Japanese Plus Conversation

Genki Japanese and Culture School

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Descrizione del corso

Questo corso aggiunge al programma standard una lezione extra di conversazione al giorno, che si tiene a piccoli gruppi. La lezione si concentra su alcuni aspetti interessanti del giapponese parlato che sono impossibili da trattare durante le lezioni normali, come ad esempio slang, dialetti, lessico tecnico e altro ancora.

Programma: 10 lezioni di grammatica, 10 seminari pratici e 5 lezioni di conversazione a settimana

Argomenti del corso

Ascolto, parlando, pronuncia, lettura, scrittura, vocabolario e grammatica

Orario scolastico

Durata del corso
2-20 settimane
Date di inizio
Ogni Lunedì (eccetto per principianti)
Date di inizio per i principianti
Ogni primo Lunedì del mese
Lezioni a settimana
24 lezioni a settimana (ogni lezione dura 50 min)
Giorni delle lezioni
lunedi - venerdì
Vacanze scolastiche
29 apr 2024 - 06 mag 2024, 15 lug 2024, 12 ago 2024, 16 set 2024, 23 set 2024, 14 ott 2024, 04 nov 2024

GenkiJACS non tiene lezione nei giorni festivi sopra indicati. La scuola non retribuisce per queste feste, quindi scegli la data di inizio di conseguenza.

Orari delle lezioni

You can choose from the following class times:

Sessione mattutina
09:30 - 14:55
Sessione pomeridiana
11:25 - 16:50
Sessione pomeridiana
12:20 - 17:45

L'orario scolastico potrebbe variare secondo disponibilià e stagione.

Livello della classe

Elementare
Basso intermedio
Intermedio
Sarai sottoposto ad un test d'ingresso il tuo primo giorno per determinare il tuo livello. Puoi anche fare l'essame' prima da arrivare a Kyōto.

Numero di studenti per classe

Media 4 studenti
Massimo 8 studenti

Età dello studente

Fascia d'età da 14 anni di età in sù
Media 25 anni di età

Attestato

Un attestato di frequenza e completamento sarà rilasciato a fine corso.
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school
photos

Fotografie

  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 1/7
  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 2/7
  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 3/7
  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 4/7
  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 5/7
  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 6/7
  • Genki Japanese and Culture School 7/7
reviews

Recensioni

Consigliato 67%

basato su 6 recensioni
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Qualità dell'insegnamento
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Località della scuola
Alloggio

"Not suited to beginners, disappointing and poor example of adult pedagogy."

Annie Mitchell, studente da Australia

Review of Japanese Genki Jacs



Genki Jacs website promotes absolute beginners classes, where they cater for students “who have never spoken a word of Japanese”. They promote small classes where there is “more attention from teachers, making it easier to focus on students specific needs in an intimate and comfortable environment.”

From these statements, a certain expectation was set regarding the level and pace of the courses offered. More specifically, absolute beginners classes only take enrolements on the first Monday of the month; whcih again, set certain expectations up for what might be offered. My recent experience did not reflect what was promoted and at best could be described as disappointing.

The lack of comprehension of any style of pedagogy, personalized learning, student focused learning tasks and lesson progression demonstrated the inexperience of the teaching staff and overall curriculum focus of the school. Lessons were not adjusted or tailored to meet student needs, showed very limited reflection of student abilities and progression, despite the rigorous and strict adherence homework and data collection.

This was not an environment for adult learners to enrich learning, build skills and understanding, but an imperialist age left over education based on fear and shame. The environment was neither intimate nor comfortable, unless this meant cramped sitting space and tiny rooms.

Perhaps the school is indicative of the entire Japanese Education System and expectations; however, being an international school, catering for students who are from around the globe, it might be expected that a pedagogy aligning with international adult learning would have been implemented, rather than being reflective of the expectations and culture within a local junior high school.

