Navigating the Tokyo Jungle

IES Abroad - Tokyo Language intensive program is a fantastic program all around. I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful host family who was very loving and experienced in hosting foreign students. I know that not everyone may end up with such a scenario but the staff a the Tokyo center really work hard to ensure that every student is given a considerate host family to live with, and I did not hear any major complaints from other students regarding their host families during my time there. Students living in the dorms also claimed to have pleasant experiences in the dorms. My only difficulty in staying with a host family is that I had to ride the train for an hour to and from school. Which is rather long, and the morning Tokyo trains are packed, so it can be bothersome, but you learn to get use to it. My host mother's wonderful cooking more than made up for the long train ride. The academics are challenging and definitely live up the name "intensive". I guarantee your Japanese speaking abilities will improve substantially after taking this program. And the internships is what makes this program unique. I worked for an anime art gallery and loved it. My coworkers knew no English, so I really had to rely on my Japanese skills to get by - a challenge, but rewarding.
I could write a mini novel on this program, but I'll leave it at this: this is a great program for people who seriously want to improve their Japanese language skills and learn to navigate life through one of the world's largest cities, all while having a blast doing it.