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Summer Courses of Two Months or Longer

Because Japanese summer courses in Japan often are in the mid-July to mid-August period there's a good chance that you want to find a way to start studying earlier, say beginning in early June. There are two ways I know of to do this, the most convenient is to enter a summer program that begins earlier such as in June, the second option is to enter partway through the full-time course at a language school and then take the summer program when it begins in mid-July. Although they're more convenient the programs beginning in June cost much more than the second option so you may want to check into both. First I will discuss programs beginning in June and then entering partway through a full-time course. Don't forget to check my Traveling Cheaply to Japan page before you buy a plane ticket.

Summer Language Programs Beginning in June or Earlier

Eurocentres

One option is Eurocentres, they have 4 week courses beginning monthly from March - September. However it's very expensive at 316,000 yen (~$2,600) for 4 weeks of course, room, and board. On the positive side, Kanazawa is supposed to be a very nice city but I wouldn't be willing to pay so much money for that privilege.

Princeton's Summer Program

Princeton University also has a 2 month summer language program in Japan that some people from my school have gone to and said was very good. It only costs $3,300 for the 2 month course + homestay (includes breakfast and dinner) so it might be worth checking into. However, just because you apply doesn't mean you'll get in, they have several times more applicants than spots available and I know of people who were rejected. If the cost is too expensive for you then you might also want to consider the Yamasa Institute (below) or YMCA / YWCA programs mentioned above.

The Yamasa Institute

Actually I don't have any first-hand knowledge of The Yamasa Institute but it's a school that somone looking for summer programs ran across and told me about. The school's located in the Nagoya area, which is the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Japan and is located geographically between #1 Tokyo and #2 Osaka. What looks nice about this school is the six options they have for their summer program, full time summer courses start each month from June to August and you can pick any 1, 2, or 3 of the courses to enter. Tuition is about 100,000 yen (~$850) per month for a 20 hour per week course and they have a variety of housing options ranging for 35,000 yen per month double rooms to 65,000 yen per month homestays. Although this is the cheapest of the three options discussed so far you can find even cheaper programs if you go to the YWCA or YMCA in the next section. Nagoya also is not known as a tourist city so the close location of Kansai (Osaka, Kobe, etc.) to Kyoto and Nara, as well as the many summer festivals in the Kansai area make the YWCA and YMCA worth considering.

Mixing a Full-time Course and Summer Course

Osaka YWCA Language School

The Osaka YWCA Summer Language Course (and summer course for teens) is only 65,000 yen (~$550) for a 15 hour per week program from roughly July 21 - August 7, with homestay available for about another 60,000 yen. The low cost is very attractive. However, if you want to study for longer than 3 weeks I am uncertain about the possibilities. They have a "full-time course" from April - September with a summer holiday from mid-July to mid-August (that's when they teach the summer language course). If you want to enter in June it might be possible to enter the full timr course for the first month or so, but you will need to know some Japanese in advance since the other students will have already been studying full time (20 hours a week) for 2 months. When I first went to Japan this is what I did, I entered the YWCA at the beginning of May and stayed until the beginning of July (however I did not take the "summer course"). They charged me weekly for tuition, about $150 per week. It may be a little disconcerting for you since you'd enter the "full-time course" in June and start a new class in July for the "summer course" but it would let you study whatever length of time you want. The YWCA was very accomodating and so if you're willing to put in the effort to catch up in June then they'll probably let you enter when you want (e.g. in June) and then take the summer course in July. Check some of my other YWCA Information to find out more about the school.

Kobe YMCA Language School

The Kobe YMCA also has a 4 week summer course. It says "July-August" so perhaps that means mid-July to mid-August, I'm not sure exactly. Tuition is about $600 for the summer conversation course. I don't know if they'd let you start a different course in June and then enter the summer course, like I mentioned with the YWCA, but I did once talk to a teacher from there and she said that they often allow students to start in the middle of a course. Their summer course page says they cannot help with accomodations.

Other

Unforunately these are the only places I know about. If you know somewhere else then let me know, otherwise look at some of the other school on my Japanese Language Schools page. If you find a school there you like then you can ask them if it's possible to start early, like in June.

Last modified: February 11, 1999

Ravi Montenegro (monteneg@yahoo.com)