While there was a miscommunication regarding the need to know hiragana before starting; this in no way caters for the promotion of ‘not knowing any Japanese at all’. Simply being able to identify a symbol does not equate to understanding its sound nor how it relates when placed next to other sounds to blend sounds into words. Fluency of sounds is a skill only reached through rigorous repetition, identification, modelling, sight and sound words and vocal exploration. While an adult might be expected to have a quicker uptake of sounds and fluency based on their prior experience of learning to read and speak over several years as a young child, this is not a process that can be achieved in months, much less weeks – and for many adult learners can take many months; dependent up their own phenetic skill awareness and confidence.

Within the first week at the school, the class was expected to have reading fluency of not only hiragana, but the introduction of Katakana. Reading fluency refers to the ability to read quickly, smoothly, easily, and with expression. To read fluently, a reader must understand how the symbols on the page (the letters) are related to the sounds of the language, how those sounds are blended together to form words, what the words mean, and what the words together in a sentence mean. This skill is something that is built over time and practice.



My first week was spent with two other students in the alleged absolute beginner class. Our first lesson saw the teacher write a sentence in hiragana on the board and ask us to read it. In no version of an educative environment would a beginner reader and speaker be expected not only to identify the symbols but to blend and speak them out loud on the first week. The expectations of the beginner class were unrealistic and not in touch with the individual needs of the class, particularly when the range of abilities was so wide. The other two students in my class were clearly advanced, having the ability to write and reading katakana and hiragana, and be able to construct blended sentences using a variety of known words and concepts.



I openly cried in and out of class out of frustration and helplessness as I was shamed and left further and further behind. I was not in a beginner class but with two other students who were confident Japanese speakers and could read fluently. I felt unwelcome and extremely uncomfortable.

At this point, I would like to highlight my strong resilience and adaptability. I draw on a lifetime of high resilience, having experienced personal traumas, deaths, natural disasters and emotional turmoil. I am an experienced and highly skilled world traveler, having backpacked and lived in much of Europe and parts of Asia for over 10 years. I do not say lightly that after a week here, I was planning on leaving and my emotional outbursts were not a case of culture shock or lack of resilience.

The lack of understanding of the mechanics of education was highlighted in every aspect of the class structure. An example was the use of homework for each class. This was not used to assess a students understanding; because if it was, there was no indication that lessons were adjusted to cater for the misunderstandings. On multiple occasions, I was unable to complete parts of the homework and wrote notes on the sheets for the marking teacher to read when it was handed in. These were not addressed, nor were they reviewed. The solution to challenges in keeping up with class content was to give more homework, to the point of it being hours of work outside of the class – and much of it incomprehendable.

The materials were of extremely poor quality. Photocopied sheets were often blurry and writing so tiny, it was often difficult to ascertain what was written. The images were ambiguous and it was often difficult to understand what the activity was requiring.

There was no indication at the school of application of pedagogy of adult learners and adult learning styles. With the website promoting beginner courses suited to a four week commitment, there was little indication that this was the case. It appeared that there were lessons which were rigorously adhered to, with little personalization or room for adjustments or revision.

My highlight of the week was the culture classes; which were well thought out, engaging and varied in activities and interest areas. The tour leaders were interesting and willing to share their experiences and knowledge with the group.

The schools central location is easy to access and surrounded by wonderful cultural spots. While the course facilitators were not teachers and did not draw upon any tools or skills to adapt lessons to suit a range of abilities, they were not unpleasant. However they were not approachable, nor warm. I suspect that it is culturally inappropriate for teachers to build any sort of relationship with students, even adult aged ones. The classes were on the whole ,silent with no encouragement for student input or personalization. This promoted a lack of trust within the classroom, fear and isolation.

While I write this as a reflection of my own experiences, I know that I am not an isolated case as a beginner learner. I am aware that the school caters for advanced speakers and learners and perhaps this is where their expertise lays. I would suggest that this school is not suited to beginners of the language. If they were to continue promoting this, then they might look at engaging a qualified teacher from primary school who teachers learning to read and speak ( 4 – 6 year olds) and engage in some of the pedagogy surrounding phonetic awareness, reading and writing.

