Mr. Ou's blog series on studying in Japan: "Studying in Japan - Japanese Language School"

Hello, my name is Shitou Ou and I has been in Japan for 6years. I am in Master program after completing ESL and Under graduates in Japan.

Is anyone wondering “I have heard about Japanese language school but not really sure what exactly it is”, or “I am interested in study abroad, but I am not sure where to start”??
We are staring this blog “Study abroad in Japan” for people like you. We are going to share the helpful information for you.

For the very first episode, we are going to introduce Japanese language school.

Learning language is the first thing you think of when you heard “Study abroad”. It is necessary to have a minimum Japanese skill to enjoy your stay much more meaningful. Japanese language school is the place where help you to start with. Like me, most of international students start their academic life in Language schools as their first step in Japan.

The step to enter Japanese Language school. 　入学までの流れ

Let’s see what kind of process you have to go through. Look at the picture below.

First, let’s talk about the enrollment. Most common way to enroll is using agency. Prepare the documents following all requirements set by the school and submit it.
After received at the school, the school submit your application to the immigration office which will have an approval process. After the immigration office approve your application, the school will send the entrance letter and Certification of Eligibility (COE) to you.
The student submit COE to Consulate General of Japan in your local city and a visa will be issued accordingly.

Saving money on entering Japanese language school　節約して日本語学校の入学を申請する方法

I have often heard that agent fee is extremely expensive. Actually, there is more affordable way to apply for Japanese language school. I am going to introduce 2 of them here.
First one is to apply Japanese language school through local branch or international program. Lately, more Japanese language schools open up their international branch especially in China and East Asia. They have partnerships with local language school or start their own branch locally.
Through this program, you can save the agent fee. Actually, I am one of them who used this program which save me like 80% of cost.
Second one is contact to Japanese language school directly in Japan and submit the enrollment directly. You can find their website easily on internet. You just need to send an email that you are interested in entering the school and school send you some instruction what you need to do. However, this one requires to have some Japanese language skill to communicate smoothly. Sometime English bilingual admin person is available at school.

How to choose a school　学校選びのポイント

Very important thing to be aware is if the school is a licensed and certified as a great quality school by the government. The certified school is a school where receive a certification from government by proving the low level of illegal stay students and great quality of attendance management system to Ministry of Justice.
Ministry of Justice allow students at Non-certified school to stay only 6 months. The student who try to enroll those Non-certified school where frequently have illegal students sometime being required to submit extra documents and have much strict approval process. So, it is very important you first confirm that your school is certified language school.

Here is some links that you might find helpful.

You can search each language school’s size, number of students, tuitions etc.
https://www.aikgroup-siki.com/j-school/japanese/index.htm

Association for the Promotion of Japanese Language Education
You can search different type of education, current students’ EJU, JLPT test info, school information.
https://www.nisshinkyo.org/search/area.php

Life at Japanese Language school　日本語学校の生活

Usually, Japanese Language school has a half day lesson like Morning class or Afternoon class. You can choose whichever course you want. The rest of your day will be your free time and it would depend how you want to spend. For me, my schedule was taking a morning class, go to part-time job in the afternoon, and self-study at night. Depend on the school, you also can have an one-on-one help from teachers for all kind of career related matters such as interview practices, resume writing, interview tips etc. You should be able to find that information on their website.
Japanese language school is called “School”, but it is not only for academic reason. It is also a place to experience Japanese cultures. Most school offer cultural events or outside activities. For example, I have participated BBQ at beach, Japanese traditional tea ceremony, School festival, and visiting Japanese elementary school.

I just realized I participated in a lot of them!!!!

Post-graduation from Japanese Language school　日本語学校卒業後

The path after graduating from Japanese language school vary. Some people choose to go to the technical school to enhance their skills, and some choose to transfer to Japanese Collage/University. Also, some choose to enter Master program to pursue advanced academic goals.

I will introduce more about those post-graduate path through this blog!

Footnote　補足

Fukuoka prefecture and City of Kitakyushu proactively use “National Strategic Special Zone” program.
This is a great news for international students who have graduated from collage at home country in prior to Japanese language school, and want to find a career in Japan after completing Japanese Language School.
https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/751301/

筆者：
欧 梓涛（OU SHITOU）
九州大学大学院地球社会統合科学府1年
Kyushu University Graduate School ofIntegrated Science for Global Society
インターン生（日本）

I came to Japan alone to pursue study five years ago. I experienced much when I just got here for a short time, facing a lot of troubles on my study and accumulating plenty of experience of job　hunting when I was in the university. Therefore I hope I could share my personal experiences with you and help others to solve the problems you might have in daily life or job hunting.I would appreciate it if I can help you and grow together with you.

Special Thanks（Translations）：Mayo Yoshitsugu