I kinda figured the University of Hawaii would be good but I've heard some bad things about professors and the school being horribly underfunded. I considered Temple University's branch campus in Japan but they don't offer a Japanese language major. Just Asian Studies major and Japanese minor/certificate. I graduated HS in 2001 and I'm currently not in school, I work full time in retail *groan*. Also, I don't have any outstanding merits or anything that would win me great recognition (graduated HS with a 2.8).
2007-01-02 12:40:14 · 5 answers · asked by Empress Leo 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Thanks for the answers! Also, I DO want so much to go to Japan, (I have known what school I wanna attend for a few years now, but I'm poor and it's MUCH harder to find financial aid for a language school vs a university. I just want to go to a uni to get me to Japan and also help out with aid. It seems lots of aid requires you to be a student already (which I'm not) or for a person to have exceptional qualifications.
2007-01-02 13:17:20 · update #1
Although it surprises many people, the University of Pittsburgh's Japanese program is quite highly regarded. They offer both a major and minor in Japanese, and Japanese majors earn a certificate in East Asian Studies. I think the reason this university is so highly esteemed is because of the dedication of the faculty in the Japanese department. They force you to speak Japanese, so you WILL learn it! Also, it is one of the few American universities to house an East Asian library. There are books, magazines, and newspapers written in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean for people to read.
There are also a lot of study abroad opportunities for Japan.
Good luck!
2007-01-02 12:45:02 · answer #1 · answered by Rabbityama 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are many good places to learn Japanese, I'm sure. The most important thing is that you find a teacher who is qualified to teach Japanese language. Many people who study Japanese in college have focused on literature, not necessarily language teaching. So find someone who has a Master's degree in Linguistics or otherwise focused on language teaching and considers him/herself a professional language teacher. I'm sure they're all over the country. The person does not have to be a native speaker of Japanese -- non-native speakers have some benefits as teachers over native speakers.
2007-01-03 02:36:36 · answer #2 · answered by drshorty 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are two types of people: 1. Those who want to take Japanese at college, or 2. Those who want to learn Japanese.
If you really want to learn Japanese, you should go to Japan. I've met way too many people who studied Japanese at college outside of Japan and they suck. They really do. They're learning Japanese with the whole bias that it's such a difficult language, and look at us, we're studying Japanese! Not good.
You have to go to Japan. And more importantly you have to study. Again. Many many foreigners in Japan getting by very easily without learning the basics of Japanese. If you go to Japan you can easily get a job, get a lover, get English movies to watch, English TV to watch, etc. etc. Fellow foreigners will pull you down if you're not careful. It's so easy.
So, if you REALLY want to learn Japanese, go to Japan. Teach English if you must to pay the bills. USE Japanese. STUDY as much as possible. DON'T spend all your free time with other foreigners. Every major city in Japan has at least one language college where you can take intensive Japanese courses. There you will also meet like-minded foreigners, people who will support you and your goal.
Temple University is bunk. You're not going to learn much there. You're just going to be hanging with the wrong crowd, the people who get surprised that you know one kanji and a few simple greetings.
If you really want to learn, forget the university credit thing altogether. Just learn.
Check out this series: Minna no Nihongo. It is an excellent textbook. It's the best text up to the intermediate level. That should be your base. Get other books. Study vocab lists, study kanji. And if you're in Japan, watch TV, watch movies, listen to people. It doesn't matter if you don't understand most of it, it's exposure to reality.
Good luck! Happy New Year!
2007-01-02 20:58:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Kalamazoo College in Michigan has a great program.
You must do an intern in Japan for 1 year as well to graduate.
2007-01-02 20:52:40 · answer #4 · answered by joleeo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there are no universities to learn japanese....just go to some japanese dude's house.
2007-01-02 20:43:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 6⤋