Expensive course or cheapie weekend course?

[Benny]

Hi everyone,

I am going to Uni in Australia this year and I have the option of picking Japanese as one of my electives. If I do, then I would surely get good marks right away as I have already done a bit of self study. This boosts my average grades.

My other option is to pick two other electives - interesting subjects you don't have access to elsewhere - and then do Japanese on the weekends for about half the cost I'd pay going to Uni. Money isn't an issue for me, but it all depends on how I learn Japanese and what I miss out on if I decide to do it at Uni.

Is there a great difference between high end courses and cheaper ones? I also fear I won't be able to handle the workload of learning Japanese outside of Uni, but these other electives would probably teach me things I wouldn't find elsewhere.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[englishfire]

i bet i know less then you, how much do you know.
just think of learning at a hobby i do already *trying* and i dont find it tiring yet lol but i want to learn it at college maybe even uni but i dont even know where i could...

[MMM]

If you really want to learn Japanese, do it at school. Once a week isn't enough to really get a good handle. If you can take it at school, then do it.

[Naoko]

I agree with MMM. I have to do classes at one college for 2 years and then transfer into another just to get access to a Japanese course. I say grab it while you have the chance

[PokemonTrainer]

Originally Posted by englishfire

i bet i know less then you, how much do you know.
just think of learning at a hobby i do already *trying* and i dont find it tiring yet lol but i want to learn it at college maybe even uni but i dont even know where i could...

i bet i know less then you, how much do you know.
just think of learning at a hobby i do already *trying* and i dont find it tiring yet lol

[TheHazardous1]

That really depends on what the two electives are. Personally, I say two electives and learning Japanese is better than learning onle Japanese but more often...

[KyleGoetz]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you are a savant, you WILL NOT learn Japanese unless

(1) You take frequent classes; and/or
(2) You live in Japan.

I'm proof that you don't need to live in Japan to attain a high degree of fluency. I lived in Japan for a year, but I could have easily passed the JLPT-3 and possibly the JLPT-2 (less about 200-300 kanji) without setting foot on the island. However, I spent 6 hours a week in class for two years, and also 3 hours a week outside of class in a conversation club speaking with native Japanese speakers.

Of course, after living in Japan for a year, the JLPT-2 would be a joke and I'm always perpetually in JLPT-1 range (but have slacked on my kanji studies to the tune of "never" for the past couple years and have stagnated around 1500 kanji, and maybe even have lost the command of a couple hundred!).

Now if only the JLPT were offered anywhere near Texas I might actually take it. But until that day comes, I shall remain "poor grad student with no JLPT credentials."

The point is, take the damn uni classes. Without them, you'll never speak it (unless you're going to move to Japan next).

[Benny]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

The point is, take the damn uni classes. Without them, you'll never speak it (unless you're going to move to Japan next).

Thanks mate,

I've already decided to do the course, so I guess I've made the right choice!

It sounds similar to one you did (hours per week etc) and I'm excited to know that I'll definitely be picking up the language without the worry of stagnating or losing motivation, as would be the case with self-studying on top of my other workload.

I realised that if I chose not to do it now, I could never realistically expect to become a fluent speaker.

So I've made up my mind, I'm locked and loaded and tomorrow morning I buy my first Genki book