University Preparatory Course

Sendagaya Japanese Institute

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Course description

Our University Preparatory Course mainly aims to give the students an advanced level of Japanese in order for them to enter Japanese universities, graduate schools and vocational schools. In addition to the Japanese language, this course also offers elective subjects for students whose Japanese is at intermediate level or higher. They can choose subjects based on their own learning needs and purposes, such as basic subjects (math, social science, etc.) required for entering universities, preparatory lessons for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), business Japanese and more.

In this course, students can have more study hours and learn communicative Japanese with a good balance in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

We can provide accommodation for our students.
If you cannot find the right length of stay for you, please contact our staff and we will help you.

Please note that the start dates can be changed from the schedule on this web site.
We will contact the applicants in case there is a change in our academic schedule.

Course topics

Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar and Activities

Class schedule

Course duration
1-104 weeks
Classes per week
24 lessons per week (each lesson lasts 45 min)
Class days
Monday - Friday
School holidays
23 Dec 2024

SJI does not hold classes on the holiday dates above. The school does not compensate for these holidays, so make sure to choose your start date accordingly.

Class times

You can choose from the following class times:

Morning session
08:50 AM - 01:00 PM
Afternoon session
01:30 PM - 05:40 PM

Class schedule may change depending on availability and season.

Class level

All levels, beginner to advanced
You will take a placement test on your first day to determine your class level. You may also take this test before your arrival in Tokyo.

Class size

Average 18 students
Maximum 20 students

Student age

Age range 17 years old and older
Average 22 years old

Certificate

A certificate of completion will be issued at the end of the course.
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school
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reviews

Reviews

83% recommend

based on 6 reviews
5 stars
3
4 stars
1
3 stars
2
2 stars
0
1 star
0
Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing

"I was very happy to study at Sendagaya Language Institute."

Harry Melamed, student from USA

I like the Sendagaya Language Institute very much. Location and the facilities are very good. The staff was very helpful to me.
Housing is excellent, meals were very well prepared. I would like to go again and study there for one year ore more.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
3 weeks
Date of study
9 Jan 2020 - 31 Jan 2020
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Jesper Lysell, Coordinator at Sendagaya Japanese Institute responded to this review.
13 February 2020

We are very happy to hear that you enjoyed your studies at our institute. I have shared your comments with your teachers and we hope to see you soon in Japan again.

"The lessons where good, but the level was to high to call it daily japanese language lessons."

Lidian De Weert, student from Netherlands

The teachers a very nice and friendly. Most of them have a good, well though up system to teach Japanese. I must say that the average level of this school is very high. I felt like I was back at University. Most students in my group had the same complain. For example: the teachers spend a lot of time on grammar and nuances before the student can properly introduce himself and knows the basic greetings etc. Therefore I would not indicate this course as "daily Japanese".

Nevertheless I had a good and fun experience studying at Setagaya. I learned a lot!

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
7 weeks
Date of study
7 Jan 2019 - 28 Feb 2019
Would you recommend this school?
No
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Jesper Lysell, Coordinator at Sendagaya Japanese Institute responded to this review.
06 March 2019

Thank so much for your comments about our school.

Every opinion is important for us and we hope that we can focus even more on conversation in the future.

"First experience in Japan"

Andrea Brugnetti, student from Italy

The housing is very good, it's just 15 minutes walking from the train station. Also is very clean and inside the building there is the laundry, which is very useful for long stays. To get to school it takes no more than 40 minute, and it's set in the center of Tokyo. The main building is just outside the train station. To reach the school you use the train, the best facilitie in Japan. Classes covers every aspects of learning a language, from writing to speaking and grammar. Teachers are very kind and qualified. Questions are always welcome. The classes are very confortable and there is the right number of students in each.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
4 weeks
Date of study
9 Jul 2018 - 8 Aug 2018
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Jesper Lysell, Coordinator at Sendagaya Japanese Institute responded to this review.
11 March 2019

Thank you so much for your comments about our school.

We are glad to hear that you liked our school and the dormitory you lived in.

"Great experience with nice people sharing the courses, teachers were great"

Maximilian Tiguemounine, student from France

Housing, teachers , classes all were excellent
but there was no activies proposed
I liked the school and the students participating to the programs
Location Tokyo was great , i could go every where with the Subway and the train

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
7 weeks
Date of study
9 Jul 2018 - 31 Aug 2018
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Jesper Lysell, Coordinator at Sendagaya Japanese Institute responded to this review.
11 March 2019

Thank you for your comments about our school.

We have one activity per semester, so depending on the length of your stay, there is a risk of missing the activity. Also, we try to have different activities each semester.

You are also welcome to mail us with questions about activities and other questions concerning our school.

"Unique experience in the heart of Shinjuku"

Elizabeth Rycova, student from Czech Republic

Prior to my trip I was aware of the fact that the course was located in Shinjuku, a very busy city in which I have previously been. So I was expecting crowded streets and classes of at least 10 students. However to my big surprise it was located in a peaceful part of Shinjuku, near the Takadanobaba station.

The class I was given was very low in number which made my course a very pleasant one as I was able to improve my Japanese skills rapidly, especially with the help of trained Japanese teachers that were always here to listen to my questions.