I would suggest that if knowledge of Hiragana writing and reading was a prerequisite to enrolling that this be something that i s managed WELL before arriving and done online or in an exam situation or similar.

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Il mio giudizion su questa scuola

Qualità dell'insegnamento
Strutture scolastiche
Attività sociali
Località della scuola
Alloggio
durata degli studi
3 settimane
Data dello studio
1 Jan 2024 - 26 Jan 2024
Consiglieresti questa scuola?
No
Questa è un commento verificato. Questo studente ha prenotato un corso presso questa scuola attraverso Language International.
Oscar San Jose, Marketing and Sales Manager at Genki Japanese and Culture School responded to this review.
16 February 2024

Dear Annie,
First of all thank you very much for your review.
We are always happy to receive feedback for both the positive and the negative of our courses.
Negative reviews help us keep improving all the time so we are grateful.

Our courses are actually designed for complete beginners who can already read the hiragana alphabet. Learning to read the hiragana alphabet before starting is our requirement for all levels, including complete beginners and that is clearly stated in our website and we always remind everyone when booking.
If a student joins our complete beginner class without that hiragana knowledge then it will be very difficult for them that is why we are always very noisy with the requirement.
Were you not reminded about it by Language International? We did remind them when we confirmed the booking.
If you were not notified at all by them before or after confirming the booking could you kindly write to me at [email protected]?
We want to note though that Katakana is not required before starting at the complete beginner class.
Also the other 2 students in your class were complete beginner level (some students have learned by themselves the alphabets and some basic words but are still complete beginners and cannot join a higher class). The curriculum was not modified at all for them and what you had is our regular complete beginner curriculum.

Learning how to read the hiragana alphabet (not to write it) can be done by oneself through multiple available apps and our Hiragana section in our website which has all the sounds as well with the voices of our teachers and quizzes.
As coming to Japan is a big investment for most of our students we want to start right away into the matter and not using the first class hours with the Hiragana alphabet. That system has made our complete beginner students improve faster and make the most of their time in Japan.

Most of our students are beginners and our curriculum is giving good results for them. We are actually not focused on intermediate students, therefore we are extremely sorry that in your case our curriculum didn't work.

We are very sorry that you thought that our materials were poor, we will look into it and improve them where needed.

Regarding the class sizes, yes they are small but adapted to the maximum number of students in class that is 8.

We are happy that you at least enjoy our culture classes.

We would had liked you to talk to us about this while you were at the school as we could have helped you right then. We apologize if you didn't feel that you could not do so as this is the opposite feeling we want to give.
We try to make our students as comfortable as possible and give them the confidence to talk with us anytime there is an issue or misunderstanding.
We have introduced since the end of January a "First impressions survey" for all our new students to express their issues and concerns right after finishing their first week in order to be able to act right away.

We are again very sorry that you didn't have a good experience with us. We take our students feedback very seriously and will make sure this misunderstanding does not happen anymore.

Yours sincerely,
Oscar

"It was a great place to meet people from around the world and I feel much more confident in my Japanese!"

Andrew WERDEN, studente da USA

The teachers were amazing at teaching. The locations were extremely convinient. However the Tokyo location was hard to find. The classes were well structured and the class sizes were optimal if not a little small. My host family was amazing. You guys are awesome, thank you for this experience.

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Il mio giudizion su questa scuola

Qualità dell'insegnamento
Strutture scolastiche
Attività sociali
Località della scuola
durata degli studi
1 settimana
Data dello studio
26 Jun 2023 - 7 Jul 2023
Consiglieresti questa scuola?
Questa è un commento verificato. Questo studente ha prenotato un corso presso questa scuola attraverso Language International.

"Incredible experience."

