but its harder when I need to look what a question is. Anyone else feeling similar? PS I love your videos and this serious documentary-like approach

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

I was thinking about doing this but ended up not. Sorry. I can do that for the next ones.

[@theoriginaledi]

I appreciate both this question and the answer. I do the same thing and kept running back to the screen to see the questions! :-) (Also, more importantly, it could be helpful for any visually impaired viewers.) Thanks for your openness to the idea!

[@quixoticsonnet]

Same. I second this.

[@genjii931]

The part about learning to pass the JLPT vs learning to be conversational is key. I've seen Japanese language schools that have different tracks just for that purpose, though, so don't give up entirely on the idea of going to a Japanese language school if you don't care about the JLPT levels. Also note that if you're wanting to work at a Japanese company, you're almost certainly going to have to have N2 or even N1 just to be able to get an interview, from what I've seen/heard. If you're used to Western working standards, you almost certainly don't WANT to work at a typical Japanese company, though that's an entirely different topic. :)

[@Juichi]

I would love to see more videos on studying Japanese. It's definitely helpful for those studying or considering going to Japan to study. As someone who is not college age and is hoping to still attend classes in Japan while working it would be good to know what options there are. I didn't realize that many schools are fairly rigid, one way conversation. That's something I will have to look out for.

[@tzu-huisherryyang9251]

I’m really happy to find this video that gives a more inclusive insight into what they provide in Japanese language schools. I’ve been living in Japan for about 2 months now while doing some self-study myself. Still debating whether i should go to a language school but seeing the reviews and intro here, I do find it a bit silly, as a Taiwanese who has barely any trouble with kanji, to spend that time and money in a school that only intends you to speak still like a textbook/foreigner, rather than a native person. i grew up as a language learner so I understand how learning a language works and what is entailed to achieve the ability I’m looking for. I’m glad she also pointed out learning differences between Japanese learners from different cultural backgrounds. It’s something many videos I’ve seen out there that failed to include.

[@peace2941]

Would love to hear more about your experiences and your learning experience too very nice content as always Thank you !

[@gera.w]

I would disagree. This depends on the school. At Yamasa in Okazaki, students could choose the academic route or conversational classes where the focus would be on being able to converse. And there was a lot of 2-way communication between the teacher and students. It was really good if you wanted to learn japanese words, read and write but with the ultimate aim of being able to converse. In just 2 weeks I really learnt a lot and was able to carry on more conversations. This also makes me wonder if the majority of language schools in Tokyo were like that?

[@RobertT1999]

My experience learning Japanese is like trying to chase fluency whilst standing on a frictionless floor. I want to make progress but I'm incredibly inconsistent and struggle to sit down so I can continue my study. These videos are motivation though so thank you.

[@Olandig]

Thank you for this! This is exactly what I’m interested in at the moment. Can’t wait for the other parts. Good job :)

[@steveroper8886]

Thanks for the Bill Evans Trio as well as another informative video.

[@Melon_Cloud]

I’d be very interested in the videos with the Japanese teachers and another student! As well as your own experiences of course. I hope to see this content coming soon. I really liked hearing about this process to learn the Japanese language ☺️

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

It'll be soon. Have them all mostly edited. Except my experience, that I haven't done yet. But that'll be the last one.

[@JulianKostuik]

I want to start to learn Japanese, but since I can only learn French right now, that’s not really an option. I plan to start leaning when I’m in Grade 10. There are multiple reasons why I’m learning it, but the main one is, just to kind of fill up all of my wasted spare time doing nothing. So I think it might work out.

[@leigh-jeanterblanche5833]

Get yourself the app lingodeer.

[@Fadamor]

(Watching the captions) 5:53 "One lesson would be, say, kanji, and then we'd have three lessons of, say, grandma." LOL

[@PaintAThousandWords]

Hi Greg! I was wondering if you will be doing a video on Japan's take on mental disability in the future. Around the world, some countries have been more active in promoting awareness and providing more opportunities to those with special needs. I understand that Japan is one of the leading countries in terms of caring for the elderly, but I'm wondering what about those with special needs?

