Japanese Language Schools and locations

[patxi]

I know that there are a few members here based in Japan or have spent time there. Our son, 16, is looking to head to Japan next school year to learn some Japanese and to get some life experience. As he knows absolutely nothing of the language, we figured it would be too much to do a typical exchange program of living with a family and attending a Japanese high school. We are instead looking into language schools with home-stay accommodations (living with a family and eating 2 meals per day with them).

The plan now is to spend a month or so in Tokyo learning the basics. Then transfer up to Hokkaido (Sapporo most likely) for the winter. Head somewhere down South in the springtime.

Any recommendations as to specific language schools, ideas about where it would be good to live/study for a 16 year old on his own, or any other info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[dan_pdx]

I would strongly recommend that your son try out a shorter visit first with homestay and language school before committing to a full school year.

I did my junior year abroad in Japan, and as a 20-year old college student with a functional knowledge of Japanese, a full year homestay with a Japanese family was a hard fucking row to hoe. (For one thing, your drunk home stay father is a lot harder to understand than your Japanese teacher.) If I had done it in high school, I'm not sure I would have stuck it out.

If money is not an issue, I would suggest your son apply to Middlebury College's summer school for this summer. They do a two-month Japanese immersion course that covers a year of college-level Japanese instruction. You live in dorms with the teachers, take 4 hours of class a day, and pledge to use no other languages for the duration of the course. It's primarily geared to college and university students, but you might be able to get an exception (?) - worth trying. The language teaching comes with a side of instruction on Japanese culture which is very helpful if you're going to live in Japan, especially outside of tourist areas. This could be a good bridge to an extended sojourn in Japan.

As far as location, why all the moving around? Seems way easier to just locate in Sapporo and do some trips to other regions. Southern Japan is hot/humid in the spring and summer anyway -- that's the best time to be in Hokkaido. Sapporo would be a pretty nice place to spend a year as long as he doesn't mind a cold winter (it's not really that cold, probably warmer than NYC on average). It's a great jumping off point for all kinds of ski / snowboarding destinations, so that's a nice plus.

All my information is about 20 years out of date, so I can't make recommendations beyond that. If he's never lived on his own before, doing it in Japan will be a pretty significant test. I hope he has good reasons to do so beyond being a fan of Japanese pop culture, but then on the other hand, I have some friends who wound up in Japan on that motivation and did just fine.

[mcski]

I'm not clear on his current school status. Will he have graduated by the time this takes place? Rocking up to Tokyo as a college student or grad is one thing but someone not even 18 is a bit much. If he needs school credit as part of this I think the way to go would be the American School or something similar for the expat kids. Honestly tho, he will have a much better time as a college age or later adult. Japan is a roller coaster of highs and lows as a gaijin. I think at that age he'd have way more of the lows. He's too young to hang w most of the bar age kids and too outsider for the high schoolers imo.

It's definitely possible to rock up completely unprepared and have a blast. I did for sure. But I was 23.

[patxi]

Thanks both for the insights.

So my son is currently in the equivalent of 10th grade in Switzerland. The schooling here is a bit more intensive than what I had growing up in California. He skipped a grade from 2nd-3rd several years back and I'm not in any hurry for him to graduate and move on to University. By taking an exchange year off, he will have to come back into the school here from where he left off. We aren't interested in a super intensive year of studying in Japan; more like mornings attending classes and afternoons and weekends for exploring on his own. If he learns a bit of Japanese, it is a bonus. He is more interested in learning a bit about the culture and the whole concept of it. We are fully aware that it could turn into a disaster from the culture shock, being on his own, etc.,... He also realizes that he lives in a sheltered bubble here in Switzerland and needs to get out of his comfort zone.

He wants to do Tokyo just to experience it but quickly move to a less populous area. Hokkaido and skiing seem like a good fit plus we can visit him next winter. Springtime in the south comes from "A Letter to Momo".

[mcski]

I think the main thing is it's gonna be a bit hard for him to find a friend niche at that age given what you have in mind. Gaijin are always outsiders. It's a very weird mishmash dichotomy of curiosity, resentment, envy, racism with the Japanese. I like the idea of study abroad, but I think you may have trouble finding suitable schools for him outside of bigger cities that have expat communities. There are tons of schools for Japanese to learn English. Not so many for eng to Japanese. Maybe look at what exchange programs require. No one can really learn to speak Japanese from classrooms in other countries, so in that sense he isn't that far behind any other gaijin student arriving in Japan. It would be easier though if he had some knowledge of the language in advance. The real culture shock happens when you return home after a long stay. Not being in country. He would definitely have a better time if he was at least 18 though.

[TurxSki]

I imagine there might be some legal obstacles, to going solo in Japan, because of his age.
Prolly would need some kinda legal guardian there.

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[dan_pdx]

Oh yeah, one thing: many Japanese language schools for foreigners will be dominated by Koreans and Chinese (both of whom have a leg up when studying Japanese), and may not speak much English. On the bright side, pretty much all the East Asian students I've met in Japan were cool folk.

You might want to look at something like this: https://www.studyabroad.com/high-sch...jumpToListings. Programs for high schoolers will offer a little more support than going DIY, and that would probably be better for your son's situation.

[Shredhead]

Japanese is really hard.

My son did four years at a magnet high school, with Japanese as his major. Three summers of home stays and traveling in SE Asia

Graduated Suma Cum Laude from an Ivy.

Hardly speaks any Japanese and isn’t really interested anymore, even though that’s all he wanted to do in high school.

Your son might be better off with another Latin language, especially considering where you live.

[mcski]

To speak Japanese you have to think like Japanese which is um kinda weird. When I realized all the guys I knew that were really fluent over there were full on weirdos, I decided getting by was good enough.

A girlfriend of mine did 4 yrs of Japanese in college, but I managed to communicate better in the small towns by adding desu to English words. Pissed her off to no end and probably kept me from getting laid more. Lol

[DBdude]

a japenese kid learning english is going to do what ever your occidental kid thinks he is going to do by learning japenese. it's just a fact.

[dan_pdx]

Japanese is really hard.

My son did four years at a magnet high school, with Japanese as his major. Three summers of home stays and traveling in SE Asia

Graduated Suma Cum Laude from an Ivy.

Hardly speaks any Japanese and isn’t really interested anymore, even though that’s all he wanted to do in high school.

Your son might be better off with another Latin language, especially considering where you live.

I read a book once where the writer described studying Arabic "like a donkey, a ninny, and an ass". Rings pretty true for Japanese too: you can learn it, it's just hard as shit. I passed level 1 of the Japanese Proficiency Test about 6 years after my first Japanese class, but I lived in Japan for 3 of those six years, and worked in a Japanese office for 2 of them.

I can't complain how things worked out, Japanese has given me great opportunities, but if I had it to do over again, I'd probably study Chinese.