Japanese Language Programs in Kyoto, Japan

My adventure with Genki started in 2023 when I did a 2 week study vacation. I chose them because they were accredited by the German government (state of Berlin) to provide Bildungsurlaub. I learned a great amount during those two weeks and made at least two new good friends with whom Im still in contact. Academically I found them really strong, they have a system where they alternate teachers every two hours so you get different perspectives and explanations while following a consistent program focused on useful grammar. I liked the school and the teaching system so much that I decided to continue online for a year. My online teacher has been fantastic and she took over exactly where I had left. One year later I decided to take more time off and come back for a month. This time was also great, I was in a more advanced smaller group, so we were able to make very fast progress. There was a public holiday during my time the school took us to see the Kabuki for free which was a fantastic plus. In summary: - location (Tokyo): unbeatable in the heart of Shinjuku - teaching staff: super kind, patient and competent. I was particularly impressed by Mamiko-sensei who really motivated us to talk and improve. - support staff: also very good and competent. We got a useful first day briefing and my questions and doubts were always promptly answered. - academic quality: its focus is on grammar and conversation there is a bit of Kanji every week, but you will probably need to study Kanji on your own. The method is good with some tests every few units to track progress. -cultural activities: they are optional but very very interesting combining food, culture, entertainment and creativity. They do repeat the more popular ones or seasonally appropriate ones sometimes. Definitely 5*+ and already hoping to go back again. More than the

Great for anyone who wants to learn Japanese and also have enough time to visit the surroundings. Teachers and staff are the best I have seen in my life, and to be honest I don't really think that I will be able to go back to my school after this amazing experience. Everybody is so lively and exciting, like really lively and sometimes funny. Lessons are always understandable, and the books they gave contains so much information that even if you don't have enough courage to ask the teachers books will always come in help. With the 4 hour class every weekday, you can always go to surrounding cities like Nara, Ōtsu and Osaka if you have mourning classes. Overall, such a great experience to have in life

I started with pretty much nothing. After two months of studying everyday, following up on homework, learning vocabulary and taking private courses, I can really feel the progress. It was not exhausting at all, because everyone at the school is friendly and helpful - I had a lot of fun! とても面白かったです。ありがとうございます。

Kyoto JaLS is a unique Japanese language school. It allows you to tailor you Japanese study according to how much time you have in Japan on a weekly basis. I studied 4 weeks there, on my total 7 weeks of my last trip to Japan, and it was such a nice experience. First of all, the Teacher and Support staffs are very very supportive and friendly to everyone. It is not uncommon that you will be greeted and struck a convo in Japanese everyday. Second, the classes are very small, 8 students tops, which will put you in an immersive class study environment. In no time, you will feel that your classmates and teachers as your family members, and soon you will find yourself speaking Japanese, and you won't be afraid making any mistakes in doing so. Third, I joined Private Classes for 3 times a week. These private classes are tailored to what you would like to focus on in your study, be it Conversation, Grammar, Reviews, the teachers will help you in achieving them. Fourth, JaLS has very interesting after class Activities, which you can decide to join on weekly basis, Japanese cooking classes activities (i.e. Ramen, Soba, Sushi), Day sightseeing trips, Japanese Crafts and Arts. Conversation with Native Japanese speakers, etc. These activities will immerse yourself more in Japanese Culture and Language Learning. Overall i really enjoyed the experience very much. I made good friends with not only fellow classmates, but also the teachers and support staffs. I would definitely do this again in the future, and definitely would recommend Kyoto JaLS to anyone interested in learning Japanese during their trip.

