Well, my 4 weeks of classes are over and now that I have some free time I can write about it and compare this year at GenkiJACS to my experience last year at Yamasa.

GenkiJACS

The school day at GenkiJACS consists of up to 6 classes, 2 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. Each class is 50 minutes long. School starts at 9:30 and lunch is from 11:20 to 12:30. The late start time allows you to miss the worst of the morning rush hour if commuting by train and the early break lets you get ahead of the lunch crowd. The afternoon session is a long stretch though.

There are 4 core classes a day and optional classes depending on what program you signed up for. Core class types are grammar and 4-skills. I had 5 extra conversation classes a week and you can fill in any free slots with other optional lessons. It makes for a full day.

The textbooks used for the beginner levels are Genki 1 and II which are the standard texts used by most schools in Vancouver. If you are an English speaker the texts are very good with generally clear explanations. At times the language used is overly British and some explanations are unnecessarily obtuse but this is a minor criticism only.

One week in class covers one chapter in the textbook. There is nightly written homework plus whatever work you need to do to assimilate the vocabulary, grammar structures and kanji that are introduced each week. It is a significant work load.

Yamasa vs. GenkiJACS

The main difference between the schools is that Yamasa uses no language except Japanese in class where GenkiJACS does use some english for explanation when required. GenkiJACS office staff also speak English which makes dealing with problems easier.

Student demographics also differ. GenkiJACS during my stay had mostly European and students from other English speaking countries. Yamasa had a broader range of students with a significant number from Taiwan and Asia. The intent at Yamasa is to mix students so that the only language in common is Japanese.

This is reflected in the choice of textbooks as well, Minna No Nihongo for Yamasa and Genki for GenkiJACS. I like the Genki texts better. They are decades more contemporary, are better printed and a lesson is not spread over several volumes. The scenarios used in each lesson in Genki revolve around the lives of university students and are generally more interesting than than work/office situations used by MNN. For what it’s worth I like the characters in Genki better as well.

I guess the big question gets down to emersion vs. using some English as a language of instruction in the classroom. I don’t have the background to give a final answer but so far using some English to clarify a point seems to give me a deeper grasp of the material. If this makes the learning a little slower then I don’t mind the tradeoff. Time will tell.