Japanese Courses | FAQ |Japanese Language School | Akamonkai

Instead of conversation-only courses, we offer balanced, comprehensive Japanese-language study opportunities that include reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

If you have a student visa, and our enrollment is not full, you may be able to extend your studies as long as you do not exceed two years.

Although it is possible, we do not recommend entering in the middle of a course because coursework is in three-month units, and visas are generally received in time for the entrance ceremony.

Short-term course is three months in duration and is intended for people who have acquired Japanese nationality, people who have come to Japan with spouse visas, on working holidays, short-term stays, etc.

Individuals who are allowed to stay in Japan without a student visa can take a short-term course. Please see the page below for a list of countries whose citizens are allowed to stay in Japan on a short-term basis without the need for a visa.

Beginner: Minna no Nihongo

Beginner Intermediate: Akamonkai's original teaching materials

Intermediate: Temabetsu Chukyu kara Manabu Nihongo

Advanced: Temabetsu Jokyu de Manabu Nihongo

Our main texts are listed above but they are not used for such a large amount of the class time and study curriculum.

Instead we use more supplementary teaching materials such as teachers' original handouts and teaching materials from real life.

Tell me about your general course entrance exam and placement tests.

After the entrance ceremony, we will determine a general course  suited to you based on a placement test. These tests differ depending on how long you’ve been learning Japanese, and we allocate you to a class after looking at your skills in grammar, vocabulary, adjective and verb changes, particles, classifiers , interrogatives, fill-in-the-blank questions, reading comprehension, essay writing, etc.

Students starting at the most basic level have a unit test at the end of the month in which they enter the school, and we reorganize classes based on the unit test grade and student ability as observed for three weeks by the teacher. At that point, we form classes that progress more quickly and classes that progress more slowly.

Our classes are offered in 13 levels so you can study in the class that suits your level.

We have classes for absolute beginners and up, but it will be easier to keep up with class if you study hiragana and katakana before arriving in Japan. Simply being able to read and write hiragana and katakana will be extremely helpful, so we recommend that you study them before arriving in Japan.

Our intermediate-level classes are oriented toward N1 and N2, while almost everyone in our advanced-level classes is capable of passing N1.

We do not have JLPT prep classes, but studying with diligence in our regular classes will also serve as preparation for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. As preparation for the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students, we have lectures concentrated in the spring break and Golden Week as well as classes on the Saturday before the examination.

The business employment course is for people who have graduated from a four-year university and hold JLPT N2.

There is a written exam and an interview. If your Japanese proficiency is not at the required level, you can study Japanese in a regular course and then try again for the business employment course.

You will study in the same classes regardless of visa type.

Students taking Short-term Course who are eligible to stay in Japan may extend their studies three months at a time.

We have short-term study programs that allow you ample opportunity to experience Japan outside of class.

Our short-term training courses are generally offered depending on requests received, and you may be able to participate in some cases. Please contact us for details.