That said, if you can find a Japanese person to practice with, that would be very, very useful, because speaking and listening is vastly different from just dealing with the written word.

My brother found a Japanese teacher (in a small Canadian town of 15,000) for his daughter, who wanted to learn, so you should be able to find one too, wherever you are.

I’ve been to New York a few times, and I got to admit, I wouldn’t be surprised if the tram system was a million times better. As for learning the language, what would you recommend? Aside from actually living in the country, i mean. What would be some ways to start learning standard Japanese?

That sounds like a realistic approach. Give yourself time to learn what to expect (#1: the unexpected!). You can also start learning the language, too.

Definitely the most common mode of transportation is train. You will not believe just how many people are moved around, how quickly and efficiently. And you’ll wonder why we can’t do it nearly as well on this side of the Pacific.

Well, Maybe not as much as I would like, but as long as I keep saving up at the rate I am, I should have enough for around a 6-month stay in three years, comfortably.

What’s the main mode of transportation?

$1 is close to Y100. I’m not sure what you’re asking me, though. Enough to get started *what*?

You have to realize that Japan doesn’t want just anyone to come in — there are about a billion Chinese who would be very happy to go and live in Japan if they could. To go to Japan, just like any country, you need a visa. As a tourist, you usually get it upon arrival in Japan.

To stay longer than a few months, you basically need either a work visa, a student visa, or a spouse visa. Those can easily take months, and for a work visa you need to have a job already lined up. With rare exceptions, for a work visa you need a degree, too.

Okinawa is probably not the best place to go (unless climate is your priority). There are tens of thousands of American troops there, more than anywhere else in Japan, and the economy is rather skewed by it. The only other areas I would stay away from are Tokyo and Osaka, because they also have higher proportions of “gaijin”.

My guess is (and maybe someone who has been in Japan more recently than I can chip in) you need about $7-800/month for rent. Depending upon the area, you may need $2-5,000 in “key money” (a deposit that you may or may not get back). Food is probably 1.5-2 x what you would pay at home, but if you don’t learn to eat Japanese food quickly, expect to pay more for “western” foods (prepared foods, lots of meat, exotic things like peanut butter, etc.). Basic foods and accommodation are generally cheaper in rural areas.

I seem to recall paying $25-30/hour for a private Japanese teacher (there are plenty of people who would swap Japanese lessons for English ones, with no money changing hands, but this guy was preparing me for the JLPT).

All in all, for living expenses you should probably budget about $1,500/month. I hope you’ve saved up a lot!

Well that’s fantastic, then! So a smaller provincial area… would Okinawa do well? Also, around how much is the currency exchange rate, out of curiousity? I make around 10 dollars an hour where I work, so I would probably have at least enough to get started, right?

In my experience, the best way to learn a language is to be immersed in it. If you live in Tokyo, there are enough chance to use English that Japanese acquisition would be much more difficult. For that reason, I would recommend a smaller town/city. I started off living in Wakayama, which most Japanese consider dreadfully old fashioned and provincial, but I loved the accessibility of nature, and the lack of pretension. Places like that have their own dialects, but everyone in Japan (the elderly aside) has learned “standard” (i.e. Tokyo) Japanese, so I don’t think that’s a barrier.

If you are a high school student, there are many opportunities to go as an exchange student, usually living with a Japanese family. I knew several of them, and it was generally very positive. You can’t beat the opportunity to speak a language every day, in your everyday life.

Living with a family is *always* known as a “homestay” (they use the same word in Japanese), so you might be able to find information if you search on that. In fact, a quick Google search brings up over 400,000 hits!

Well, thanks for giving the facts straight up. What town (province?) Would you say is a good place to stay if you are just getting started, and trying to learn Japanese, or at least the most common dialect?

As far as I know, students usually only join one club, and stick to that exclusively. Serious teams, like baseball, practice almost every day, including weekends and holidays.

There’s not a lot of enthusiasm in many classes. Students sleep, text, or even chat, ignoring the teachers.

I also had a friend who worked in a high school where one of his colleagues was stabbed by a student, so the threat of violence is also there.

Thanks for the facts. Just wondering, but how is the school systems? Good? Bad?