Top 9 English courses in Japan

• Opportunity to receive a scholarship

One of the few countries in the world where a student can receive a scholarship by enrolling in language courses (and this applies not only to Japanese language courses, but also to English)! Typically, this opportunity is available at universities or through major international organizations. Grants that fully cover the cost of tuition are rare, however many students can receive 100–200 dollars per month for good academic performance.

• Wide selection

Dozens of English language study centers operate at Japanese universities — in addition to more than four hundred schools!

• Opportunity to work

Students enrolled in long-term programs for studying English in Japan may take part-time jobs (a maximum of 28 hours per week, provided that working hours do not overlap with academic hours). Universities have career centers where students can count on assistance with employment.

• Healthcare, safety, and comfort

Japan is one of the most comfortable and safe countries in the world; Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, and Kyoto hold top positions in rankings for safety, comfort, quality of food and environment, and accessibility of medical services.

• Affordability

The country offers a wide range of fairly affordable English language study programs — prices start from $300/week.

• Difficulties with obtaining long-term visas

Obtaining a long-term visa — valid for 6 to 24 months — is no easy task, and the process can take up to six months. There is an important nuance: to receive a Certificate of Eligibility, which is mandatory for a long-term visa, you must be physically present in Japan. Usually the school or university administration handles this, but even then the document review can drag on for 80–90 days.

• Few short-term courses

Most programs are long-term, which is directly linked to the difficulties of obtaining visas. That said, studying on a tourist visa is also possible (its validity period is up to 90 days).

• Difficulties with English

Even in major Japanese cities, relatively few people speak English. In this respect, language schools in Japan present a challenge similar to our Russian realities, where getting by without knowledge of the state language at least at the A1 level will be very difficult.

Studying in Japan should be planned 12-18 months before enrollment. This is primarily due to the difficulties involved in obtaining a residence permit — the process is lengthy and fraught with numerous bureaucratic hurdles.

First of all, you need to choose a university/school and city, a course and its duration — these have a direct impact on the type of visa and the enrollment procedure. For example, if you plan to study on short-term programs lasting up to 90 days, a short-term tourist visa will be suitable. In this case, everything is straightforward: you pay the tuition fee, receive an invitation, and submit it along with other documents to the Japanese Embassy in Moscow or consular offices in other cities.

If the course lasts longer, you will need a different visa — a student visa. To obtain it, you must first acquire a Certificate of Status of Residence — Certificate of Eligibility (COE). The difficulty here is that the application can only be submitted from within Japan, so the documents are sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the school or university. After that, you need to pay for your studies and take language level tests for group placement. An important condition: the student must have a temporary place of residence — an apartment or dormitory.

Enrollment for long-term programs is usually held four times a year — in January, April, July, and October; short-term programs typically accept students monthly, and summer programs most often start in July and August. Some schools conduct additional enrollment into already-formed groups, but this happens quite rarely.

In addition, there are age restrictions: summer courses are available from the age of 12, short programs — from 14–15 years old, and long-term programs are designed for students over 16, typically with a complete secondary education in their portfolio.

There are few English-speaking citizens in Japan, so the time required to process documents and a visa is best also spent learning the basics of Japanese — at least at the level of the hiragana alphabet, which will allow you to memorize several hundred of the most commonly used words and expressions and navigate Japanese cities.

Upon completion of the long-term course program, students who have mastered the curriculum and passed the exam at level A2 or higher will receive a corresponding diploma and certificate.

Special mention should be made of the Preparatory Course — the Japanese equivalent of Foundation, where students preparing for Japanese universities study the language and attend subject-specific lectures and seminars (in some cases, academic credits may be awarded). An additional advantage of this format is that applicants from Russia and CIS countries with an 11-year school program can make up the missing year here. Such courses last from 12 to 24 months.