GenkiJACS one-month Japanese course provided a foundational understanding of the language. The course covered essential aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Pros: 1) Small Class Sizes GenkiJACS maintains small class sizes, allowing for more personalized attention from instructors. This facilitates a conducive learning environment where students can actively engage and receive feedback. 2) Immersive Environment Being located in Fukuoka, Japan, GenkiJACS provides an immersive language learning experience. Students have opportunities to practice Japanese outside the classroom, enhancing their language learning in real-life interactions. 3) Varied Teaching Methods and Teachers GenkiJACS employs diverse teaching methods, including interactive exercises, role-playing, listening and comprehension activities, ensuring a dynamic learning experience catering to different learning styles. 4) Teachers The teachers were patient and friendly. 5) Resources Excellent and useful after the course. Cons: 1) Intensive Pace The one-month duration was challenging, especially those new to the language. The fast-paced nature of the course was sometimes overwhelming. 2) Limited Proficiency Gain Due to the short duration, I feel I only achieved a very basic level of proficiency by the end of the course. I needed a lot more time to gain deeper ability. 3) Resources Sometimes the Furigana over Kanji in photocopies was so small that it was hard to read. Overall, GenkiJACS' one-month Japanese course offered a solid foundation in Japanese. It provided a structured curriculum, immersive environment, and excellent resources which can be used after the course. The teachers were friendly and the school felt like a community. I really enjoyed my time there and have definitely improved my understanding, reading and writing of Japanese, although my ability to formulate spoken answers is still quite slow, but that's more me than the school.

Its funny because when i came Genkijacs i expected good japanese classes from what i read online, but i didnt expect the most high quality language classes in general, i rarely experinced this during my normal school time in the past. I dont really see a reason to pick any other school than this one if its the first time you are studying in Japan. If you are new to japanese and have had this fantasy image in your head of going to Japan and speak japanese with japanese people and living there like a community because of youtube or anime etc., the teachers and school gives excatly that image and are very welcoming for newcomers and beginners. There is no reason to be nervous or the feeling of pressure or any of that. Been there 2 times and even though i havent checked out other schools out i cant see how it could be done better than this to be honest.

I studied for over a little then 6 months with Genki Jacs in Japan. I started of with 3 months in Kyoto and then did 3 months in Tokyo. I honestly can not recommend this enough. I had so much fun and made so many amazing memories with new found friends. Now that I look back on it I am also very happy with the amount of progress I made with my Japanese. Japanese is a very hard language, especially if youre not familliar with asian languages. But I think Genki Jacs does a great job at teaching Japanese, you learn so much in such a short time without being at school all day. I only had about 4 hours each day and could just explore Japan with the rest of my day. And i still learnt so much Japanese. If i could change one thing though, it would have to be the housing. You don't have to do the housing via the school obviously but I did. I ended up in a very nice share house where I had a lot of fun, but it was quite far from the school and it did cost me a little money to travel to school everyday. Maybe I am just used to short distances, being from Holland and all, but that would be the only negative. All in all, I would highly recommend everyone to do it.

Everyone at JaLS is so supportive and friendly. The teachers are fantastic and make difficult content fun and easy to understand. This experience was fantastic preparation for the JLPT, and if you are able, I would highly recommend the private lessons. If I could continue those from my home country, I would. That's how much I got out of them. I absolutely love this language school and would love to return one day!

The teachers were extremely friendly, small class sizes (I had classes with one other student, up to 6 others, and I stayed at the school for 13 weeks!), school staff was always there to help, and made a lot of friends with the other students from all over the world!

This language school is amazing, really great teachers and staff. Class sizes are small and makes learning and focusing on new lessons so much easier and so much more fun. If I could I would be going back to this school everytime I go back to Japan.

An important aspect of attending a language school is a correct class assignment. JALS is placing students according to the placement test but makes sure the difficulty is appropriate for a students and readjust the placement as necessary. The difficulty of my final class was perfect, i.e., with enough challenge to keep me improving while keeping up with the pace. Classes are maintained at a size where all students get enough attention and oportunity to participate. Teachers are patient and very supportive. School premises are adequate and pleasant. School also organizes a lot of fun activities so there are many opportunities to get in contact with other students and locals. One can therefore practice the language while having a good time. Great overall experience and easy choice for my next language trip.

