Everyone has their own path to learning foreign languages. Some are forced to study it from a young age, at the behest of their parents (and here it is important that the parents make the right choice). Some take accelerated courses in high school or college, clearly understanding what they need. And some end up in a country without knowing a word, except for “hello” and “please,” and here they urgently learn a completely new language. If the third option is yours and it happened in Japan, here’s some advice.

In many large cities in Japan, there are international centers for foreign citizens. In these centers, you can receive various informational support, as well as take short-term Japanese language courses almost for free. These courses are superficial and cannot be considered comprehensive. But they will help you feel more confident in a new place and provide a good start for further study of the new language for you. And most importantly, they will prevent you from getting into a difficult language situation.

Where to start?

Find the International Center in your city. Next, on the center’s website, choose suitable courses based on your schedule. Download the application form for admission, fill it out in English (the form is quite simple, filling it out will not be difficult), send it by email or bring it to the center at the time specified on the website. There, you also need to pay a sponsorship fee of ~ $9 and for the textbook ~ $18. That’s it! Wait for the start of classes (the date will be communicated to you at the center or via email). The duration of the training is likely different in each international center. Specifically, in Nagoya, it is 11 classes of 2 hours once a week on Sundays.

How does the learning process go?

This is the most interesting part… I was sure that the teaching would be conducted in English, as they accept people with any level of knowledge of the Japanese language. But not so fast… The entire learning process is conducted exclusively in Japanese. The teachers are all Japanese, and they practically do not understand English (yes, some even struggle to read your name). The textbook is also only in Japanese, except for some handouts that are duplicated in English. You might ask how they teach then?

Well, first of all, the textbook and handouts

The textbook and handouts consist of clear pictures, with captions in Japanese next to them. The teacher always pronounces them slowly several times. For better understanding, I recommend learning, or at least starting to learn the two syllabaries Katakana and Hiragana before the course begins. This will help simplify the entire learning process. But if you consider yourself a polyglot, you can manage without this, as each student will be given a sheet of A4 with the syllabaries before the classes start.

Secondly, the teachers.

There are many of them. For one group (18-25 people), there are 4-5 teachers. Usually, one leads the class, while the other senseis help the students. Somewhere they will pronounce words even slower, somewhere they will explain the meaning in more detail, and somewhere they will help with something else.

Thirdly, communication.

The dialogues in the textbook, the teachers try to act out with each other or with each student. The training is based on repeated practice of words, phrases, sentences, and even small exercises (topics). First, the teacher speaks, then together with all the students, then only the students, and finally, one student separately.

Google Translate.

Finally, fourthly, don’t forget about your favorite translator, Google. No one forbids using it, and with the photo translation feature, things will go much faster!

The beginning of each class is dedicated to safety techniques during earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, etc. You will also be given a sheet where everything will be explained with pictures and captions in Japanese and English. At the last class, diplomas and small gifts are handed out. But not to everyone!!! The diploma and gift are only for those who did not miss a single lesson. A diploma is given to those who missed from one to three classes.

 And afterwards, everyone is invited to a small party at the end of the courses. The entrance fee for the event is $3 (very symbolic). Students from all groups are invited to the event.

Do you have any questions on the topic? I am ready to answer any.