| My plan is to attend one of these language schools for one or two years, in order to: 1. Actually learn the language. Even if I could find a job in Japan that didn't require being fluent in Japanese, which I probably could, I wouldn't want to. It's going to be hard enough to live and work in a foreign country, especially one where you'll always be considered an outsider even if you live there your entire life (there's much about this on the Internet if you care to know more) that I really don't plan to get a job before achieving basic fluency. Not being able to communicate with the people around you is the most frustrating experience. Not being able to read and write is called illiteracy and is just as bad. School it is, for one year at the very minimum, maybe two. 2. Take an extended break from work, because I need it (and luckily I can afford it.) But I don't want to do nothing on a beach or backpack from place to place. I'm not good at vacationing in general and I hate travelling. I know I need to stay in a stable place and keep myself occupied with goals and a schedule. 3. Experience a longer stay in Japan (not as a tourist) to evaluate whether I really prefer it to my home country (Italy.) I think I will, for several reasons, but you never know, I may hate it there after a while. So whenever I decide to end the language school experience (tuition is paid 6 months at a time, so you have some flexibility) I will know whether to look for a job there or not. The student visa is just the most practical way to achieve these 3 goals. Right now I'm still debating which school and which town to go to, which is a HUGE choice, that could make or break the experience. Here is a page from ISI that summarizes the strengths of studying in Tokyo, Nagano, and Kyoto: http://www.isi-education.com/location/ Here is a similar page from ARC Academy about Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto: http://japanese.arc-academy.net/en/ Finally, Intercultural has its school and student apartments in Akihabara, which is the center of modern Japanese subculture (anime, tech, games) which I cannot say I dislike, as well as being right in the center of Tokyo: http://www.incul.com/eng/japanese_school/ If you are considering this route too, what are your thoughts on the various cities and schools? The ISI campus of Takadanobaba looks like a huge college campus, with mostly college-age kids from Asia, while the Akihabara school is much smaller and should have people of all ages from all over the world. The ISI school in Ikebukuro would be great for meeting actual Japanese people, because it's in the same building as their Business school, but they don't have any place left for this July. Nagano is too much remote a location for me. But Kyoto is an awesome city, and Osaka and Kobe seem great places too. They are less expensive and crowded than Tokyo, while still being big, modern cities... but they are not Tokyo... Damn it's hard! I need to make up my mind and fill an application form in a couple of days, if I am to get my visa for July. Wish me luck. |