In my previous post , I described the process of coming to Japan as a Japanese language student. Now that you have an idea of the " How  to? ", let's now talk about the "How much?" Will this be enough? Education, no matter where you are in the world, is expensive. Even more so when you are aiming to study abroad. Studying in Europe averages about 20,000 USD in tuition fees, plus about 4,000 USD for living costs (food, utilities, phone, transportation, etc) per semester. Studying in Japan is no different.  In a glance, let me give you a simple breakdown as to how much you will need to initially prepare to come to study in Japan. Tuition Fees Yearly, language school tuition fees alone will cost about 700,000 yen. The cost will vary from school to school and the length of the program you choose. Take note that this amount does not include dormitory fees yet. Depending on where you decide to study in Japan, costs do vary from place to place, as well as the size of

On the way to JLPT Test Site If you dream of living in Japan, the first step is to learn the language. Japan is a country where English use is uncommon despite the effort Japan puts into strengthening English proficiency. To enjoy Japan to the fullest, you will need to get a good grasp of the language. And the best way to do this is to be a Japanese language student. Sometime in late 2015 (if I remember correctly), I saw an ad on Facebook about a study and work program in Japan. I checked it out, attended a seminar, and got application forms and a list of requirements. I submitted my documents and waited for the COE result, which took a couple of months. I passed, paid the processing fees, and I was on my way.  I studied at Oarai International Exchange Academy (大洗国際交流アカデミー ） for a year and a half from October 2016 to March 2018. Simple right? Now let me break down the steps on how to come to Japan as a Language student .  Prep Work Before making life-changing decisions (like quitting y

Hello Everyone!!! I have been thinking of some things to post and I really wanted to share how I am learning to survive in Japan. Yes, I may have a little bit of Nihongo under my belt but not nearly enough to understand everything that goes on around me. And so I came up with this!!! Silak's JST (Japan Survival Tips) series This will be basically short posts on practical tips and tricks I've picked up along the way. I will be sharing stuff that I learned and am still doing that makes my life so much easier. This will be anything and everything under the sun from post rescheduling, inquiries, groceries, and many, many more! And, good news to the introverts out there like me that want to minimize their human contact as much as possible, these, are going to help you a lot! (As much as possible I do most of my stuff online and I only call if, and when I really need to.) I will try to make the posts as educational as possible with as many picture illustrations as I

Happy Sunday Minasan!!! The weather is slowly cranking up and it's getting more and more difficult to step out especially when you don't have a car and will have to walk to destinations. The dangers of heatstroke are real people! So today I want to talk a little bit about my life as an ALT in Japan. What is an ALT? Time and again, people from outside Japan would ask me: "What work do you do there?", to which I reply, "I'm an ALT." Wait, what? To people who have been interested in Japan as I had been before coming here, you would know that ALT stands for Assistant Language Teacher. Now, this takes different meanings as well depending on where you're teaching and I will discuss the role in detail in a Junior High School perspective as this is where I am assigned. I am basically an assistant to a Japanese Teacher of English.  I will try and get Jerome, Richard, and Leizel to talk about their experience in the Elementary school front so we

みんな、お久しぶり！ Long time no see everyone! Okay, so I know I keep promising to update more, but despite all the time I have, I can't seem to get into my blogging groove. But I guess I can churn at least 1 post a week. I will most certainly try. So, I can't even remember what my last post was. Hahaha! But lemme catch you up with my current status. Before December 2017  The first time I took the test was back in July 2017 for the N4 level which I passed due to diligently studying for exams and memorizing kanji every down time I get even if it's just for 3 mins. So N4 was easy for me, but since then, everything went downhill. I was lucky enough to score plane tickets on sale and went home for a couple of weeks during summer vacation. When I got back, I was really tired of going to school everyday. It was so boring and I got caught up in a game on my smartphone. In short, I was barely studying if at all. Before we knew it, it was December and we needed to take the