Christian Ricardo Jimenez Guillen, studente da Germania

I like many things about Genkijacs, including the school facilities, location, teaching method, and professors, which is why I rate it 5 stars. Japan's culinary culture is incredible, with thousands of restaurants, but unfortunately, the time between classes is too short to explore these alternatives. However, I did have time to explore the restaurants in the afternoon :). The student attention at Genkijacs was excellent, and the staff helped me with all aspects of transport without any issues.

On the other hand, I was not satisfied with the quality of the department I was assigned to, despite its beautiful location. When I returned to Germany, I wrote to the school with photos to highlight the issues, and they assured me that they would investigate the matter with the service providers. Living in Kyoto was an experience for me, and the quality of the department was an essential part of that experience. If I had to pay double or triple to get better conditions, I would do it without hesitation. For my next visit, I will be more particular about the accommodation.

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Il mio giudizion su questa scuola

Qualità dell'insegnamento
Strutture scolastiche
Attività sociali
Località della scuola
Alloggio
durata degli studi
1 settimana
Data dello studio
3 Apr 2023 - 14 Apr 2023
Consiglieresti questa scuola?
Questa è un commento verificato. Questo studente ha prenotato un corso presso questa scuola attraverso Language International.

"Overall a good experience"

Alfred Makne Poulsen, studente da Danimarca

The teachers was very friendly and had different teaching styles.
It's for the most part fast paced learning. We went through around 2 chapters every week.

We followed the Minna no nihongo book.
With about a month interval there's a test we had to take. If you don't pass you may have to take the same month again.

We got homework every day (except weekends) but for the most part not to time-consuming.

But if you want more homework you can just ask

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Il mio giudizion su questa scuola

Qualità dell'insegnamento
Strutture scolastiche
Attività sociali
Località della scuola
Alloggio
durata degli studi
23 settimane
Data dello studio
5 Sep 2022 - 17 Feb 2023
Consiglieresti questa scuola?
Questa è un commento verificato. Questo studente ha prenotato un corso presso questa scuola attraverso Language International.

"II will give 80 marks out of a total of 100. The top up conversational classes are not as helpful as I have expected."

TSE PYH, studente da Hong Kong

Some teachers are very zealous to teach such as Keigo San, Kanego San and Yasuko San. Some are not very full-heartedly.

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Il mio giudizion su questa scuola

Qualità dell'insegnamento
Strutture scolastiche
Attività sociali
Località della scuola
durata degli studi
3 settimane
Data dello studio
6 Feb 2023 - 3 Mar 2023
Consiglieresti questa scuola?
No
Questa è un commento verificato. Questo studente ha prenotato un corso presso questa scuola attraverso Language International.

"It was challenging, but very rewarding."

Peter Charles Slaven, studente da Australia

The classes were tough and fast paced, but overall were extremely rewarding. I personally got frustrated at times because the classes are almost entirely done in Japanese and I could not understand what was going on because I was an Absolute Beginner. The teachers are very lovely and helpful. The location is central and great for post class activities.

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Il mio giudizion su questa scuola

Qualità dell'insegnamento
Strutture scolastiche
Attività sociali
Località della scuola
durata degli studi
1 settimana
Data dello studio
2 Mar 2020 - 13 Mar 2020
Consiglieresti questa scuola?
Questa è un commento verificato. Questo studente ha prenotato un corso presso questa scuola attraverso Language International.
housing

Alloggio

GenkiJACS offre i seguenti tipi di alloggio:
homestay

Alloggio in famiglia - Single-person room - Colazione e cena

196 €
settimanale

Homestay - Single-person room - Breakfast and dinner

Fascia d'età: da 16 anni di età in sù
Località: Outside the city center of Kyōto
Tipo di alloggio: Alloggio in famiglia
Tipo di camera: Single-person room
Pasti: Colazione e cena (7 meals per week)
Strutture: Cucina, lavanderia, computer, wireless internet, free internet, tappeto, aria condizionata, riscaldamento, e supervisione 24/7
Distanza dalla scuola: 40 - 90 minuti in train or subway
Disponibilità: gennaio - dicembre
Giorno di arrivo: domenica, in qualsiasi momento
Giorno di partenza: domenica, in qualsiasi momento
196 €
The opportunity to stay with a Japanese host family is the perfect way to immerse yourself in the culture, and practice at "home" what you learned at school that day.

