KCP International

A wealth of new experiences awaits you during your time here. Unbounded by your own country’s perceived view of Japan, you can now see for yourself what Japan really is. In addition to having an enlightening cultural journey, you are very fortunate to have encountered, in KCP, one of the best Japanese language schools in the world.

Welcome to KCP International Japanese Language School.

From here on, if you have the discipline to study hard, you will learn Japanese at an unprecedented rate. KCP is so successful because:

Immersion training—Since Japanese is the only language used to teach Japanese, it roots out any notion that you need your English to survive. The more you can detach yourself from your dependency on English, the faster your Japanese ability improves.

Speed—Compared to any normal Japanese college class in the States, these classes easily move at around 3 times the speed. The speed at which you learn really makes the language come alive, because when you leave the classroom you can immediately use and understand such a variety of grammar that it’s nearly guaranteed that you’ll get a chance to use it, even on the journey home.

Teachers—I was personally so impressed by the teachers’ willingness to help students. They are always there for you. The teachers of KCP are tough, but they really want to see you succeed in learning Japanese.

This is an intensive Japanese Language program, so get ready. But if you put your best into it, you will be speaking Japanese faster than you thought possible.

My advice:

Coming to a foreign country for the first time is stressful, especially this far away from the States. If you can’t communicate well in Japanese yet, and you find yourself alone in Tokyo for a length of time, you will have a very natural reaction to find an English-speaking person to communicate with.

However, I have been studying Japanese in Japan for nearly 2 years and have seen that the biggest obstacle in developing conversational fluency in Japanese is to spend all one’s free time hanging out after class with English speaking students. In class you will learn everything you need to know, but if you don’t make an effort to use Japanese outside of class, your conversational ability will not improve.

Study, Study, STUDY!

At KCP, learning and remembering grammar constructions and vocab certainly requires study, but for me the toughest part of the curriculum was of course, kanji. My advice is to buy index cards. Write kanji on one side and hiragana on the other. Do not use English. Remember, it is your enemy here. If you keep those cards and review them on your walk or train ride home, you will find that learning kanji becomes less of the monster it seems.

I hope that you can see Japan with an open mind. I hope you can find all the little subtleties that American media never shows of Japan. I hope you make the most out of your educational and cultural experience. But most importantly, I hope you have a great time, and that you make some great lifelong friends.

The April eZasshi is out! Travel resources (websites), “customary” fun at KCP, cherry blossom time, learn with a proverb.

Since we’ve started the eZasshi (Japanese for eMagazine), interest has grown steadily.  It’s a great way to get a look at what goes on at KCP, see some of the excursions and special activities, enjoy students’ views through their advice, photographs, or videos, learn a little, and keep close to the dream of studying in Tokyo.

The eZasshi comes out once monthly, and it is for informational purposes only.  We don’t use the mailing list for promotion; it’s just good information for you to have.

If you’d like to sign up, or to see the archive, go to www.kcpinternational.com.

contributed by Humphrey Lena

I began studying Japanese in 2006, at Bunker Hill Community College. My desire to experience Japan firsthand led me to the KCP summer short term program in Tokyo. This experience changed my life! I decided to dedicate myself to mastering the Japanese language and to Japanese-influenced graphic design.

KCP International has a convenient office in America. Michael Anderson, the U.S. director, promptly responded to my emails and took care of all my planning, so that when I arrived in Tokyo all my arrangements with housing, transportation, and school were set.

Now, I’m going back for the full-year program. When I arrive at Narita International Airport, KCP student coordinators will be there, ready to escort me to my dorm and help me begin my studies. I am confident that KCP will place me in a healthful living environment where I can make Japanese language and culture immersion top priorities.

Learning

The courses at KCP cover 6 levels of language ability. The instruction schedule is 4 classroom hours, 5 days a week (over 220 hours per semester). Classes run in morning and afternoon. Students also take part in small group sessions and outside-class study. The level of learning in one semester at KCP is equal to one year of Japanese learning in the U.S. Successful students study 3–5 hours every day.
Classes hold between 15 and 20 students—small, guaranteeing excellent student-teacher relationships. The student-to-teacher ratio is 11 to 1. With 3 instructors in every classroom, students definitely get the attention they need.