I've been learning Japanese own my own for about 2 - 3 weeks now. I read ひらがな and カタカナ fluently and I pick up on 漢字 as I go. I know basic grammar - sentence structures and particles - and I also know approximately 150 verbs, nouns and adjectives along with their different conjugations. Though I study vocabulary and grammar, I also watch at least 2 hours of Japanese TV a day - at least one hour is without any subtitles whatsoever. Right now, I'm picking up on maybe 5% of what they are saying when I watch a drama without subtitles, but based on the context, characters' actions and mood and progression in story I'm able to get a lot more information than that. This is my way of learning and I love it. It's fun! No stressing out trying to memorise things for a test that you're never going to need/use in real life. I don't like tests, never did, because they don't work. They simply don't work, especially when learning a new language. I studied Spanish for 5 years when I was in school. I was a straight A student until the last year of high school when I dropped the class because I realised how trivial it was. And right now, after not even 3 weeks of teaching myself Japanese, I know more Japanese than I do Spanish(!!!). I could go on forever about this subject, but let me leave you with a motivation (if you can call it that). Learn a language the way YOU want to learn it. Have fun with it and don't stress. And please forget about tests and other nonsens like that - you don't need them. Find something that you like doing and incorporate the language you're learning into it! You are going to learn the language eventually, so just relax and enjoy every step of the way. And remember - every new thing you learn brings you one step closer to fluency. I believe in you! 頑張って!!!

[@horacereddington8866]

sorry but what is 5 % worth ?

[@MrOnion-js1ls]

@@horacereddington8866 most likely it means that while listening they understand 5 words out of 100

[@YY-de9og]

Thank you, it was so interesting!

[@idekanymore88]

Great video! It will for sure help me decide if I should learn Japanese now or in Japan! Love all your videos!

[@pythiacael3876]

Need to set a schedule myself to learn Japanese and Spanish. Spanish because it has similarity with my dialect and Japanese because I have been interested with Japan culture and want to read more literature from Japan. Other than my dialect I learned my national language and English at the same time from school. I sometimes think it really helps if someone learns any languages from their childhood because they absorb it better. I agree that you learn any new language if you try to practice talking with native speaker or other people because you absorb it more compare to memorization.

[@gastperkaswaki5296]

Nice. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@ycso3805]

It's nice to learn about other's thoughts on studying Japanese. I started to learn Japanese for interest (in short I watched too much anime), then I turned to a more formal learning style by taking courses at the uni. Hence I can really sympathize with what Jess said. Right now, I have two goals in a learning Japanese. First, I want to pass the JLPT for a qualification. However, the ultimate goal is to communicate with Japanese, to use the language fluently in daily life as (close to) a native speaker does. A structured learning environment can help with cramming the grammar stuff n vocabulary, but to use it flexibly you have to interact with real people. Anyways, the 'active effort' part of the interview is so true as you do need much more than a passive attitude to master the language in both the formal and the casual convensational part of it. Well I guess it's time for me to return to my revision for JLPT. Good luck to all the fellow Japanese learners.

[@JustinAquino]

learning mandarin. Did the classes, it costs about 100usd here in the philippines for about one cycle which is 2 classes a week, 2 hours each for about 8 weeks or a total of 32 hours. I went to about 8 classes every cycle. Its hard when most work in the philippines is about 50-60 hours because of traffic, also i'm a family man so it became impractical. Shifted to Spaced-Repetition-Systems, and Self Study. I use social media apps like hello talk to practice my listening and youtube. Immersion is economically not feasible for most Filipinos as well as the stigma of being a developing world country known for illegal immigrants. So self study and volunteering one's time in conversations online is pretty much the circumstance. I've spent a total of 100usd in this method with apps and material like Pimsleur. Can't see a developing world person afford anything more if they are tied down with family and obligations. Finally love your channel, yours and advchina guys are very helpful in understanding other cultures and peoples.

[@OutMagic]

Good interview man, solid questions :)

[@ToriKo_]

Great work once again

[@nguyenlong1103]

thank you, i will go to japan to study this year's october and i may want to have information as much as i can get.

