The following is a summary of my past 3.5 months studying at Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language (KICL).
DBZ Statue in Kobe .
About Me
Hello, my name is Michael. I graduated with a BS in engineering, worked 3 years, and decided to go learn Japanese full time at KICL on a whim of working on crossing off silly bucket-list items. No regrets so far.KICL Workload
Prior to KICL, I did a half-credit online course in Japanese. That was about 12 years ago.When you enter KICL, you will take a placement exam. It splits students into elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. Each level also has tiers. With my uncannily well-versed mind, I was placed at the very bottom of the elementary level.
3.5 months in I can read approximately 400 kanji, am able to talk with real-estate agents to get a new dorm, and have most likely passed the 2014 July JLPT N4 exam. For those who aren't familiar with JLPT, it is the standardized Japanese proficiency test.
Yes, Starbucks is in Kyoto too. Yes, it has the same prices.
At the elementary level you memorize 30-40 kanji a week and have 20-70 minutes of homework preparation depending on the day and how good you are at studying.
If you're lucky, you'll get chosen to present a topic in front of the whole school in Japanese. It's a good experience, and it was nice to see the more advanced students present. Hopefully I'll be as fluent as them someday.
The teachers and staff are great. The teachers are experienced and are very open to any questions. They also make an effort to get to know you. Teachers join us in our all-you-can-eat-and-drink class parties. It's quite fun.
KICL affiliation with Kyoto University of Art and Design
KICL classrooms are inside of Kyoto University of Art and Design. This means we have access to their facilities (library, cafeteria, etc ...) and can join student clubs. It's a good setup to meet Japanese people and practice your Japanese, with the plus of living like a carefree college student again. Yay.
I joined the Badminton club and the Light-Music club. Badminton is twice a week, 5 hours each time. Light-Music club is a collection of students who form bands. We perform for each other and at school functions. There's a small studio inside the university. Not a super fancy one, but it has a full drum set, amps, and padded walls.
Light-music club.
Kyoto Life
Kyoto is a nice quiet city but has its fair share of major shopping streets. It is also about an hour from Osaka ($ 10 USD round-trip) if you want to do serious shopping.Kyoto also has a large river, Kamogawa, running through it where you can run, play music, and chill with friends. I spend most of my free outdoor time by the river drinking Sake and chilling.
Kamogawa Delta (where the river splits).
I recommend KICL for anyone who is looking for a well-balanced program. There's more than enough time to see Japan given the workload, but your Japanese proficiency should progress quickly as long as you make sure you're doing all the assignments properly and making an effort to talk with Japanese people, on and off campus. Being in the University definitely makes it easier to meet Japanese people in my opinion.
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