Teachers were really kind to teach Japanese and always tried to let us understand well. If I don’t understand well, they provided other useful handouts as well. Staff were also kind and they let us know what Kyoto is like well. I got a variety of good impressions from them. Everything at the JaLS Kyoto was satisfying and I want to learn Japanese later again if I have an opportunity.

For the beginning of this summer I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to complete an internship with Kyoto JaLS for 7 weeks. During this time I took Japanese classes, gained many skills through interning and experienced the wonderful culture of the area with new friends. While in Kyoto, I lived in a sharehouse and absolutely loved it. My roommates and I always planned get togethers and would host things like pancake nights, curry night, omurice parties, and an okonomiyaki party. Life in the sharehouse made my time in Japan unforgettable- I will treasure the time I got to spend with all the amazing people I got to live with for 7 weeks! I definitely recommend living in a sharehouse because it’s a great way to engage with local people as well as fellow JaLS students. One thing I really appreciated was how small the class sizes were, because it ensured personal attention from the instructors. All of my teachers were amazing! They made the classes more interactive by including learning games and challenged us to converse only in Japanese. The teachers and staff members were helpful, cooperative, and always available for any kind of support. Additionally, they created a friendly and welcoming environment which made me feel at home! :) The activities organized by JaLS provided me with the opportunity to truly experience Japan on a deeper level, develop my Japanese, and make friends with other JaLS students and the locals. I became friends with many students from different parts of the world which allowed me to experience and learn about different cultures. Overall, my experience at JaLS was WONDERFUL, and I recommend it to those who want to experience Japanese culture while making incredible memories and gaining useful skills!

[Eng/Deu] Hello, I am a Hokkaido Japanese Language School student from Germany coming to Japan with a working holiday visa. I planned to work in Japan and looked for appropriate schools. After evaluating different options, I chose JALS because they offer internship courses to prepare you for working in Japan and put you in classes that suits your skill level. In my case I was not a complete beginner but not yet intermediate. I studied Japanese at JALS from November to March (14 weeks) with an internship lasting for 6 weeks and staying at a host family. I had a wonderful and joyful time and made many international and Japanese friends. What I treasured most is the friendly and welcoming atmosphere. I was really scared at the beginning coming to Japan by myself. But not only the host family but the staff at JALS as well made me feel at home in an instant. Furthermore, I was really amazed how skillfully JALS’ teacher can convey grammar comprehensively without using English or another language beside Japanese. The many activities, the patient and helpful staff members and teachers as well as the flexibility makes JALS perfect for a short time language experience. I was able to improve my Japanese from ”throwing a few words at Japanese” to “having casual conversation with patient Japanese” in 14 weeks. Even though I recommend anyone, who wants fun language holidays, to go to JALS, it gets really crowded during seasonal courses. With 8 people in one small classroom it can get noisy and the time being able to talk Japanese in class is reduced. With longer stays like mine the teaching methods can also get a bit monotone. I think, with increasing the free talk time during classes the learn experience could be heavily improved and the fear of talking to Japanese taken away. All in all the Hokkaido Japanese Language School taught me a lot of valuable language skills and helped me start my working holiday trip thoroughly. It’s an experience that will last, especially because of all the great people I met at the school. ------------------- Hallo, ich bin deutsche Schülerin an der Hokkaido Japanese Language School und bin nach Japan mit einem Working Holiday Visa gereist. Vorab habe ich mich über geeignete Schulen informiert, mit der Intention später in Japan zu arbeiten, und entschied mich letztlich für JALS. Grund für diese Entscheidung war der Praktikumskurs und die flexible, individuelle Kursauswahl entsprechend des Sprachlevels. In meinen Fall war ich zwar kein kompletter Anfänger mehr, aber auch noch kein Fortgeschrittener. Ich schrieb mich für November bis März (14 Wochen) ein und belegte die ersten 6 Wochen den Praktikumskurs. Während dieser Zeit lebte ich bei einer Gastfamilie. Die Zeit bei JALS war wunderbar und voller freudiger Erinnerungen. Ich konnte viele internationale und japanische Freundschaften schließen und wurde vom ersten Tag an mit offenen Armen in einer herzlichen Athmosphäre empfangen. Vor allem da ich zu Beginn große Sorgen hatte, allein in ein Land am anderen Ende der Welt zu reisen, war ich erleichtert, sofort so warmherzig in die Familie aufgenommen zu werden. Weiterhin war ich erstaunt, mit welcher Leichtigkeit die Lehrer an der Schule auch schwierige Grammatik ohne den Gebrauch von Englisch oder einer anderen Sprache neben Japanisch vermitteln konnten. Die vielen optionalen Aktivitäten, das gedulige und hilfsbereite Personal und die Lehrer, als auch die Flexibilität des Unterrichts machen JALS zu einer idealen Schule für ein Kurzzeitspracherlebnis. In den 14 Wochen war ich in der Lage mein Japanisch von “wir werfen einzelne Wörter in den Raum” nach “wir haben ein Alltagsgespräch mit einem geduldigen Japaner” zu verbessern. Ich empfehle jedem, der einen Sprachurlaub machen möchte, sich bei JALS einzuschreiben. Während der Saisonkurse sind die Kurse jedoch etwas voll. Auch wenn die Klassen mit 8 Schülern sehr klein sind, kann es gelegentlich sehr unruhig werden und die Zeit, sich während des Unterrichts auf Japanisch zu unterhalten, sinkt. Ideal sind Klassen mit nicht mehr als 6 Schülern. Der Unterricht bei längeren Aufenthalten wie meiner neigt dazu, auf Dauer monoton zu werden. Ich denke, wenn man die Zeit, in der man freie Unterhaltungen führen kann, erhöht, würde das den Unterricht wesentlich verbessern. Trotz allem denke ich, dass Hokkaido Japanese Language School eine sehr gute Schule ist, in der man wertvolle Sprachkenntnisse erlangt und ohne Sorgen sein Working Holiday starten kann.

