Intercultural Institute of Japan Akihabara - Taito City

I took a weekly course here for three weeks a while ago. Different teachers daily and each lesson was unique and not linked to the one before or after. Biggest frustration was loads of new vocabulary was piled on each day with no time to engage or process it. Teaching method relied exhaustingly on the teacher going around the class and getting students to practice individually, which seems a waste of precious time. Loads of homework, which is a desperate effort of their part to have you actually practice what was sped through in class. Classes went fast and Chinese students set the pace with their ease with kanji and vocabulary cognates. In sum, buyer beware, maybe take something with a better curriculum or take private lessons.

I have attended the school at October 2018 and studied there up until August 2019. My expectations about how good language school should looks like were completely fulfilled. I have to say, it’s not an easy school, the idea is that you have to invest your time in studying Japanese even if you are not in classes. Someone doesn’t like it, but for me the sole purpose of going to school was to study Japanese. And school provides you with all opportunities for achieving this. Classes are extremely helpful. First two semesters you have kanji classes and home classes where you study core grammar. I have to admit, that first two levels were the hardest ones. But apparently after finishing them one should have a solid background in Japanese, so in third level and higher, process of studying become self-supporting. You don’t need grammar notes written in English, you can read explanations of Japanese grammar in Japanese, which is really cool, as well as the feeling of understanding of what’s going on around you. Since third level you have a choice, what classes to attend, so-called 目的別授業. There are keigo classes, additional kanji classes, jlpt/eju classes, reading classes, current affairs discussion classes, etc. For instance, for me JLPT and EJU were not important at all so I had an opportunity to take lot’s of different courses. School staff is really helpful with any problems you may face in Japan. Starting from interaction with authorities to helping you with passing an interview for real company. Teachers are always ready to help you with your questions after the classes in case you missed something during class. Every half a year there are school trip that is included in tuition fee for long-term students, and of course for major holidays there are some cheerful activities. In short, if you are really interested in studying Japanese intensively on a long-term course I would strongly recommend to enrol in Intercultural Institute of Japan.

I did the weekly course here for 3 months. I had a few years of loosely studying, which I recommend if you are going to take this program. The courses are fast pace and have a lot of homework, it's basically like a full time job. This is an intense full immersion course and I highly recommend it. I intent to go back and take more courses if the opportunity arises!

I came in with no background in Japanese so I was put in the introductory course. However, my classmates had a background in Japanese and I had to learn hiragana in two nights. So I didn’t really have a great experience with the introductory class. I moved up to level 1 and level 2, and those classes weren’t as stressful as the introductory class for some reason. I completed the course with a greater understanding of the language but with big holes in my knowledge because the class is very fast paced and there is not much time for detail or explanations, and there was a lot of use of unclear pictures. On a more positive note, the school has a lot of cultural events which are a lot of fun, and i met so many interesting classmates! That was fun. However, If you decide to enroll here, I would recommend that you study at least a little bit of Japanese before you come.

Great staff and great teachers. This school gave me a great introduction to the Japanese language and I've managed to learn a lot since the first day I came there. If you ever need help with anything regarding the language or living in Japan, they'll gladly help you.

I spent about 3 month here with the school on weekly course back to 2016 and I came back for more Japanese on 2019. Spent the last year and half on the long term course. Here is what I like about the school 1. Balanced class with students from different countries 2. Elective class when you work your Japanese level up, covers different topics, can be selected per your personal preference 3. Most of the teachers are quite interesting and apparently put a lot effort preparing the teaching material. 4. Location and access to school is great

Teachers are nice and staff is helpful. However, classes are really boring with barely any interactive lessons. They offer you something called "individual goal lessons" which are supposed to be more focused around having fun with different subjects. However, you mostly just do the same thing you would do in a regular class. Classes are divided into morning and afternoon lessons, with beginners studying in the afternoon and intermediate in the morning. Most students come here for a couple months and then leave, and the few that stay are mostly from china. It's hard to make friends here because if your the only one from your country like I am, your not gonna have people to talk to after school because after 4 hours of Japanese, the last thing people want to do is practice it again. It's mostly country groups here, so if your from Scotland for example - you've been warned. Im staying in this school just because I need my visa. Every morning I wake up in lack of motivation because I have to go to that school. If you need to enter university or anything like that, the school will help you. But motivation wise- you'll want to run away after 6 months. It's just like broccoli - it's good for you, but it tastes bad.

If you already know Japanese, this is a great school to go to. If you are planning to actually learn something here, don't bother. So much wrong with this place I couldn't possibly write it all. It's important to remember that your money is more important to them than your education.