[@billjpq5578]

Yes, our school can help you to get admission in japan But first you have to complete N5 in your own country

[@andreamoboe]

Nice to see Jess! Haven’t seen her awhile! Tfs her thoughts on this. 😀

[@WolkeYume]

I have a long history of learning japanese. In high school I took a course at our community center for 1,5 years. Right now I'm studying Japanese studies at university, and have been for the last 5 years; getting my master's degree at the moment. I've been studying at a university in Kyoto for one year, which really helped me with my japanese. Last year I went to a language school in Kanazawa for 5 weeks, which was a completely different experience than the one in Kyoto. My tip is to just talk. Stop caring if it's right or wrong. You will make mistakes, but you will learn from them.

[@ManectricReturns]

My experience of learning Japanese is through University classes. At the start, I found it useful because it gave us good structure and basically forced me to know the basics as well as teaching me methods of studying a second language. Now I'm in my third year and I find the classes slightly too easy.. that's not to say I'm fluent at all, I'm really not, but I've gotten used to how the classes work and I feel like I'm not being pushed out of my comfort zone at all. It's similar to Jess, we get an opportunity to make our own utterances about 5 times a lesson, and the lessons are 2 hours long, twice a week. Otherwise it's mainly input/reading related, despite the small class of about 10 students. I can tell my speaking is lacking, because I saw my teacher out of class so I decided to talk to her. She was speaking in Japanese and I could understand her perfectly, but I couldn't think of how to respond to the questions due to lack of practice, so the conversation was really basic. I think classes are a great foundation, but once you get your footing in Japanese, you can continue on your own with the help of natives of course.

[@Juichi]

I took classes in University in the US and had the same experience. It's been 10 years since I've been to Uni so I choose to go to a private Japanese language school to continue my education. It's smaller classes and offers more opportunity to speak. At first it was difficult because I was not used to speaking, but I've grown more and more comfortable with it. I recommend finding a conversation class, tutor or just someone to practice Japanese with. It can be very helpful if you find the right person or group. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right group or person.

[@ビビくん-v1w]

One of the best way to learn Japanese for young people is to play games with Japanese language. Visual novels are one of the best way cause you can hear the language and read the Japanese text. Also read a lot of novels and mangas. They are a great way to expend your vocabulary, way better than memorizing mindlessly それじゃ、みんな　頑張れよ！！！

[@juandenz2008]

I laughed when she said she was from Melbourne. I don't know if other foreigners living in Japan have noticed, but if someone is from Australia probably the odds are at least 75% they are from Melbourne ! You would think what city they are from would be roughly in proportion to the equivalent populations in Australia. So for example Sydney has a similar but slightly larger population than Melbourne, so you would meet roughly equal numbers from Sydney and Melbourne. But no, the proportion of people from Melbourne vs Sydney seems to be about 4:1.

[@Notesofnomads]

I guess I have found that too! I wonder why? Haha

[@trupinay21]

This is pretty informative. I'm actually trying to learn Korean on my own but it comes with a lot of difficulties.

[@Its_just_me_again]

best resource video ever! The content and how it was presented was exactly what I needed - thank you so much! :D hmmm i feel a lil more confused now after watching, but in a good way.

[@ザバウンサーTボブ]

This interview made me completely discard the Japanese language school option. I also feel like you would retain more by focusing on what you want to learn rather than what's being I imposed to you by the school. I guess that, as for many things, self discipline is key for learning Japanese (it's also cheaper xD).

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

I did an interview with a Japanese language teacher. She said most schools are like what Jess described, but that there are more conversation focused schools, like the one's that people in Japan on business would take. The school Jess went to was more focused on JLPT and teaching to the test. So I don't know if you have to discard all schools.

[@ザバウンサーTボブ]

Discarding all japanese language schools might have been saying too much... However I can't help but feel that their main appeal is just to provide "students" with an environment easier for studying which, should also be achievable on one's own, provided you have the motivation. The fact that I can't afford those kind of schools at the moment is of course also a big factor in my thinking like this.

[@SuperAvocadoo]

I think you shouldn´t completely discard the idea of going to a language school imo. The biggest benefit of going to one is that you can easily make friends there. That´s a huge thing, at least for me.

[@ザバウンサーTボブ]

Yeah, I might have said too much, the social aspect is obviously very important too ^^

[@sayakat2544]

There are many types of Japanese language schools. Here is a course that focuses on communication, a few weeks will allow you to see great improvement, like she said! :) www.takemetojapan.com/practical-japanese

[@phiphi_tours2283]

Outstanding post

[@Sa1din]

I like her. She's wise. She's no sheep. I wish you good fortune in your everyday studies.