Overall I was extremely happy with how my course in Tokyo turned out and will be coming back soon.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Housing
Duration of study
1 week
Date of study
23 Oct 2017 - 3 Nov 2017
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
This is a verified review. This student has booked a course at this school through Language International.
Jesper Lysell, Coordinator at Sendagaya Japanese Institute responded to this review.
11 March 2019

Thank you for your comments about our school.

We are glad to hear that you have had a good time at our school and you are of course also welcome to come back and study with us again.

"Overall a good experience but very dependent on your goals."

Jamie W

Overall I would say that Sendagaya Japanese Institute is a good school and I mostly enjoyed my time studying there. It helped me cover the necessary topics for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1 (passed), as I think if I were to have just studied independently my study range would have been insufficient.

The teachers responsible for my everyday lessons were very friendly, and it was obvious they were always trying to provide the best experience possible for other students and myself. Whenever I had a question, they would always give good quality and sincere answers, which made a big difference for me. However, this is not the case for all teachers. In some of my secondary lessons, the teachers were a joke: solely teaching from a textbook with no deviations (very dull), not taking students' queries seriously at all, sometimes being very condescending and generally not showing any interest in actual student progress. I attended the school for just under six months and came across several teachers attributed with this attitude, which was a shame, and at times very frustrating, however, the vast majority of staff were very nice and helpful.

The facilities were sufficient for teaching a language. Honestly, you really don't need much to adequately teach; being an English teacher myself I know that most essentially as long as there is a certain level of enthusiasm from both teacher and student, learning will inevitably happen. One small complaint if I had to say would be the uncomfortableness of some of the chairs and desks. I'm not especially tall and certainly don't have a heavy build, however, some of the desks were so low that I couldn't tuck myself in properly, which, as you can imagine can be a real hamper on concentration.

The school is located in a place called Takadanobaba, which is a really great place for several reasons. Firstly, it's very central being just a stone's throw away from major places like Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Tokyo. Takadanobaba itself is also a great place, especially for reasonably priced restaurants mainly aimed at students. You're spoiled for choice there and certainly won't have many boring lunches whilst attending school there.

It sounds like I had a lot of negative things to say, but, at the end of the day, I was able to obtain a really useful qualification (JLPTN1) partly with thanks to this school. Just remember that when learning a language, you get out what you put in. Therefore, don't expect just because you go to school (any school) that you'll make great progress and pass exams etc. They show you what to do and support you along the way, but you actually have to make the push and put in the effort for yourself.

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My ratings for this school

Quality of teaching
School facilities
Social activities
School location
Duration of study
23 weeks
Date of study
4 Apr 2016 - 17 Sep 2016
Would you recommend this school?
Yes
Machiko Fujita, Manager at Sendagaya Japanese Institute responded to this review.
23 March 2017

Thank you very much for your comments. We are very happy that you could get JLPTN1 as this is not easy at all. However, as to your comments on some of our teachers and our facilities, we sincerely feel sorry about it. We appreciate your comments and we try to improve our quality more and more.
We do hope that you would enjoy your further stay in Japan and your work will go fine.
Best regards,

housing

Housing

SJI offers the following housing types:
student-residence

Dai-ichi Takadanobaba Dormitory (University Preparatory Course)

$122
weekly
Age range: 15 years old and older
Address: 3-25-21, Takadanobaba, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Location: In the city center of Tokyo
Housing type: Student residence (off-campus)
Room type: 2-person shared room
Board type: No meals
Facilities: Kitchen, laundry, wireless internet, free internet, air conditioning, and heating
Distance to school: 5 - 8 minutes by walk
Availability: January - December
Check-in: Sunday, anytime
$122
Dai-ichi Takadanobaba Dormitory (Mixed) is located within 10 minutes walking distance from our main campus.

Takadanobaba Station is less than 10 minutes away on foot which means that you will have good access to the famous JR Yamanote Line, Tokyo Metro Tozai Line and Seibu Shinjuku Line.

≪Dormitory facilities≫
Toilet & bathroom, kitchen, refrigerator, cupboard, washing machine

≪Room facilities≫
Desk & chair, hangers, rice cooker, curtains, air conditioner,
bed (double-deck bed)

You can check in on weekdays before 18:00 and you will be able to move in to your dormitory from the first day of the month you are entering our school.

Only for Long-term students in the University Preparatory Course

Please note that accommodation can be booked for the whole duration of your course, but you will need to first book 12 weeks and then extend your stay while in Japan.
visa

Visa support

We cannot apply for visas on behalf of students. However, the school can supply you with all the documentation you need to support your visa application.

Your letter of acceptance will be sent to your home address by regular mail at no charge to you.

Flights and airport transfer

Please note that we do not book flights for our students. If you are researching airfare costs, we recommend using Kayak.com, a search engine that lets you compare flight options from your home country to Tokyo based on your budget, schedule and preferences.

Travel insurance

Study abroad worry-free with Language International's health and personal effects insurance coverage. When you book a course with us, you can opt to purchase an international insurance plan that covers not only your health care cost but also loss of your personal belongings. You must book your insurance in advance when you register.

Learn more about our insurance plan »

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questions

Questions and answers

Have questions? Get answers from Sendagaya Japanese Institute staff, Language International student advisors, and past students.

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