Patrick-san,
Thank you for sending usJapanese school information in Japan
(An email from Patrick)
I have a good suggestion for Japanese schools. The kuyakusho has very cheap and very good classes. I think this is true for all regions in Tokyo, but I'm not sure about other cities. I was taking classes at Nerima kuyakusho before I started working. They have two types of classes.
One is a real Japanese class, where they use Minna No Nihongo. It was a very good class. I think the level 1 class covers chapters 1 to 15, and the level 2 class starts at chapter 15. I'm not sure if the kuyakusho has a level 3 class. The level 1 class costs 2000 yen, and lasts for about 2 months.
The class is 2 days each week, starting around 10:00 in the morning. It was a big class with about 20 people, but it worked very well, and it's very cheap. I definitely recommend it to people who are not working during the daytime.
The other type of class at the kuyakusho is called a volunteer class. It is one day per week, and costs 500 yen per month. It starts around 10:00 in the morning as well. They use volunteer teachers, and teach in small groups of around 3 people. This type of class is very informal. I don't think they follow a lesson plan, they just teach anything you feel like learning. If people have the opportunity to take the volunteer class for a while before starting the real level 1 class, it will make the level 1 class much easier.
I was taking both of those types of classes at the kuyakusho before I started working. The formal (2 days per week) class was very useful. It was probably as good as Aitas. The volunteer (1 day per week) class is not as effective for learning, but it was fun, and I got to practice speaking Japanese every week.I continued the volunteer class after I started the level 1 class, so that I could learn as much as possible.
After I started working, I joined a normal, private Japanese school. There are many of these schools, and they are all expensive. The one I'm going to now is called ARC Academy
(http://www.arc-eg.com/nihongo/).
They have 3 locations in Tokyo, and 3 locations in other cities. I'm going to the Shinjuku school. I have classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I think the cost was around 70,000 yen for 3 months. I don't know if this school is as good as Aitas, but I feel like I'm still learning a lot, so it's probably a good school. They also use Minna no Nihongo, so at least I know I am still learning in a good way. They are also teaching Kanji from a separate textbook. I can't remember the name of this textbook, because I didn't buy it. :) We usually learn 3 new characters each week.
Maybe ARC Academy is a good enough school to recommend to Aitas students.There are many many schools all over Tokyo, so there might be better ones as well. People can also take private lessons if they want. At some schools, you can take private lessons once per week for about the same cost as taking group lessons. I think group lessons are better for me, for two reasons: One, I know that I am following a pattern that suits many people. And two, I can learn from questions the other students ask that I might not think of asking by myself.
As you know, many schools here use Minna No Nihongo. If Aitas students want to keep using the same textbook, they can do a web search and find a school that is close to them. All schools offer a free trial lesson, like Aitas. So people can try the school before they sign up. Please tell people not to pay for a school before taking a trial lesson! If the school doesn't offer a trial lesson, then there is probably something wrong with that school.
I think there are some bad schools here, just like there are bad English schools in Toronto.I would like people to know not to sign up before they are sure they will be comfortable with the school and the teachers. Luckily ARC Academy is not one of the bad ones. At least, the Shinjuku school is ok.
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