Language Courses

[saymark2]

What is the general opinion on the JET-offered Japanese language courses? I'm not sure if they will be useful since I already have a BAS in Japanese Language and Literature. I took the proficiency test and got a 95% on elementary and 90% on immediate. Is there anything useful in the advanced coursework that I wouldn't find at http://www.

Comments

[liquidphire]

the JET language courses are BS for anyone who has experience in japanese.

if you are going to mess with it and you have experience, go straight to advanced. the advanced books are totally written in japanese, but the grammar being explained is often simpler than the actual language used to describe it.

id started on the advanced but i never finished. its hard to keep at because is a lot of BS. but every bit helps.

[averagesmartguy]

I didn't check the above link, so I can't comment on that, but "the JET language courses are BS for anyone who has experience in japanese" should be clarified.

Yes, they do have their problems, but considering what the courses are, at least they're something. I've thumbed through the Beginning one as last year's town ALT came knowing zilch, and it was actually really good and tailored to JET-useful vocabulary/situations. The cultural bits included in the Beginning and Intermediate were also kinda neat, too, and the Intermediate was a pretty good place to start if you took an intro course in college and/or have forgotten a bunch since

[liquidphire]

wow, exactly what i wanted to say but like, way more effort than i would have put into it.

spot on brother.

[saymark2]

OK, then. Since I'm 二級, not bothering with the language courses. Thanks for the help.

[luckydragongirl]

Why not take the Translation/Interpretation course? The feedback they give isn't terribly helpful, but I still learned a lot from it. And the seminar in Shiga is fun.

[saymark2]

I'll look into that. Thanks.

[liquidphire]

i want to say you have to finish the advanced course before you can be considered for the seminars.

i could be wrong tho.

[luckydragongirl]

No. I signed up for the advanced course and only sent in maybe 2 of the tests, and was still accepted for the translation course. It might depend on how many people apply, though.

[lydilia]

I just finished the advanced course. (I`ll be re-attempting 2kyu next December.) I viewed the course as a supplement to my other books and classes, rather than as anything serious on its own. Most months I just left it off until the last week and then did the test and mailed it in.

I`d say that in spite of its oddities, the course was worth it for me because it`s useful as a grammar reference. Yeah, a lot of the grammar points included are way too easy for an "advanced" course, but that`s because they go through and tell you a million different ways of saying the same thing. A week full of different phrases that mean "because," and things like that. I knew most of them but there were a few new ones, and it was nice to see it all laid out so I could review just which phrases require conjugating with the dictionary form and which need the "te" form and so forth.

I wish I could take the higher courses, but my CO won`t pay. Sadness.

[rainy_day]

I found the course to be pretty lame. It's mostly keigo and uses a lot of office-related vocabulary that I found useless. It'd be alright for practice if you were taking another course at the same time, but I wouldn't count on the CLAIR books to do anything more than fill a few boring hours at the office. :)

[claytoniantomb]

it's better than a sharp stick in the eye, and it's free.