Studying and homestaying in Japan for 4 weeks
Early 2016, I enrolled in a 4 weeks conversational language course in Japan. Just graduated, yet to commence work, it's now or never.
I enrolled in KAI (link here), a Japanese language school located in Shin Okubo. Did my research online and decided upon KAI after comparing a few other language schools. Few things to take into consideration (apart from cost being the most obvious factor) was the type of courses the school offers. Some were more focus on getting you ready to actually enrol in a local university which means getting you prepared to sit for the JLPT test. Whereas some will ask if this is for work or just day to day conversations. Also, the different entry levels will have different start and end dates.
Classes were only held during the first half of the day. So that gives me the rest of the day to explore! Obviously you wouldn't be able to travel too far, but it gave me the opportunity to truly be there. Rather than the usual tourist-y activity: "let's go to Shibuya crossing and walk through that organised mess". I sat by Starbucks overseeing the systematic chaos for the entire afternoon, just plain people watching. Slightly LESS tourist-y, haha. If you really wanna travel outskirt, fret not, you still have the weekends!
I went with zero knowledge of the language. Obviously 4 weeks didn't do magic as I am still not able to converse fluently with other people, but at least if I'm in distress I can ask for help. I once asked for directions but wasn't able to fully understand the given set of instructions, so instead I asked for a map. Good enough, I found where I wanted to go. The most important thing is, I am able to express (in Japanese, lol!) my incapability to understand Japanese and ask for an English menu. Also, in just 4 weeks, I was able to read and write in Hiragana ひらがな.
The size of the classes were very well managed! Might just be my luck but with students coming in and out, we never had more than 3 students in a session. There will be 1 teacher conducting the class in front with an assistant/teacher-in-training seated amongst us, which was really important when it comes to practicing the vocabularies, role-plays and etc. As I opted for the conversational course, classes usually consist of learning new vocabularies, commonly used phrases used in day to day scenarios, dictations to train your listening skills, cultural sessions (like tea drinking etiquettes and introductory origami) and hiragana/katakana classes.
On top of that, I decided to get the full cultural experience and asked KAI to help setup a homestay arrangement. I must say it was a damn good decision! Going back "home", I had the perfect setting to practice what I've learnt. Even my foster dad commented my massive improvement. From not being able to communicate with him at all (he doesn't speak a bit of English), I was at least able to ask for him to pass me soy sauce at the dinner table, haha! AND, how often do you get to eat homemade Japanese food. The arrangement came with breakfast and dinner inclusive *drools* meaning I get home cooked Japanese food everyday!
Homestay prices vary depending on location, duh. Rule of thumb, the closer you are to Yamanote line, the more money it's going to cost you. I stayed at Nerima Takanodai which is about an hour away from Shin Okubo. Despite the distance, it is quite convenient since public transport is well established. Plus, it is an extremely common practice amongst the locals to commute an hour if not more, everyday to their workplace/school.
Now comes the big question. What was the cost? The course and homestay alone was about RM10k. Other key things you should be taking into account is the daily commuting expenses and pocket WiFi rental cost. It is slightly difficult for non residences to purchase any sort of mobile SIM based services. If you're fine with just having WiFi connection at home and at the language centre, then feel free to exclude it.
Overall, definitely a memorable experience! I had such great travelling adventures, explored the various hidden spots and met some really amazing individuals from different parts of the world. If you're considering it, I would highly recommend it.
Here are some of the friends I've made...
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| Jiyugaoka, Meguro Tokyo |
I enrolled in KAI (link here), a Japanese language school located in Shin Okubo. Did my research online and decided upon KAI after comparing a few other language schools. Few things to take into consideration (apart from cost being the most obvious factor) was the type of courses the school offers. Some were more focus on getting you ready to actually enrol in a local university which means getting you prepared to sit for the JLPT test. Whereas some will ask if this is for work or just day to day conversations. Also, the different entry levels will have different start and end dates.
Classes were only held during the first half of the day. So that gives me the rest of the day to explore! Obviously you wouldn't be able to travel too far, but it gave me the opportunity to truly be there. Rather than the usual tourist-y activity: "let's go to Shibuya crossing and walk through that organised mess". I sat by Starbucks overseeing the systematic chaos for the entire afternoon, just plain people watching. Slightly LESS tourist-y, haha. If you really wanna travel outskirt, fret not, you still have the weekends!
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| Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building |
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| Tokyo University |
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| Sumida |
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| Asakusa |
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| Yokohama |
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| Gundam in Odaiba |
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| Shinkyo bridge, Nikko |
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| Nikko station |
I went with zero knowledge of the language. Obviously 4 weeks didn't do magic as I am still not able to converse fluently with other people, but at least if I'm in distress I can ask for help. I once asked for directions but wasn't able to fully understand the given set of instructions, so instead I asked for a map. Good enough, I found where I wanted to go. The most important thing is, I am able to express (in Japanese, lol!) my incapability to understand Japanese and ask for an English menu. Also, in just 4 weeks, I was able to read and write in Hiragana ひらがな.
The size of the classes were very well managed! Might just be my luck but with students coming in and out, we never had more than 3 students in a session. There will be 1 teacher conducting the class in front with an assistant/teacher-in-training seated amongst us, which was really important when it comes to practicing the vocabularies, role-plays and etc. As I opted for the conversational course, classes usually consist of learning new vocabularies, commonly used phrases used in day to day scenarios, dictations to train your listening skills, cultural sessions (like tea drinking etiquettes and introductory origami) and hiragana/katakana classes.
On top of that, I decided to get the full cultural experience and asked KAI to help setup a homestay arrangement. I must say it was a damn good decision! Going back "home", I had the perfect setting to practice what I've learnt. Even my foster dad commented my massive improvement. From not being able to communicate with him at all (he doesn't speak a bit of English), I was at least able to ask for him to pass me soy sauce at the dinner table, haha! AND, how often do you get to eat homemade Japanese food. The arrangement came with breakfast and dinner inclusive *drools* meaning I get home cooked Japanese food everyday!
 |
| Ramen |
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| Sashimi don |
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| Kani nabe (crab hotpot) |
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| Sushi |
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| ichigo aka strawberries |
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| Chicken katsu & tamago omelette |
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| Sukiyaki |
Homestay prices vary depending on location, duh. Rule of thumb, the closer you are to Yamanote line, the more money it's going to cost you. I stayed at Nerima Takanodai which is about an hour away from Shin Okubo. Despite the distance, it is quite convenient since public transport is well established. Plus, it is an extremely common practice amongst the locals to commute an hour if not more, everyday to their workplace/school.
Now comes the big question. What was the cost? The course and homestay alone was about RM10k. Other key things you should be taking into account is the daily commuting expenses and pocket WiFi rental cost. It is slightly difficult for non residences to purchase any sort of mobile SIM based services. If you're fine with just having WiFi connection at home and at the language centre, then feel free to exclude it.
Overall, definitely a memorable experience! I had such great travelling adventures, explored the various hidden spots and met some really amazing individuals from different parts of the world. If you're considering it, I would highly recommend it.
Here are some of the friends I've made...
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| Homestay companion from Columbia |
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| Friends from Taiwan, China and Sweden |
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| Friend from Germany |
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| Friend from Taiwan |
