The teachers are all professional, enthusiastic and work incredibly hard.
Why did you select this program?
I wanted to live in Tokyo and study in a full-immersion language program. KCP was highly recommended by several alumni on reddit.com
What were the most productive and interesting aspects of the program for you? The least interesting and productive?
Having to listen to and speak Japanese daily was the most productive. in-class kanji practice and sakubun were the least. kanji writing practice and memorization can be done easily at home. I don't see the point of spending a half-hour of valuable class time every day reviewing kanji when it can be done much more efficiently using smart-phone or laptop applications. The point of sakubun mystifies me. If someone asked me to write an essay in English using only pen, paper, and a conventional dictionary I'd wonder if they were sane. I don't understand why this is viewed as good practice in Japanese.
Any further thoughts or tips for those considering the program or new KCP students?
In general I think the KCP program is really great and I'm very glad I decided to do it. It was a lot of work, but I learned a lot, met many interesting people from all over the world, and got to have a very different experience of Japan than the normal tourist. The teachers are all professional, enthusiastic and work incredibly hard. I am amazed by the long hours they put in and how available they are for questions, re-tests, &c. They really inspired me to work hard.
