※In order to prepare for renovation and repair work on the building, we will temporarily suspend the recruitment of students for the "Regular Course (Student visa)" from April 2023 onwards.
Further information

Curriculum and goals

The YMCA Tokyo Japanese Language School offers a comprehensive program of training in Japanese. Training focuses on reading, listening, writing, and speaking.

Students are placed in appropriate levels―advanced, intermediate, beginning―after the YMCA proficiency test. Excerpts from newspapers and videotaped portions of current news are used for further improvement in reading and listening.

Please check the following pages for the application form, necessary documents, tuition and fees, and scholarship information etc.

• Curriculum
• Application Procedure
• Admission Procedures

The Aim of YMCA Japanese Language Program

The YMCA Japanese Language Program promotes global understanding and the development of a harmonious society.

Extracurricular activities

In addition to the language-training program, the YMCA Tokyo Japanese Language School provides opportunities to learn about Japanese culture and history, and Christianity. Based on the YMCA's education concepts, the YMCA Tokyo Japanese Language School promotes a wide array of extracurricular activities, such as special lectures, field trips, excursions, and bazaars.

Japanese language tutor volunteers and Home visits

Outside the classroom, Japanese language tutor volunteers help students practice conversational skills as well as classroom study on a one-to-one basis, as well as answer questions regarding living in Japan and other needs the students might have.

In order to deepen mutual understanding, the YMCA Tokyo Japanese Language School arranges for students to visit Japanese homes.

To provide students with hands-on experience with a Japanese family, culture and customs, an arrangement is made to have the students visit the YMCA members' homes or local area homes.

Voice from Graduates

Hong En-Song
I graduated from YMCA in March 2011.  I am currently a student in the Master Course of Department of Natural Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of Tokyo University.  I’m a fellow as well in Department of Ocean Floor Geoscience, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute of Tokyo University.  I was among the worst at Japanese in my class, thus believed that I should decide on my school of choice as soon as possible; thus I ran around for information.  I selected Tokyo University as my school of choice, since my specialty in the undergraduate course was the same as the research contents of my supervisor now. A teacher in YMCA advised me to visit at least once the laboratory of my choice, and I conveyed my passion for participation in the lab’s seminar to my supervisor.  At YMCA, I prepared for the entrance exam based on a firm understanding of my schedule for the exam.  In my opinion, the most important thing at interview was mental aspects, and not a profound specialized knowledge.  The essence of YMCA is not limited to a capacity development in Japanese language, but lies in development of an excellent personality as well.  I believe that this also greatly contributed to my admission to Tokyo University.

Xu Zhi-Jun
I have lived in Japan for 10 years, and now I work as regular employee in Japan.  When I take a look back over my life in Japan, I realize after all that it is because I met good teaching staffs at YMCA that I can reach to today’s position, and I mean that the time that I spent at YMCA is my treasure.  During the first days in Japan, I’m not so fluent in the language and not so familiar with customs, so I felt insecure.  But teachers at YMCA encouraged me to study, and showed me correct phrases for those which I frequently mistake, as many times as I’d like.  Since we should have an interview at every entrance exam, the teachers introduced YMCA volunteers to me in order to improve my ability of conversation.  I remarkably improved both grammar and conversation, so that I could pass the entrance exam of my university of choice.  The teachers readily listened to problems in my daily life, that’s why I could make a good start for my life in Japan.  I sincerely appreciate for my encounter with YMCA – a gift from the God.

Park Soo-Hoon
Nice to talk to you all!  I took an interest in acoustic equipments after my graduation from a college of music in Korea.  Thus I went on to a vocational school in Japan after learning Japanese at YMCA, and now work as full-time lecturer for SHOBI College of Music which is my old college.  To tell the truth, my wife as well was enrolled in YMCA.  So we are so-called Y-family! I’ve got something to tell you, students of the Japanese language.  You can learn Japanese best while you are enrolled in a Japanese language school.  After graduation from the school, you cannot easily find the time to learn.  The time you spend in the Japanese language school is the best time to learn the language.  Please do your best to learn the language now.  It’s time now!!  Afterward, when you succeed in going on to university, etc., or in finding jobs, please work hard to realize your dream! If you like to simply dream, you only have to sleep. However, if you work hard now, you can realize your dream.

Su Yi-Chieh
I could not so easily speak Japanese when I first came to Japan.  And I didn’t know so much about the life in Japan.  I always felt anxious and scared.  However, after admission to YMCA, I found interests in Japanese language.  All the teachers are kind and cheerful, and they readily showed us various aspects about Japan.  All the classmates actively learned the language, thus I enjoyed much my own course.  I spent a productive and satisfying time through dedicated instructions by the teachers and various activities intended for learning Japanese with fun.

Sun Syuan-Ching
A year at YMCA is my precious memory that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life: I really enjoyed the time, since I met a lot of friends and good teachers for my lessons.  I was busy at the time of events, but I always felt excited.  Before coming to Japan for study I had hard time since I knew no Japanese, however, thanks to courses in Japan, I succeeded in passing N2 of Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).  I further cleared the minimum requirement for college graduation (N2 and higher), now I enjoy the campus life every day.

 

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