[@DimaDesu]

Really good lady, deep honest stuff!

[@hotelierid9029]

Nice sharing Jess. I hope you'll soon fluent to speak in Japanese.

[@saffas1866]

Been learning Japanese on and off for a few years now. It is a struggle especially memorizing kanji. i did gave up for a few year and picking it up again this year since i planning to go kansai region. My hiragana is ok now but kanji and katakana not that great. Im using KZbin to learn kanji. Now in the 2nd elementary kanji. Use Japanese manga for reading study. An App call Japanese to find any kanji word that im unable to read. Quite useful. Wish me luck!

[@gorukun9087]

Hi jess i loved everything you spoke, but most i loved is your advise, that is at the end of the video. Conclusion: stay anywhere in the world just open your mouth for what you learnt. Speak like crazy, one day you will recognize your mistakes on your own and after rectifying it you will be ready to make another mistake,

[@brittanystack6413]

My boyfriend has been to a Japanese language school. He is planning on returning this summer. Apparently, it really comes in handy.

[@avalen767]

I've been using duolingo since the Japanese course came out. I completed the course and it was good for learning hiragana and some pretty basic stuff about the structure of the language, but it wasn't very comprehensive. It didn't really cover much katakana at all and the kanji in it was used very sparingly. Good to keep beginners from getting too discouraged, I suppose but useless if you're actually trying to learn to read Japanese. Now I'm using memrise, which has been much better than duolingo, but as I myself don't really have anything else to compare it to, I'm not too sure how good it objectively is. I'd love to hear some tips or useful resources for a lone learner. I have been doing at least some Japanese practice almost everyday for nearly a year now, ranging from five to thirty-fourty minutes, and I'd like to get more 'serious' about actually getting good at it.

[@sonysansanwal2710]

Make video of student who are living there away from there home and struggling with there part time jobs

[@Hephzibah624]

So are there any schools in Japan that actually focus on practical, conversational Japanese as well?

[@billjpq5578]

Yes, there are many Japanese language school focusing on conversation

[@billjpq5578]

ジェシカ Jessica if you want to join japanese language school we can help you to find best school

[@rainyday921]

I had 4 years of spanish in highschool in canada. I think my teachers were pretty good at teaching the subject, and probably at least 25-30%? of total class time was speaking, with other students and one on one with the teacher, which i found to be fine. Each class was pretty well-rounded I think. When highschool ended and i didn't have spanish class anymore, i pretty much lost all that I had learned because it was really awkward to try to practice and speak with my dad in spanish lol... Sometimes I go on duolingo to brush up and further my spanish, and it helps, its a great tool. but you definitely have to get out in the real world and use the language in real situations.

[@echoispro40]

Great video as always.

[@Mr-WesleySnipzzz]

the only problem is its really expensive, last time i checked price for a month was like 2k, if anyone found any cheap sites that allows you to immerse yourself in a Japanese language school feel free to comment below

[@marcuscheng2507]

Awesome video!

[@aswad7368]

Since I was a teenager I have been driming of learning japanse in Japan. in 2018 I visited Japan and was there for two weeks and I loved it. I am planning now to take a 10 weeks long or 12 weeks long intensive course in japanse in Japan, which city is best to do so? Bang for the buck school and location is what I am interested in

[@julianchoque7402]

i think both of you overlook one source of learning any language, and that is reading comics all the way to poetry and philosopy....because the skills you have in life determine the level you are going to achieve, because a language is something alive and thus became shomething unique for each individual....

[@MobbinMic]

I studied Chinese in Taiwan and I just wanted to say that knowing Chinese or Japanese is a big advantage when learning the other, when talking about Chinese characters and a lot of vocab. I know cause I studied Japanese previously. At my university in Taiwan, some classes used standardized textbooks, but my class used ones made by the school. They were cheaper, and although the English wasn't always good, I think they was more authentic and natural, also a lot cheaper. In my classes, we didn't always focus on the books, sometimes we would get caught up on a topic and spent most of the class talking about it! For example, Me, my teacher and my Japanese classmate once spent a whole class(1 hour) debating if Chinese helps with Japanese and vice versa because the other two disagreed with me, lol. This allowed natural conversations instead of just textbook practice. Anyway, it was a great time and now that I'm getting back into studying Japanese, since I'm studying abroad there soon, I'm so glad my Chinese got to a pretty good level, it helps. People in my Japanese class complain and say I already know the Kanji, lol. If anyone wants to study Chinese, I do recommend Taiwan!

