Greetings everyone, this is a secondary account to avoid being recognized by my colleagues. Please help me with this situation.
I arrived in Japan 3 years ago and studied the basics of Japanese (hiragana, katakana, and around 400 kanji) as preparation for N3, but I stopped because I started working full-time in an environment where basically 90% is in English and only 10% is Japanese—and repetitive at that. So as you can imagine, my Japanese level never improved.
This year, I want to change that. I want to start living without having to depend on other people for daily life tasks. I can dedicate a full year solely to studying the language, which is why I’m asking for your help. I’d like to avoid Japanese schools that are mainly for getting a visa. I already have permanent residency, so a visa is not an issue, and I’m based in Tokyo.
I know the ideal would be to study on my own, but I don’t have the mental structure for that. Unfortunately, I need something more traditional, like a school. I don’t just want to focus on conversation—I also want to read and write. I’m not aiming to take the JLPT, but if I had to frame it in those terms, I’d say I’m aiming for N2-level reading comprehension.
Please share your recommendations for schools, and especially which ones to avoid—those that are more like “language tourism” or mainly focused on making money from people looking for an easy student visa.
Thank you in advance.
by Icy_Programmer204