Program Reviews

My time with Meiji Academy is unfortunately coming to an end this week. It’s been an amazing 2 months, and I’ve learnt a lot during my time here. Meiji not only taught me Japanese in a fun and efficient way, but they also introduced their amazing city to me. Fukuoka is such an underrated place (even better with no tourists), I’d seen all the reviews raving about Fukuoka but now I know for myself :)

The structure of the course was excellent, it is clear to me that they tailor their teaching style to their students as we had a thorough discussion about my goals with Japanese before we started and they taught me accordingly. We worked through a textbook at a suitable pace, which was useful as I could easily track my progress. The teachers are really enthusiastic about Japanese, and are always really motivating and happy to see you progress.

I would definitely recommend Meiji Academy for anybody learning Japanese!

I studied with Meiji at their school in Fukuoka and I had an amazing time! The staff are all so kind and helpful, they really make you feel at home even though you’re on another side of the globe. The lessons were well-taught, and I ultimately gained a lot of confidence with the language. The benefit of actually being in Japan when studying is that the practice never stops! After classes I would go out and use what I’d learnt in real scenarios, which is actually fun once you get over that first initial barrier of fear. If you’re looking for a real authentic Japanese experience, give Tokyo a miss and head for Fukuoka! The people here are so down-to-earth and easy-going, just being here every day makes you feel at ease. Plus, the city really has everything you need - beaches, shopping, city life, food, easy transport etc. etc. It's a super liveable city. Be wary of the climate though! Kyushu summers are famous for being hell on earth, you’ll have to quickly get used to being drenched in sweat 24/7.

When I started to look for online Japanese learning I found Meiji because of the good reviews, and it is for a reason.

I had a really fun time with online learning Japanese. The teacher was all very kind, and made the way we learnt interesting. Because the lessons was online it meant I could learn Japanese at convenient times, so I could still have time to do other work.

I started at beginner level and now have more confidence and can speak some basic conversation, I am very happy with my progress! If you want to learn japanese and have fun, I recommend Meiji Academy :)

I'm in love with my classes and how they literally make my days. After work I'm so tired I don't feel like I can focus on my lessons, but as soon as it starts I'm ready to go, they've been such an dopamine boost for me lately. Afterwards it's technically time to sleep for me but I feel so good that I end up watching some J-dramas or Japanese channels on youtube to keep practicing my listening. I'm an intermediate learner but it's crazy how quick you can start getting the gist of Japanese conversations once you start practicing more often. I definitely feel more confident speaking after each of my classes and I hope to keep this feeling going. There's nothing like speaking to a real person and especially someone who is super cool like both my teachers have been so far.

I really liked my online group lessons with Meiji Academy. My teacher was patient and always ready to help us and the other students in my class were as motivated as me to learn Japanese. Since the classes are online, some of my fellow students were from different countries and had different lifestyles than me. It was interesting to hear their personal answers to my teacher's questions and I learned additional vocabulary for things not common in my own life. I thought that was really cool! With group lessons it's easy to improve your Japanese quickly as you will have classes nearly every day! We covered a lot of different skills such as speaking, listening and grammar and also a lot of different topics. I am confident that I will be able to order in a restaurant and ask for the way on my own once I have the chance to travel to Japan.

My Japanese online classes with Meiji Academy were a wonderful experience. Komiya-san really assisted me well with a lot of information about the classes and how they are structured. I have learned Japanese before with another Japanese language school online, but was not very happy about their lessons as the teachers changed randomly and my questions were not properly addressed. I had some misconceptions that certain practices are normal and also worried if my concerns will be addressed. The friendly nature of Meiji's staff helped me to address my worries right from the beginning that I experienced in the past. I am happy that they proved me wrong that not every Japanese school is the same. Their individually addressed customer focus helped me open up and communicating with them about my goals better. The teachers even make the effort to prepare the lessons to focus on my weak points in Japanese grammar and speaking. This made me so comfortable learning and continuing my studies with them.

Their website also provides a lot of useful information. In addition, I highly recommend watching their YouTube and Instagram channel as they provide so much free learning content there.

I already had studied Japanese on my own for a while before I started online classes with Meiji. Even though I had a grasp of basic Japanese grammar and knew a lot of vocabulary I found it hard to come up with my own sentences. I was very nervous before my first lesson, but my teacher was kind and patient so I calmed down quickly. My teacher also praised me for my reading and was surprised that I understood most texts presented in class easily. Quickly we focused on composing sentences and speaking instead of reading and listening. I was surprised how quick my teacher understood what I struggle with and adjusted the curriculum to fit my needs. In the end of my course I was finally able to speak Japanese naturally and talk about my day and hobbies freely without needing written notes! I did not think I could make so much progress in such short time.

My 8 weeks studies with Meiji Academy are coming to an end and I want to share my great experience. Meiji is very flexible with how long you want to study and how many hours you can invest per week, which made their classes perfect for my summer break. I decided for private lessons 5 times a week, which was pretty intense, but so worth it! Because of the time/date difference between Japan and the US I had my classes from Sunday to Thursday in the evenings. This was really convenient because I could meet friends Friday and Saturday nights - after all it's summer break, right?!

I already miss my classes and once I know my schedule at college, I will decide if I can take more online classes with Meiji even after the semester has started again.

I came across Meiji Academy's online lessons when I was looking for options to study Japanese remotely. By coincidence it happened to be that a friend of mine at university has taken part in their online lessons before. After my initial trial lesson, which was much focused on my Japanese level, learning goals and an overview on what my learning progress would be after a set date, I decided to enroll in their course. At the beginning the learning curve was very slow due to me only committing one lesson per week. I had a revision and also addressed my issues to the staff at Meiji. We agreed to proceed with 2-3 lessons per week and I also promised to do my homework on time. It might sound obvious but you really have to self-commit to studying by yourself while doing the Japanese language classes to get the maximum output. Once I did the recommended changes by my teachers, I made significant progress in the following month and then after four months I was ready to pass JLPT 4 which I did!!! All the staff at Meiji Academy were so lovely and helpful but be prepared to put your own effort in to get the maximum outcome. After my four months at Meiji (Online) Academy I am still proceeding with my classes and due to the amazing teachers and good results I am more than ever motivated to continue my Japanese studies:)
Arigatou gozaimashita! Mata Nihon de aimashou!

I was planning to go to Japan initially but the COVID-19 seem to be around for a very long time and I could not stand waiting until all this will be over. So I took the initiative and registered for my trial lesson. The teachers were really amazing and started right from the beginning asking the directly what I was looking for to get out from my studies. As my plans were to go to Japan and study full-time for a few months, I wanted to fully immerse myself into a Japanese speaking environment. Thanks to my teachers and the creative learning content they provided (drawings of images and kanjis during class, listening to my favorite Japanese anime songs and discussing lyrics meanings and so much more...) I felt like being in Japan and four months into studying at Meiji Academy online I am still so motivated!

I think the best advice is to aim for a realistic goal you can achieve while studying with them for three months to see significant progress. I will continue studying with Meiji and feeling nostalgic for the time being before heading to Japan sometime next year:)

Dankeschön and for everybody else do not give up your Japanese studies!!