[@abbeyjayne1657]

I really enjoy your videos

[@ariemhetareads3996]

I really want to visit Japan because the culture sounds so different to Israel and that's really interesting to me but getting kosher food is a problem if I want to visit more than Tokyo

[@minexplosion2857]

Could you eat vegetarian while your in Japan? Because there is always a great vegetarian offer, culturally anchored. Or does kosher refer to more than just meat? :)

[@ariemhetareads3996]

Yeah, it refers to more than just meat. I might be able to bring a ton of snacks and buy fruit/vegetables, though. In any case, this is all hypothetical because because of the national service I'm not really going to be able to leave the country for the next two years. Unless I suddenly do it this summer, haha :)

[@siliinnorway]

I did a small Japanese course for about a month last year, in Norway. I find the pronunciation isn't too bad because the Japanese phonetics are very similar to Norwegian. I do find the grammar very difficult though because it is so fundamentally different to that in Germanic laguages. I am going to pause my Japanese learning though because it is more important to me on a personal and proffesiobal level to learn South Sami/Lappish and that languages nouns has 9 cases and each family member has a different title depending on which side of the family or if it is an older or younger member etc. It is part of discovering the past of my ancestors and pary of my Phd.

[@RadoslavSharapanov]

Great video! I only wish it had some Japanese language in it :) Thanks, good luck!

[@Nataponchan]

どうもありがとうございます！ sharing real experience is really helpful. Im curious to know though, are the teachers speaking in Japanese only or English also?

[@kelsohawk]

I had a really similar experience in Canada with a language school. I moved to Quebec with very little functional knowlege of the French language. Just the basics taught in school at an early age. It was tough but I did pass my provincial language proficiency testing top of my class. I still don't consider my self fully bilingual. More highly functional. I still miss a lot of nuances and subtle humor.. things that can't be taught.

[@ultracapitalistutopia3550]

Thanks for this video. This further reinforces my suspicion that these Japanese language schools are expensive and don't help much besides preparing for the JLPT. My field of profession doesn't require any qualification of JLPT and I believe listening to and analyzing more native Japanese dialogues online is much more helpful to improve my Japanese communication.

[@stellarmori]

Ik this is an old comment, but bad take

[@fungirlwinx]

As to the title question go with C. I took 5 years of German in school and never got anywhere with it much. Part of that is I had a bad teacher for a year but also I struggle with my native English enough with reading and writing never mind another language. In the end you could just say I gave up. I never got to go on the trip to Germany as I wasn't picked so that didn't help.

[@Stephen-ix2ny]

Thanks for covering this subject. I have been thinking about moving to Japan to attend a language school. At first, I was taking lessons over Skype with on italki.com. The challenge with that was my teacher was in Australia and I'm in the U.S. The time difference was terrible. Then she moved to Phuket. The time difference was a bit better but still a challenge. The lessons were kind of expensive and what I was learning was straight out of the textbook, something that I probably could've done by myself. So I switched over to an online course at Japanesepod101.com. I've had more luck with that but it's a very slow self-paced course. I am now wondering if I would learn better by immersion in the language. I have found that there are some language schools that have 2-4 week study trips which may be a good way to get an idea if its the right path to take. Bottom line:　にほんごはかんたんじゃないです。(Japanese is not easy}. I look forward to seeing your other interviews!

[@Juichi]

I just want to add that I would love to see how effective the 2-4 weeks study courses are. Are they worth using your vacation time on? Are they good for people that know some Japanese? It's difficult to learn Japanese. Are you able to find a tutor locally? One option is to study the book on your time, but then during tutor time you go over the things you don't understand (which you could potentially do over italki). I understand the problem with learning too slowly. I had that problem for a bit and then I've heard others talk about that with certain classes. You have to find the right ones, but generally if you want to learn more you will pay more unless you do it on your own.

