Start date: Week of the 16th September 2024
Join JapcoEducation today and access our platform to start your preparation for the Welcome Tutorial.
As we work to match and schedule in accordance with the chosen learner pathways, we will be in contact by email to confirm your day of the week.
Current Weekday Availability:
- One-to-One tutorials and practice sessions
- Weekdays morning, afternoon & evening sessions and Saturdays
- Flexible schedules
Learn Japanese on autopilot
Our courses work to give you the perfect balance between regularity and flexibility needed to learn a complex language.
2h or 3h every week you will advance in Japanese for as far as you wish to - all included in straightforward membership with JapcoEducation on a monthly basis.
12 Terms: Course Information
See where you should be looking to start with JapcoEducation.
Each course fulfils our dedication to personalised learning to ensure you will flourish linguistically with us: one term leads to another!
Beginner Japanese
If you are just starting your journey with Japanese and are looking to build strong foundations for future attainment in this language of a fascinating culture, then you've found the place.
The focus of the course is introduce the foreign "internal logic" of Japanese and rapidly progress to a point where learning Japanese is pure joy with none of its usual woes.
Building the foundations
The curriculum is integrated across all the language components such that your growth is not stunted as it often happens with self-study. Foundation in a language like Japanese is not merely ability to recall phrases, but to really understand the why and so be able to progress at a greater rate than expected.
Consistent learning outcomes
Each Tutorial has a clear area to tackle so that you can see the competencies you are attaining every week - all reinforced with Practice Sessions meaning your progress is not lost!
Give it a try, we promise you'll love it!
Many students at the start wonder if they can handle a complex language like Japanese. This course can assure from experience that such question is wholly unwarranted. On the other hand, the benefits of even a basic grasp of this language are enormous and allow for communication where there otherwise would be none. It's also a worthy challenge that will keep you mentally exercised for a good while!
Term 1
We will start working towards competency in Japanese scripts, hiragana and katakana. The broad topic areas covered are as follows:
- Greeting and meeting - first steps in Japanese
- Introducing yourself and learning about others
- Family and daily life
- Buying and selling
- Home and free time
- Basic work, scheduling and admin tasks
Detailed scheme for lessons in the term are written out on the platform and will be amenable to add specific interests of the students in your schola.
Term's work (12 weeks) is always delivered across Tutorials, Practice Sessions and Graded Assignments.
Since this is a start...
There are none except eager willingness to learn Japanese and find out more about its cultural context!
Engagement in your student community is optional although encouraged!
Advancing Beginner Japanese
You may have had some exposure to Japanese and maybe even had a go at mastering hiragana.
The point is that you have some learned confidence in your Japanese basics, where you feel revisiting from the very foundations may make more bored than benefit from revision.
And if you are unsure whether this is the course for you, have a look at the Course Content in detail or email us!
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You know something... however
With a plethora of ways to pick up Japanese these days, it means you may very well know a few basic things beyond the very introductions. The expectation is that you know hiragana, katakana, some basic kanji and grammar points to start at this course or alternatively, this is the natural progression from Beginners.
Beyond the simple interactions
The focus is to teach you towards engaging in meaningful interactions - the forms of communication where you volunteer and exchange information you actually want to convey! In short, you are departing the rigour of learned phrases towards fluid conversation.
Double your efforts and keep going!
This is the moment where you will notice two things - your progress picks up at the same time as any initial concerns and difficulties largely dissolve. It is also the point where your Schola is very much up to speed and we end up enjoying Japanese in its proper context as a class.
Term 2
We will focus on progressing towards becoming more confident speakers of Japanese. Activities continue to cover learning objectives with aims to develop further foundation skills in Japanese in speaking, listening, reading and writing; covering relevant grammar, vocabulary and kanji along the way. You will also develop your awareness about the social and cultural background of Japanese language (CC).
The broad topic areas covered are as follows:
- Everyday life - organising events aand trips
- Free time - making choices and explaining decisions
- Navigating towns - locations, travel, shops
- My world - introduce detail to your ideas and stories
Whatever is elementary
There no fast rules here exactly, however the following expectation should give you a rough idea on whether you would want to start a somewhat more demanding level than the Beginners Japanese.
1. Learners who know hiragana, katakana, some basic kanji and grammar points.
2. Learners who want to master and increase their elemental skills.
3. Learners who aim to take the JLPT N5 )optional)
Intermediate Japanese
You ought to be conversant across all key language components to an extent that you are ready to start tackling the nuance of Japanese towards some practical applications.
To give you an idea of the suitability of starting with Japco at this level, we say that a minimum 1 year of regular self-study/classes should work out well.
Note that we focus on bringing the tutorial up to speed, so expect some prior assessments from us to find out what are your gaps!
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Looking for good fluency
At this stage, you are finding Japanese as a mode of expression and are comfortable with contexts more abstract than practical. The focus here is really on advanced grammar and kanji as that is the limiting factor for your Japanese here.