I spent a month at Kyoto JaLS this summer! Although a relatively new campus, they had a well-thought out programme which provided a good mix of lessons and cultural activities :) The school is in the centre of Kyoto and is located in a co-working space. This gives students the added opportunity to mingle and network with native Japanese, which was really important to me as you get to utilise what you’ve learnt immediately and make new friends to hang out with! Additionally, the process of signing up with the school is fuss free! They are really responsive and genuinely care about what you want to gain out of the experience. Besides gaining more confidence in my language abilities, I am really happy to have forged amazing friendships with the staff, students and the natives co-working at the location! Notwithstanding, Kyoto is an amazing place to be in!!! It was definitely an amazing experience, and I would have loved to spend more time there!

I LOVE KYOTO JAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL! For anyone who wishes the work, study or just live in Japan a few class through this school will change your life and set you up for success! JaLS is a great affordable school for students of all ages and have schedules for everyone! I studied at Kyoto Japanese Language School this past summer for a month (on the summer schedule) with the intention to just learn Japanese. However, I received so much more. By the time I was leaving Japan, I was confidently communicating with my various friend groups in Japanese, reading and writing complex sentences, and extremely well cultured. None of this progress would have occurred this quickly if I had not attended Kyoto JaLS. My experience at Kyoto JaLS was completely immersive. Entering into this school, I spoke little Japanese and within the first week I was speaking and writing correct simple sentences. By two weeks, I had successfully made friends with the staff and many of the diverse students both inside and outside of school. Finally, by my last two weeks in Japan I had become so culturally immersed into my new lifestyle that I was speaking Japanese at school, outside on the streets and at my share house which was something I didn’t think I would be able to do when I first arrived to Japan. The Language School has an efficient system of learning, where class of no more than 8 students are taught by a Japanese speaking professor. The professor only speaks Japanese, the textbooks are in Japanese, and you are only allowed to converse in Japanese for about three hours and thirty minutes a day. As a novice Japanese speaker I did not think I would be able to learn in this climate, however the staff, teachers, and administration of JaLS are so helpful and driven to help me improve that in barely no time I was understanding Japanese. On the topic of the staff and administration, they are the most helpful set of people I have ever met. They equipped to handle various situations they people on hand that speak several languages including English to help make your stay in Japan as comfortable as possible. I speak from extremely personal experience where one of the staff member picked my up from my share house, helped me with my bags to the train so I would catch me flight at the airport! They are amazing people! Additionally, unlike many languages schools in the Kyoto area JaLS administration and staff goes out of their way to plan trips and activities for students to get a full cultural experience every single day! From walking through temples wearing yukatas, to making chopsticks, and learning kendo, JaLS gave me a full cultural experience to supplement my Japanese learning. I wholeheartedly recommend this program to anyone who wishes to get a true experience of a foreign student living in Japan, looking for work or any other situation. I said this before and say it again! JaLS is a great affordable program for students of all ages and everyone should go! I had an incredible time in Japan, many new and intriguing friends and a beautiful language under my belt thanks to everyone at JaLS.

