Sapporo Language Center

Sapporo Language Center teaches in the Famir Nakajima Koen building in Chuo ward. Its Japanese programme is designed around four entry points in the year. April entrants have a two-year course, July entrants study for a year and nine months, October entrants for a year and a half and January entrants for a year and three months. The school describes these as long-term options for international students who have completed secondary education.

From everyday Japanese to entrance exams

At the beginning of the curriculum, students learn grammar and practise speaking in situations they are likely to encounter outside class. A lower-intermediate stage extends vocabulary and grammar before the school introduces work towards the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test. Its intermediate objectives correspond to N2 preparation and its upper-intermediate work to N1. At the advanced stage the emphasis shifts towards the demands of a university entrance examination or using Japanese when looking for work.

The teaching calendar includes opportunities to see more of Hokkaido. The centre describes a summer field trip for the whole school alongside activities organised by individual classes. Those experiences give students a setting in which to use the conversational Japanese that features in the early part of the course.