Enriched understanding of the culture
The materials on which you improve your Japanese will be even more focused on imbuing the cultural background such that your communication becomes ever more appropriate and responsive to a native speaker's natural expectations.
Best to consult the term's work
When you acquire JapcoEducation membership, you will be able to peruse the term's schedule for each Schola on the platform, so you should get a better idea if you are comfortable with starting with Intermediate Japanese.
Term 3
- Seasons and weather
- Going out
- Studying Japanese
- Gastronomy
- Health
- Work Communication
Term 4
- Friendship
- Discussions
- Presenting your own traditions
- Geography
Term 5
- Japanese annual events
- Regional events
- Public spaces & smart cities
Term 6
- Environment
- Leading your life in Japan
- Honourific language
Term 7
- Emergencies
- Education in Japan
Ready to life all your core skills
The preference is to work with students from the start towards this level, however if your journey with Japanese has been ongoing, we would love you to join us here, with the following giving you a rough idea on what's needed from you.
1. Learners who already completed Japanese courses for beginners and aim to advance their proficiency in Japanese.
2. Learners who need Japanese language training at a higher level.
3. Learners who aim to take the JLPT N4 and N3 (optional).
Advanced Japanese
You have achieved fluency but not proficiency across all language domains.
This starting point is likely equivalent of a final year undergraduate study of Japanese Language.
By now, you must be thriving in Japanese so the focus here is to push you further towards a point where your language can only develop further in the future by living some time in Japan.
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Going for the native level
This is the point where fluency turns into understanding the nuance of the language without much "translation" but an operation of second-nature.
As you can probably imagine, not many students study at this advanced level, however we think it's important to have this level offered, because of the Sensei's wealth of experience.
Focus on the world of business
The driver behind fluency is inevitably related to work at a particularly demanding level. Therefore, the curriculum is very much focussed on honing the native demands as they often emerge in that particular context.
This is also the Schola that incorporates the specific expectations of the students, since learning a language to this level has to be driven by the student's willingness and interest.
Term 8 - 12
The teaching in advanced terms is tailored to where you have arrived with your Japanese and where do you need to go. As a result, we will work closely with you to navigate the topics that will allow you strive and attain that excellence in Japanese.
The main goal of Advanced Japanese is to provide opportunities to help intermediate learners raise their skills to Level N2/N1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
The focus is placed on reading and comprehending long texts and for working with primary source materials, the communication skills for conducting conversations using expressions for advanced level and a range of different degrees of formality. Topics will broadly represent aspects of Japanese society and are taken from real-life texts cover a wide variety, although negotiated with the schola.
Advanced grammar will form the cornerstone for engaging abstract expression with fluency that is characteristic of a native speaker.
It's somewhat individual but...
It's best to email us about Advanced Schola, so that your Sensei can see what would work best. However, the following are pretty self-explanatory with regards to your current attainment in Japanese:
1. Learners who have learned Japanese at the intermediate levels.
2. Learners who finished the JLPTN3.
3. Learners who want to take the JLPT N2 or N1.
4. Learners who want to study business Japanese.
Why Students Love JapcoEducation
"ありがとう ございます Margaret!" Having studied Japanese for just over 18 months, I can say that Margaret is a wonderful teacher who is passionate about both the Japanese language and culture.
Her lessons are instructive and enjoyable, making herself available outside of class to answer questions or take/assess written work. She has a good understanding of the individual skill levels within a class too, grouping people and topics together depending on skill sets, which is helpful when learning a new language. I would highly recommend!
“JapcoEducation has been incredibly helpful and has vastly improved my level of Japanese. I had taken some night classes before but these had not covered much grammar so I had lots of gaps in my knowledge. These have been more than filled now and I have been able to prepare for taking the JLPT exam.”
"I just thought I'd let you know how it's going and really, just to thank you for your inspirational teaching that made me want to pursue Japanese and try my hardest to get out here."
“I had so much fun learning Japanese with you!”
Membership: 2h or 3h a week
Simple, effective, and flexible - let's you focus on your Japanese!
Every week is
Japanese.
2h tutorial
+1h practice session (upgrade)
<6 students/
schola
+Online Platform
Tried & Tested
Equivalent £14/h
Japco Benefits
Teaching:
Articles
3h - £230/month
FAQs
It's a great way to create a custom learning platform that centres on interaction with your teacher. It's all-in-one, hence registration and membership process happens through this platform. It charges the membership for us in USD.
See the current start week as advertised. We will liase with all students in your Schola on the specifics of the Welcome Tutorial. All on the platform!
Up to you. 1h Practice Session serves to reinforce the week's material - you may find it helpful to keep on top of your progress.
The point of JapcoEducation is to provide a solution for dedicated students, however we give you that flexibility of only monthly commitment.