When arranging a host family for you, we try to take into account any needs or preferences you may have, such as smoker or non-smoker, allergies, English ability, and so on. Your host family can act as guides and mentors, friends and companions, and a wonderful resource in your adventure in Japan. They are likely to be the people you become closest to during your stay, which is why we work with a very reputable homestay provider that performs a thorough screening of all host family applicants, to ensure that they can provide a suitable environment to assist your learning and to allow you to fully experience Japan.
student-residence

Residenza per studenti - Single-person room - Senza pasti

124 €
settimanale

Kyoto Guesthouse

Fascia d'età: da 18 anni di età in sù
Località: In the city center of Kyōto
Tipo di alloggio: Residenza per studenti (fuori campus)
Tipo di camera: Single-person room
Pasti: Senza pasti
Strutture: Cucina, lavanderia, wireless internet, free internet, tappeto, aria condizionata, e riscaldamento
Distanza dalla scuola: 25 - 45 minuti in train or subway
Disponibilità: gennaio - dicembre
Giorno di arrivo: domenica, in qualsiasi momento
Giorno di partenza: sabato, in qualsiasi momento
124 €
Se preferite la possibilità di farvi molti amici e allo stesso tempo godervi la vita di città senza coprifuoco, questa potrebbe essere la soluzione ideale. Avrete una stanza privata in uno studentato con altri studenti GenkiJACS ed universitari giapponesi. Offriamo diverse tipologie di studentato, quindi la scelta può essere effettuata sulla base del budget disponibile e dei servizi offerti.
apartment

Appartamento - Single-person room - Senza pasti

261 €
settimanale

Private apartment - Single-person room - No meals

Fascia d'età: da 18 anni di età in sù
Località: In the city center of Kyōto
Tipo di alloggio: Appartamento privato
Tipo di camera: Single-person room
Pasti: Senza pasti
Strutture: Bagno privato, cucina, lavanderia, free internet, sala TV, tappeto, aria condizionata, e riscaldamento
Distanza dalla scuola: 15 - 35 minuti in train or subway
Disponibilità: gennaio - dicembre
Giorno di arrivo: domenica, in qualsiasi momento
Giorno di partenza: sabato, in qualsiasi momento
261 €
La qualità di questi appartamenti è simile a quella di una stanza in un hotel, e possono essere affittati settimanalmente. Includono letto, salotto, area cottura e bagno. Generalmente sono inclusi tutti gli elettrodomestici, così come internet via cavo ad alta velocità.
La maggior parte degli appartamenti privati sono situati in zona centrale, nel quartiere dello shopping e dei servizi, a pochi minuti a piedi dalla scuola.
visa

Supporto per il visto

Non possiamo richiedere visti a nome e per gli studenti. Comunque, la scuola può fornirti la documentazione completa che ti serve per fare domanda di visto.

La tua lettera di accettazione sarà inviata al tuo indirizzo postale con posta ordinaria a carico del mittente. Se desideri ricevere i documenti con posta celere, ti sarà addebitato ¥ 6,500 quando ti registri.

Voli e transiti aeroportuali

Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to Kyōto based on your budget, schedule and preferences.

Assicurazione di viaggio

Studiare all'estero senza preoccupazione con le coperture assicurative su salute ed effetti personali di Language International. Quando prenoti un corso con noi, puoi decidere di acquistare un piano di assicurazione internazionale che copre non solo la cura della tua salute ma anche la perdita o smarrimento dei tuoi effetti personali. Devi prenotare in anticipo la tua assicurazione al momento della registrazione.

Maggiori informazioni sul nostro piano assicurativo »

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