Japanese Language Program

The goal of AKP’s intensive language program is to improve your communication skills and assist you in achieving higher proficiency in written and spoken Japanese. Our language instructors tailor each semester’s syllabus to the proficiency levels of our incoming students and take a flexible approach throughout the term so that the syllabus grows with its class. Focused on your needs as an individual language learner, AKP’s intensive language program will provide you the individual support, guidance, and challenge to take your skills to the next level.

a new way to learn...

Students arrive at AKP from different home institutions that use different texts and teaching approaches in their Japanese language classes. As such, do not expect AKP’s Japanese language program to serve as a sequential continuation of what you studied in the US.

Instead, think of it as an entirely new way of enhancing your language proficiency, in which a variety of teaching materials are combined with your daily life in Kyoto to reinforce and further develop your skills. These teaching materials can include anything from local news articles to manga.

both in class...

Students are typically divided into four classes. Each group meets daily for two 50-minute sessions in the morning at 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. In addition, students will take a one-hour elective Japanese class at 11:00 a.m. once a week. Past elective Japanese courses include:

Extensive Reading すいすい読もう (すいすいよもう)
Topic Discussions どんどん話そう（どんどんはなそう)
Kanji Buildup 漢字寺子屋 (かんじてらこや）

In total, the credit amount for your Japanese language classes will be equal to two standard semester-long courses in the US.

...and outside the classroom!

Remember that not all of your language training takes place in the classroom. You will be expected to practice what you’ve learned during your daily interactions with your host family, conversation partners at Doshisha University, fellow AKP students, elective course instructors, and the Kyoto Center staff.

While AKP will encourage you to constantly add new words and phrases to your working vocabulary, many of our students find themselves naturally learning from the resources surrounding them during their day-to-day life in Kyoto. Read advertisements on buses and subways. Ask about kanji that you do not recognize. By the end of your program, you’ll become a language fanatic.

follow the journey

Throughout the semester, AKP’s Japanese language instructors post updates on our AKPers’ activities and lessons. Check out our Japanese program blogs (written in Japanese and translated into English) for more!