[@Fadamor]

The JLPT only assesses your reading and listening skills. Speaking or writing is not tested at all. I agree with her that the JLPT isn't a good test of a person's fluency in Japanese because speaking the language is an absolute necessity in order to make yourself understood. That said, I feel that writing is the least important of the four because of electronic methods to create text.

[@BanBanChi]

It was very surprising to hear that Spanish speakers would struggle. I'm a native Spanish speaker and I find it extremely easy to pronounce. The grammar rules are similar and except for the J and H everything is very similar, down the silent "u". I'm 51 years old and just learning and my teacher is very surprised that I'm the most advanced speaker in the class.

[@RandomGuyinJapan]

Randon guy in japan passing through I studied japanese in a language school for one year as well. With that knowledge i got into a Japanese University which I will graduate in 2021. - Well, cool video and nicely explained, i guess.

[@esafzay]

This lady talks clearly, very clearly.

[@CantankerousDave]

Having a background in German will give you a huge boost with academic Japanese grammar. In German, you can have a whole paragraph modifying a single word, just as with Japanese. American students have a lot of trouble with that. Also, whatever your background, the key is to stop worrying about being grammatically perfect when you speak. It keeps you from saying anything at all. Lose the self-consciousness. That’s why your Japanese is always better after a beer or two.

[@0mahami0]

This sounds a looooottttt like my experience with studying at a language school in osaka. I studied korean in korea for one and a half years and since i have that experience to compare it to i find myself really frustrated with this japanese school. The lessons at my current school are really lacking in comparison. Plus they don't even use a book and give you prints after prints after prints...

[@exxxxcellent]

I live in Finland and I have been to Finnish classes here and I can totally relate with the language in the textbook not being the same as what is actually spoken by Finns. It's tough and it takes a ton of work. I have to admit that I've been very lazy with it and it's a bit easier for foreigners in Finland because virtually everyone speaks English. You just have to work hard at it I guess.

[@ShaneLeGrand]

Phil:) Yeah I think that's a major problem with almost all language classes across the world as it the way it's often taught is different than spoken.

[@rfpeace]

more please!

[@ChamorruWarrior]

My “rule” is I study 2 kanji a day no matter what. This usually turns into much more, grammar, listening practice etc but what gets me in the chair is knowing all I gotta do is 2 kanji a day and I “win”. But once you’re just in the chair a lot of good happens.

[@ryanlim9489]

OMG another Melbourne aussie!!!! yay im not gonna be alone!

[@chubbyberreh900]

Its cool that i watch this since i was grade 3 (2015)same as Aiko age, lol than she must be 12 this year- well, keep a good work Aiko-! (Im sorry if i said the name wrong hehe-) im also studying Kanji And Katakana(?)

[@X33Ultras0und]

When I go Japan, I'll do one of these.

[@aoiyuureisuru7656]

Hey...I have a question for you!...if you're a freelancer (artist) working and living in Japan, is it important to learn reading and writing (and getting a JLPT)? or is it enough to learn how to speak and be fluent in speaking?

[@Notesofnomads]

If you're a freelancer, then the JLPT isn't really important in most cases. It's mostly a requirement for Japanese companies. Being a fluent speaker is certainly a huge advantage and "enough" in a lot of situations. But I would recommend trying to learn to read so you can understand signs, emails, letters, menus... Writing is less necessary, especially if you type all the time - predictive text will bring up the kanji when you start writing the hiragana (but you'd have to know which kanji is the right choice). Basically, the more you know, the better and smoother your time here!

[@dooropens7594]

My only experience is watching a lot of anime and Japanese shows with subtitles. I started this at a very young age nearly 30 something Years. I can hear and understand what they are saying....not all but I pretty much get the jest of what they are trying to say. Though I can’t speak, write, and read at least I can hear and understand. ✌️😂😄

[@ejames80]

The L.A. Asian Guy you can learn by watching anime and Japanese movies.

[@taifuun2248]

The L.A. Asian Guy same

[@baecchi4153]

same here .. plus playing a lot of j drama song and "anison "anime song ..

[@subhadeepmandal3092]

Yeah and hentai and manga also helps. I was reading the kanji of "ooki" today and remembered I heard it somewhere. It turned out to be a hentai where a girl had big breasts. Ooki=big :D

[@twistedlight9750]

I got introduced to Hangul a few years ago. It was interesting, and I can now pick that writing out from the crowd of symbols I don't know.