I attended the summer course from July 31 to August 24 and it was one of the best experiences in my life. The school is very centrally located with a stylish & comfortable working space. The staff and interns there were also very friendly & hardworking. Kyoto JaLS organizes cultural activities everyday after school for a fee where anyone is welcomed to join. Overall, the atmosphere in the school is very relaxed. However, your experience will be entirely up to you to decide. I observed many students who spoke in their native language most of the time and many who didn't really try to mingle around with others, so the experience and feelings I had towards Kyoto JaLS and the experience they had was very different. My Japanese has definitely improved, particularly listening and speaking. I was very sad to leave as Kyoto JaLS felt more like home & family than a school to me. Just be respectful, understanding, go with an open mind and try to speak as much Japanese as you can while you're there, I guarantee that you'll have a great time at Kyoto JaLS! :)

Kyoto JaLS is not just a Japanese language school. Instead, it has combined a café, study room, bookshop, and language school for Japanese students (especially English) along with the Japanese language school for foreigners. There was an activity every day after class, and both Japanese and foreigners were welcomed to participate in the activity. This made learning Japanese not only a school subject, but an authentic experience of interacting with the locals and exchanging cultures and ideas. The concept of Kyoto JaLS as a space for people with different backgrounds sharing their ideas with other is amazing, not to mention the cozy environment (including the classrooms, study room, and café) and the friendly and helpful staff. Concerning the Japanese language course, the teachers were very professional that my need was always satisfied and I never had to try hard to concentrate in class. The lessons focused much on conversation and every student had many opportunities to speak. Therefore, my speaking ability had improved a lot and now I am more confident to speak in Japanese. To be honest, the course fee of Kyoto JaLS may be a bit more expensive than other schools. However, the quality of the course is worth the price considering the small class size and learning environment, which enhance the learning efficiency and motivation. If you do not want to waste time doing repetitive grammar exercises or getting bored during class, I would definitely recommend Kyoto JaLS to you.

I attended Kyoto JALS this Summer during the month of June 2018. I took the Summer course program. Before attending the school I had my doubts. The Kyoto location is new and I couldn't find much about it online. I took a leap of faith and to my delight the program was everything promised and more. The staff is hard working and friendly. They were helpful, responsive and did a wonderful job making the experience overwhelmingly positive. I can proudly claim that in one month my Japanese had noticeably improved. I was very happy with the overall experience. I think it's important to go in with an open mind. If you are considering going to to Kyoto JALS go for it. The cafe is centrally located and is a relaxing environment. I was truly sad to leave and will definitely go back at the first opportunity.

The classes were very participative, I'd hardly get bored. During classes it didn't seem so, because we were always practicing speaking, but every week we learned a lot of new things and also, the amount of time needed outside classes to follow what was taught wasn't high, meaning you can enjoy a lot of Tokyo during weekdays. Because of the class style, I ended up befriending my classmates and had quite a busy schedule during my time in Tokyo because of this :P