Meiji Academy

From July 13th to August 5th I've been studying at Meiji Academy located in Fukuoka. Two privates lessons per week and 3 hours per day in class, but it also felt like private lessons because we were 2 students which is nice.

Before joining the school I needed to ask questions regarding scholarship, visa, accomodations etc and the staff was really helpful and quick to respond. I received clear answers in english, wich was really reassuring since I was about to fly on the other side of the planet to meet them.

I've been studying with 3 different teachers and textbook Genki II during my scholarship. The teachers were really kind and competent, with the right amount of friendliness to make it interesting, and the right amount of seriousness because we're here to learn. They had different ways of teaching japanese but they all focused on practicing oral skills and fluency. I've never used Genki textbooks before and I really like it, it's great for learning japanese with other students in a class like this. The teachers also brought there own studying material, like other textbooks, newspaper, culture related articles etc. I only wished I had more homeworks assigned, but instead I prepared the upcoming lesson. Teacher and staff alike were always available to answers any language related questions.

The staff, was very friendly and helpful overall. They gave me good recommendation about places to see, food to taste, things to try. They brought really good insights about japanese culture as well. They also invited me multiple times to go to the onsen and now I'm love with it. Even though I stayed for 1 month, I was able to participate in a language exchange event with another school of japanese people learning english. They organised a beach party which was really fun; ice-breakers, games on the beach, watermelon and all. Good times, I practiced a lot that day.

Also it is worth mentioning that I lived in a homestay selected by Meiji Academy during 1 month. I know this is a review for the school but honestly it was almost the best part. My homestay mother was very kind and helpful in every way imaginable. Sightseeing spots, restaurants, activities ... She is also a japanese teacher in elementary school and helped me with vocabulary and tricky grammar. Also she had an adorable dog.

Here is my review for Meiji Academy. Maybe I should have said something along the line "Go to this school, it's great" but I would rather tell you my story. My language skills improved, I discovered japanese culture and I met people I can call my friends. Every aspect of my scholarship was interesting and entertaining. Never thought I would miss school in my life 😅. Thank you Meiji Academy.

This was not my first time studying at a language school in Japan, but it definitely stands out as one of the best experiences I’ve had so far. There are a lot of ‘cowboy’ language schools that us foreigners unfortunately fall into far too often, but I can say that Meiji is anything but that! The school’s location is very easily reachable and the school feels very welcoming. The teaching staff (as well as all of the other staff) are the highlight of this school! Always beaming and eager to hear about your experiences in Japan. It’s really the perfect environment to learn Japanese.

This is without a doubt a 10/10 language school, I truly hope theres a chance I can return there in the future.

I studied here for 2 months in Fukuoka and the lessons were very good. My teachers was easy to understand and they were always so very patient, even when my Japanese was struggling, and they motivate me to keep on trying. Meiji Academy also arranged for me to have a homestay with a really nice Japanese family, who showed me a lot of the Japanese culture and I was glad as I got to see the real Japanese home life. I made lots of friends in Fukuoka because the people of Kyushu are really kind, and I will continue staying friends with them for a long time, I hope to welcome some of them to Germany some time!

I came here with a good friend as we wanted to learn at least the basics of Japanese at the start of our stay in Japan. Meiji taught us everything we needed to know in a very efficient way, no time was wasted and at our request the teachers taught us a lot of useful Japanese that you’d actually use in daily life. For example conversations in a restaurant, in a konbini, at the airport, etc.

We had a lot of fun in Fukuoka, it is really an amazing city that in many ways reminded me of Australia - especially by Momochi beach where everyone is so chill! It’s definitely one of the lesser known spots in Japan so I would recommend it to anybody who’s looking for a more unique experience.

For the price we paid, our lessons with Meiji Academy couldn't have been better. Our lessons were taught by native Japanese born and bred in Fukuoka, so not only did they teach us Japanese, but also a lot about their amazing city. The structure of the lessons was easy to follow and meant that it was easy to track our progress, we made a lot of progress!

I guess the whole advantage of doing Japanese lessons in Japan is the fact you get to experience the culture first hand. Outside of our lessons we were able to explore a lot of Fukuoka and the many amazing places in the surrounding Kyushu.

We came with a working holiday visa so our time in Japan has not yet come to an end, but Meiji Academy definitely gave us a good enough introduction to the language to make our stay here a lot more enjoyable.