I’ll be taught 150 to 250 kanji each semester, depending on my level of Japanese. The level is determined by a placement test at the beginning of the term. KCP has a reputation for having most of its advanced students pass the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). A further year of studies at KCP will give me the knowledge to pass the JLPT.
The campus is the main office, classrooms, a study room, meeting and lunch rooms, a computer room with Internet access, and a sick room. As a KCP student I have a language advisor and a student coordinator. KCP’s English-speaking staff provides language support for American students and also gives special tutorials.
At KCP, emphasis is on complete language education in all 4 communication skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. KCP also uses the direct method of teaching Japanese without a vehicular language: the student body is from across the globe and there is no common language other than Japanese. Most students are from other Asian countries (Korea, the Philippines, China, Thailand, and Taiwan), so we learn with a diverse student body.
Students have to think in Japanese by listening in Japanese. I prefer this, because translating Japanese into English and back again is counterproductive to communication.

Teachers

Every teacher at KCP is carefully evaluated for effectiveness and methodology by active observation and a series of interviews. KCP professors are like no others in the world because of the institution’s unique, innovative Japanese-language teacher preparation program.

My time at KCP has already shown me the phenomenal teaching skills of KCP staff. I studied under Kaito-sensei, the head professor for the American students and the greatest teacher of Japanese that I have ever encountered. She explained the language to me in a vibrant, easy-to-understand format, while challenging my learning abilities and raising the expectation bar. She was available before my afternoon classes to help with homework and practice dialogue. Her presence alone is enough reason for any avid learner to pack up and go to KCP.
I soon became familiar with a vital member of KCP, Tanaka-san. He taught Japanese history and took us on inspiring tours of traditional Japanese art: lacquer arts and crafts, handmade wooden models, and paintings. While abroad I trained in martial arts, and Mr. Tanaka helped me make arrangements. Martial arts training gave me more opportunities to practice Japanese in an informal setting.
I am deeply grateful to the staff at KCP. I was running low on funds and was not permitted to cash my U.S. money order. The post office wouldn’t cash it because I was a temporary foreign student and there was the possibility of fraud. The very next day, Mr. Tanaka put his and KCP’s reputation on the line by convincing the post office to make an exception for me. As a result, I was able to obtain my funds.

Working together

At the end of the summer short-term came the speech contest: one candidate from each classroom would write and recite a speech in Japanese. I was selected to write the speech. One of the best aspects of this event was that the entire class had to come together in a 2-minute performance to warm up the crowd before their classmate’s speech. Out of 20 students in the class, only 4 of us were American.  The project was a true test of our Japanese skills, making for some real term-end acceleration of abilities.

KCP offered me one-on-one tutoring while I was working on the speech. I wrote about making friends—from American students to Japanese roommates and Korean and Chinese classmates. During this period I began to feel myself thinking naturally in the Japanese language and communicating without pause. I managed to memorize my speech and performed it without the use of note cards or a paper copy. I won the award for best performance. That point in my life is a perfect example of how I fused creative thinking and Japanese. I was able to convey a Japanese message to a foreign audience!

Culture

KCP’s location in Tokyo is a big plus—with over 12 million people, it’s the center for academic achievement in Japan. The beauty of my surroundings adds depth to the Saturday culture course. We explore many artistic elements of Japanese society, a great chance for me to both indulge my creativity and acquire the simplified ways of Japanese everyday life.

KCP promotes Japanese cultural awareness with lectures and organized trips to some of the most notable happenings in Tokyo. Hearing lectures on classical and modern entertainment, culture, customs, lifestyles, business, economics, politics, history, psychology, and religion, informs my graphic design context.
KCP’s cultural course brings me to relevant sites such as temples, museums, the Imperial palace, broadcasting companies, theaters, and castles. We take part in workshops on traditional Japanese art forms—the tea ceremony, flower arranging, martial arts, origami, calligraphy, and music.

KCP International’s well-developed Japanese language and cultural programs will help me accomplish my mission to use graphic design for national and global issues.