My wife and I are almost 40 and we would like to spend 1 year in Japan to learn the language and experience daily life.
1) We could sign up for a language school and get a student visa. However, we don't want to study intensively or do a bunch of home work. My wife studied 4 years of Japanese in university and I taught myself a little bit (just N5 level). Our goal is to comfortably hold a conversation with native Japanese people. We'd be happy spending 3 days a week studying and the rest sightseeing. I see most schools offering 20-24 hours of class, 5 days a week, plus homework, which is a bit much for us.
2) We could apply for the "Designated activities (Long Stay for sightseeing and recreation)" that gives us 6 months to 1 year of stay in Japan. This option prevents us from being locked in to a language school. That said, we'd still want to find some way to learn while we are there. Would this option give us more flexibility?
We hope to do this in the next 5 years, so before the age of 45.
Any suggestions or guidance will be greatly appreciated, thank you!
by FIRE_Bolas