2 years · April admission
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1 year 6 months · October admission
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1 year 3 months · January admission
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1 year 9 months · July admission
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Age 18 or older, Completed or expected to complete 12 years of school education, Have 150+ hours of Japanese language study history
Document screening, Online interview
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Hi everyone, longtime lurker and sub searcher. I'm about to hit **$40k** in savings and am considering January intake (will hopefully be able to save more and aim for July instead but time will tell). I'm looking for city recommendations to narrow down my school search and start preparing for application season. What I mean by low-expense is that I don't party, barely drink\*, at most eat out once a month and my preferred hobbies are things like reading, video games, language learning, biking, walking around looking at critters or plant life, and volunteering if I can find a good place. My most expensive hobby would probably be hiking/biking if I can get back to it and maybe video games, though I tend to play older or indie games on PC so it's still on the cheap side now that I have reliable enough PC. No children, no pets, no student debt, fortunately. So, all in all, I think my financial needs are modest. I'd like to have money for my time there and money left over for returning and settling back in the US (about $8-10k, I guess?), in case a longer stay is not for me. Willing to work the allowed 28 hrs to supplement, but I don't want to need the job. Am I asking for the moon? please advise 🙇♂️ \*it's been over a year now 😂
What I'm thinking about is to apply for the language school visa and the thing that bothers me is whether there is possibility of changing it to student visa afterwards and then to work visa. I plan on studying psychology in university and you can't do anything without a major because just a bachelor doesn't give you anything there. Then extending the student visa to study for major and then work visa. How possible / achievable does this sound?
Hi all, I'm planning a sabbatical at the end of this year out of personal interest. I want to spend the first 4-weeks of it studying and improving my Japanese in Tokyo, before I do some travelling on the back end of it. The goal is to learn in a structured manner, and improve overall across reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and then sit the JLPT N3 in December (which I'm confident I'd get at least as pass on today if I took it) simply as a secondary goal. I want it to be as pain-free as possible from a logistical perspective, while making the most of my time as much as possible as this opportunity is probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I also want to make friends that I can hopefully stay in touch with after the course - both through the course, shared accommodation, and from socialising. That said, I've essentially narrowed it down to two options: Coto Academy, and Human Academy Japanese Language schools. Can anyone who has attended these, or have done research on both share their opinions and perspectives on them? The questions I'm unsure about are: **1) Pace:** HAJL does 3hrs/day and Coto does 2.5hrs/day. Is this noticeable? Can anyone verify/deny the fact HAJL seems to focus on extra high-speed kanji since there are a lot of Chinese students? This would be a bit of a deterrent for me. **2) Class size:** Does HAJL have similar class-sizes to Coto (i.e. small 8-9), or is it much larger? In my mind, 2.5hrs in a smaller class is more effective than 3hrs in a larger class. **3) Accommodation support:** Coto Academy is very hands-off with helping find accommodation. They claim they don't know, and staff just point to an article that points to agencies and basically says "figure it out" in a polite way. HAJL (at least on the website) seems more supportive and willing to directly help search out suitable accommodation, provided I give them input on location and budget, etc., which is amazing if it's true. It will definitely make planning simpler as I would prefer to not have to deal with the complexities of key money and all that if there's a school who'll happily assist me with that - just for peace of mind, and to avoid any surprises. Anyone who has attended one, or both these schools - or have friends/colleagues who have and can share your feedback, experiences, insights, or advice - I'd love to hear from you! Thank you very much in advance.
