Welcome to Japan!—Ryan Conner
A wealth of new experiences awaits you during your time here. Unbounded by your own country’s perceived view of Japan, you can now see for yourself what Japan really is. In addition to having an enlightening cultural journey, you are very fortunate to have encountered, in KCP, one of the best Japanese language schools in the world.
Welcome to KCP International Japanese Language School.
From here on, if you have the discipline to study hard, you will learn Japanese at an unprecedented rate. KCP is so successful because:
Immersion training—Since Japanese is the only language used to teach Japanese, it roots out any notion that you need your English to survive. The more you can detach yourself from your dependency on English, the faster your Japanese ability improves.
Speed—Compared to any normal Japanese college class in the States, these classes easily move at around 3 times the speed. The speed at which you learn really makes the language come alive, because when you leave the classroom you can immediately use and understand such a variety of grammar that it’s nearly guaranteed that you’ll get a chance to use it, even on the journey home.
Teachers—I was personally so impressed by the teachers’ willingness to help students. They are always there for you. The teachers of KCP are tough, but they really want to see you succeed in learning Japanese.
This is an intensive Japanese Language program, so get ready. But if you put your best into it, you will be speaking Japanese faster than you thought possible.
My advice:
Coming to a foreign country for the first time is stressful, especially this far away from the States. If you can’t communicate well in Japanese yet, and you find yourself alone in Tokyo for a length of time, you will have a very natural reaction to find an English-speaking person to communicate with.
However, I have been studying Japanese in Japan for nearly 2 years and have seen that the biggest obstacle in developing conversational fluency in Japanese is to spend all one’s free time hanging out after class with English speaking students. In class you will learn everything you need to know, but if you don’t make an effort to use Japanese outside of class, your conversational ability will not improve.
Study, Study, STUDY!
At KCP, learning and remembering grammar constructions and vocab certainly requires study, but for me the toughest part of the curriculum was of course, kanji. My advice is to buy index cards. Write kanji on one side and hiragana on the other. Do not use English. Remember, it is your enemy here. If you keep those cards and review them on your walk or train ride home, you will find that learning kanji becomes less of the monster it seems.
I hope that you can see Japan with an open mind. I hope you can find all the little subtleties that American media never shows of Japan. I hope you make the most out of your educational and cultural experience. But most importantly, I hope you have a great time, and that you make some great lifelong friends.
