
Most organizations hold lessons twice a week at a specific day and time. The schedules for organizations will vary greatly. Volunteer Japanese Lesson Schedules Vary Greatly If you add on the workbooks, which are 1000 - 2000 yen, the total cost is 3500 - 4000 yen on average. Japanese textbooks are inexpensive and will usually cost 2000 - 3000 yen. Minna no nihongo has versions in Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Portuguese, English, and more, so the volunteer organizations can teach a wide range of students using the same textbook. Most schools use basic textbooks like Minna no nihongo or Genki Japanese because they are the most well known and have editions in multiple languages. Volunteer Japanese classrooms may require you to purchase the textbook on Amazon or at a bookstore. If the lessons are around 1000 yen, the teachers often are professionally trained and/or experienced.

In the extremely rare case, the community group produced their own textbook content and could charge around 500 - 1000 yen per lesson. The volunteer group may charge you extra for the JLPT lessons, for lesson materials, or other associated costs, but they are generally reasonable and less than 1000 yen per lesson. JLPT Courses and Hardcore Volunteer Groups May Charge More
#Everyday japanese for beginners 400 actions free
In the rare case, some groups may charge more than 500 yen per class, but they tend to take their students out on free (included) trips. All the volunteer groups are doing this for non-profit reasons, so anything they charge is for overhead costs only. These tiny fees goes to cover the renting of the space and operational costs like staff transportation or snacks.

You may need to investigate several community centers in and around your area to find the teacher and classmates who match your needs.īased on my experience, around 50% of community centers charge 100 to 500 yen per class. Every school is different and is determined by the current group of volunteers. In this case, the default language is often Japanese, and the teacher may use their native language to explain in-depth concepts. The primary downside to group JLPT lessons is that you may be studying with instructors who are from countries where English is not common, so the teacher may not be able to explain lesson content in English. Usually one of the three closest areas will provide N1 test support. If the volunteer Japanese classroom nearest to you does not provide N1 lessons, consider checking out the next Ward over. Most of these places offer JLPT lesson support for levels N4, N3 and N2. They may offer a mock exam for the various sections of the test. They organize students into groups based on individual Japanese language levels and work through a JLPT textbook. Some groups offer JLPT support lessons approximately three months before the actual exam. I have been turned down from some community centers because they felt my level was too high or the content I was interested in was not a match for their current group of volunteers.ĭo they offer JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) support lessons? They also may not be personally interested in talking about serious topics like politics, economics, etc. Most volunteer teachers won't be able to explain JLPT 1 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1) content. However, teaching an advanced student can be stressful for a volunteer, so not every group will have the option. Organizations that offer private lessons can often cater to upper-level students. The most common complaint we hear is that many volunteers are not be able to explain things in English, so beginners might struggle in the lessons.įor those not living in Tokyo, usually any city with 50,000 residents or more has a community center which provides volunteer Japanese lessons (but these may be less conveniently located than urban areas, unfortunately).ĭo they offer lessons for advanced students? However, if you live in Tokyo, each ward has more than 3 groups, so you are bound to find one that matches your Japanese language level. Some groups may choose not to accept beginner level foreign residents. Most groups in Tokyo offer free Japanese classes for all student levels.

Do they offer free Japanese classes for beginner students?