Hello, recently ive been thinking of traveling abroad after college and living somewhere else for a change. I'm currently thinking about different options and one of those is Japan. I have a lot of questions on how all of this works and wanted to make a post to ask all of you how your experience has been and if you have done something similar to what I'm looking to do. I'll list off the questions below and if anyone could answer them or some of them I would highly appreciate it! (I am from the US if that changes anything) 1 - How difficult is the Visa process? Right now im looking at a website called "gogo nihon" which seems to handle this. 2 - What are these language schools like? So far I've read online that they only start during certain months, my plan currently would be to shoot for sometime next summer. 3 - Are there extra fees for school? From the website I mentioned earlier the schools listed seem to have a set price, are there any other expenses? 4 - How does housing work? I've always heard finding housing as a foreigner is difficult, however on the go go nihon website they seem to help with this process, is it better to go through them or someone else? 5 - How much would you say it cost to live each day? I know this can change drastically from person to person but by the end of your stay how much did it cost you? 6 - Overall how was your experience? I'd love to hear how your trip was and if there is anything I should know about 7 - Are there any other things I should know or be looking into? I wanna make sure I'm prepared and not go in totally blind. Thank you for reading, any help is very much appreciated
Hi everyone, I apologize if this post is a bit long or scattered. I’m dealing with a lot of overlapping doubts right now, and I felt it would make more sense to share the full picture rather than reduce everything to one simple question. For a while now, I’ve been thinking seriously about spending a meaningful period of time in Japan, not just going for a short trip. I’ve had this idea of living there for a while, studying Japanese seriously, and seeing whether that kind of life really suits me. Ideally I’m drawn to a place like Yokohama, but more than the specific city, I’m trying to understand whether this is actually realistic for me or whether I’m romanticizing it too much. For context, I’m 26 and I work remotely as a game programmer. My schedule is flexible since I work from home, but I still need to put in around 30 to 40 hours a week. That’s where a lot of my anxiety comes from. Part of me feels that a student visa would make the most sense, because my main goal would be to study Japanese and experience daily life in Japan more deeply. But at the same time, I already have a remote job, and I keep worrying about whether trying to study and work at the same time would be too much in practice. I’m also unsure about the working holiday option. It sounds more flexible, but I don’t know if it really fits someone whose main goal is studying rather than mostly traveling and picking up jobs here and there. So I’m confused not only about what is technically possible, but also about what actually matches the kind of experience I want. Another thing that confuses me is the visa side of work limits. I’ve heard that in some cases there may be a limit of around 28 hours per week for work, and if that’s true, then I honestly don’t know what someone in my situation is supposed to do, since my current remote job is already around 30–40 hours. That adds another layer of doubt for me. In theory, the idea sounds amazing: moving to Japan, studying the language, keeping my job, building a new routine, and finally doing something I’ve wanted for years. But I can also easily imagine the opposite outcome — classes, homework, commuting, time zone issues, work deadlines, daily stress, and everything turning into constant exhaustion. What worries me most is ending up too tired to do anything properly: not fully present at school, not focused at work, and not really enjoying Japan either. I’m honestly afraid of building this ideal version in my head and then burning out a few months later because I tried to combine too much. Another thought I’ve had is whether I might actually need to leave my job and focus only on studying if I go. That scares me too, because then it becomes a much bigger financial and personal decision. Keeping my job might make the whole plan too heavy, but leaving it would make everything feel much riskier. So I guess what I’m really asking is: has anyone here been in a similar situation? Especially if you went to Japan for language school while balancing remote work, or if you had to choose between a student visa and a working holiday when your main goal was really to study. Did it feel manageable in real life? Did you enjoy the experience, or did it turn into more of a survival routine? Did anyone reach a point where they realized they had to simplify things and let go of work to make the experience sustainable? I’d also really appreciate hearing from people who arrived with certain expectations and then found that reality was very different, for better or worse. I’m not looking for blind encouragement or for someone to just tell me not to do it. I’m mainly hoping for honest experiences, practical perspective, and maybe some reassurance from people who have had similar doubts. Thanks for reading and for sharing your experiences. I know I’m asking a lot in one post, but it felt more honest to explain the full situation rather than ask something too narrow.
I’m 22 years old and will be moving to Osaka as a language school student. I’d love some advice from anyone with experience. A bit about me: • I’ve been studying Japanese for 8 years (around N2). • I’m completing my degree online, which will be finished by graduation. • I enjoy creating content online. • I have experience working at an airport and in e-commerce marketing and selling. • I can also translate mangas from Japanese to English and do voice dubbing for English anime companies that need voice actresses. I plan to begin as part time (28 hours only) and then gradually switch to full-time (after i graduate) I’m curious about job opportunities in Japan or Osaka, especially ones where my skills and experience could be useful. Any tips, recommendations, or leads would be really appreciated!