[@hdj0131]

I'm from Korea and I learned Japanese in my high school. So, I can speak Japanese. But The Kanji was so hard to me that I gave up learning Japanese.

[@ejames80]

ᄆ ᄆ don't they teach kanji in Korea?

[@hdj0131]

They teach us some simple kanji. But I have to study at least 2000 kanji to read Japanese books and something.

[@ejames80]

ᄆ ᄆ i see. Some say you have to.know 2145, other say you have to learn over 2300. Here is some guy compilation of kanjis by level test. www.nihongo-pro.com/kanji-pal/list/jlpt

[@10530309]

A lot of Korean old writings are written in Chinese characters. Just invest some time to learn them you will find it easy to understand Kanji.

[@user-tg2ue7hz5v]

@@10530309 We shame our ancient people use chinese characters because it is just a uncomfortable useless writing system in the world. Above all We are proud our own writing system which is "Hangul".

[@eundongpark1672]

this is very similar to my experience learning Korean, with the exception that both of the language schools I went to in Korea did more conversation practice than her school. They focused too much on on exams (TOPIK) and that exam system focuses too much on grammatical exceptions and obscure grammar, and on written Korean rather than spoken Korean. I suppose it's designed to help people become office workers rather than community members. Korean classes and learning texts focus too much on topics for 16-23 year olds (school, dating, shopping, pop culture) rather than a broader range of interests like, say, including child rearing, team work in an employment context, running a home (building maintenance, rural occupations, gardening) which makes a lot of the content really narrow. I have a couple of bachelor degrees, and reached high level in a couple of careers, but despite my proven ability to perform well academically and practically in employment, I also felt like the schools went thru grammar too quickly and didn't do enough consolidation activities. It seemed like their performance indicator wasn't about the students' functional performance, and was more about number of grammar structures and new words covered and TOPIK exam grades. The class design was too much based on keeping everyone at the same level without some, say, system of graded readers or scaled tasks to accommodate individual differences. I feel like I've done better doing self studying, but that might be partly because - like her - I'm partly consolidating what I rushed thru in the schools. I get my structure by following a particular series of texts and work books. Getting discipline to study has been easier and harder at different times of my life, so I really sympathise with her trying to study while she works full time. I now need to get a cheap tutor, not so much to teach me, because I can get the information from my own self-study in texts, korean learning blogs and YT vlogs, but rather to give me feedback on my efforts writing my own practice sentences and paragraphs, and to talk with me. I need conversation practice (I get some with Korean friends but my ability is still very basic so I can't politely impose on their patience too much). A tutor can also help as a sounding board for pronunciation work and answer my question. My Korean friends seem to enjoy answering most of my questions -which are usually about nuance differences between words or grammar structures that mean basically the same thing - but I think I need answers from someone with better bilingual knowledge of both English and Korean.

[@catherinehowell7893]

Does anyone have a Japanese Language School in Kyoto they could recommend? I am in my early 40's and I am not interested in doing the activities as I have lived in Japan before.

[@ando1135]

my japanese friends mom enrolled him in japanese language school as a child here in california (i know, it exists lol) so he learned while growing up and his mom only speaks japanese to him so he practices like that. although hes only been to japan maybe 4 times in his life, he can still read and write it well....speaking is pretty fluent but he says thats the one thing he still has some issues with.

[@Arctagon]

What I'm wondering about is how she got into Japan in the first place. She seemingly was able to find a full-time job there, but how?

[@yannistan639]

Not only find, but live and work there for some years without knowing Japanese, it is a mystery indeed! I doubt that Greg would answer it now, though

[@michaels3003]

@@yannistan639 , there are two of them (she's married). They could have been working for non-japanese companies.

[@yannistan639]

@@michaels3003 Thank you, it make sense)

[@youbetubber777]

So what's the best Japanese language KZbin channel? And what about Rosetta Stone?

[@Pixel-in8uu]

Japanese Ammo with Misa has a lot of useful videos.

[@Didhhsihxkhxbggskg]

I love this video

[@AliG-jh2rx]

Jess if I may give you some advice, look up Ajatt on KZbin or the channel mattvs Japan

[@Notesofnomads]

Thank you! I will look it up!