Standard Japanese

Review of Japanese Genki Jacs



Genki Jacs website promotes absolute beginners classes, where they cater for students “who have never spoken a word of Japanese”. They promote small classes where there is “more attention from teachers, making it easier to focus on students specific needs in an intimate and comfortable environment.”

From these statements, a certain expectation was set regarding the level and pace of the courses offered. More specifically, absolute beginners classes only take enrolements on the first Monday of the month; whcih again, set certain expectations up for what might be offered. My recent experience did not reflect what was promoted and at best could be described as disappointing.

The lack of comprehension of any style of pedagogy, personalized learning, student focused learning tasks and lesson progression demonstrated the inexperience of the teaching staff and overall curriculum focus of the school. Lessons were not adjusted or tailored to meet student needs, showed very limited reflection of student abilities and progression, despite the rigorous and strict adherence homework and data collection.

This was not an environment for adult learners to enrich learning, build skills and understanding, but an imperialist age left over education based on fear and shame. The environment was neither intimate nor comfortable, unless this meant cramped sitting space and tiny rooms.

Perhaps the school is indicative of the entire Japanese Education System and expectations; however, being an international school, catering for students who are from around the globe, it might be expected that a pedagogy aligning with international adult learning would have been implemented, rather than being reflective of the expectations and culture within a local junior high school.

While there was a miscommunication regarding the need to know hiragana before starting; this in no way caters for the promotion of ‘not knowing any Japanese at all’. Simply being able to identify a symbol does not equate to understanding its sound nor how it relates when placed next to other sounds to blend sounds into words. Fluency of sounds is a skill only reached through rigorous repetition, identification, modelling, sight and sound words and vocal exploration. While an adult might be expected to have a quicker uptake of sounds and fluency based on their prior experience of learning to read and speak over several years as a young child, this is not a process that can be achieved in months, much less weeks – and for many adult learners can take many months; dependent up their own phenetic skill awareness and confidence.

Within the first week at the school, the class was expected to have reading fluency of not only hiragana, but the introduction of Katakana. Reading fluency refers to the ability to read quickly, smoothly, easily, and with expression. To read fluently, a reader must understand how the symbols on the page (the letters) are related to the sounds of the language, how those sounds are blended together to form words, what the words mean, and what the words together in a sentence mean. This skill is something that is built over time and practice.



My first week was spent with two other students in the alleged absolute beginner class. Our first lesson saw the teacher write a sentence in hiragana on the board and ask us to read it. In no version of an educative environment would a beginner reader and speaker be expected not only to identify the symbols but to blend and speak them out loud on the first week. The expectations of the beginner class were unrealistic and not in touch with the individual needs of the class, particularly when the range of abilities was so wide. The other two students in my class were clearly advanced, having the ability to write and reading katakana and hiragana, and be able to construct blended sentences using a variety of known words and concepts.



I openly cried in and out of class out of frustration and helplessness as I was shamed and left further and further behind. I was not in a beginner class but with two other students who were confident Japanese speakers and could read fluently. I felt unwelcome and extremely uncomfortable.

At this point, I would like to highlight my strong resilience and adaptability. I draw on a lifetime of high resilience, having experienced personal traumas, deaths, natural disasters and emotional turmoil. I am an experienced and highly skilled world traveler, having backpacked and lived in much of Europe and parts of Asia for over 10 years. I do not say lightly that after a week here, I was planning on leaving and my emotional outbursts were not a case of culture shock or lack of resilience.

The lack of understanding of the mechanics of education was highlighted in every aspect of the class structure. An example was the use of homework for each class. This was not used to assess a students understanding; because if it was, there was no indication that lessons were adjusted to cater for the misunderstandings. On multiple occasions, I was unable to complete parts of the homework and wrote notes on the sheets for the marking teacher to read when it was handed in. These were not addressed, nor were they reviewed. The solution to challenges in keeping up with class content was to give more homework, to the point of it being hours of work outside of the class – and much of it incomprehendable.

The materials were of extremely poor quality. Photocopied sheets were often blurry and writing so tiny, it was often difficult to ascertain what was written. The images were ambiguous and it was often difficult to understand what the activity was requiring.

There was no indication at the school of application of pedagogy of adult learners and adult learning styles. With the website promoting beginner courses suited to a four week commitment, there was little indication that this was the case. It appeared that there were lessons which were rigorously adhered to, with little personalization or room for adjustments or revision.

My highlight of the week was the culture classes; which were well thought out, engaging and varied in activities and interest areas. The tour leaders were interesting and willing to share their experiences and knowledge with the group.

The schools central location is easy to access and surrounded by wonderful cultural spots. While the course facilitators were not teachers and did not draw upon any tools or skills to adapt lessons to suit a range of abilities, they were not unpleasant. However they were not approachable, nor warm. I suspect that it is culturally inappropriate for teachers to build any sort of relationship with students, even adult aged ones. The classes were on the whole ,silent with no encouragement for student input or personalization. This promoted a lack of trust within the classroom, fear and isolation.

While I write this as a reflection of my own experiences, I know that I am not an isolated case as a beginner learner. I am aware that the school caters for advanced speakers and learners and perhaps this is where their expertise lays. I would suggest that this school is not suited to beginners of the language. If they were to continue promoting this, then they might look at engaging a qualified teacher from primary school who teachers learning to read and speak ( 4 – 6 year olds) and engage in some of the pedagogy surrounding phonetic awareness, reading and writing.

I would suggest that if knowledge of Hiragana writing and reading was a prerequisite to enrolling that this be something that i s managed WELL before arriving and done online or in an exam situation or similar.

The teachers were amazing at teaching. The locations were extremely convinient. However the Tokyo location was hard to find. The classes were well structured and the class sizes were optimal if not a little small. My host family was amazing. You guys are awesome, thank you for this experience.

I like many things about Genkijacs, including the school facilities, location, teaching method, and professors, which is why I rate it 5 stars. Japan's culinary culture is incredible, with thousands of restaurants, but unfortunately, the time between classes is too short to explore these alternatives. However, I did have time to explore the restaurants in the afternoon :). The student attention at Genkijacs was excellent, and the staff helped me with all aspects of transport without any issues.

On the other hand, I was not satisfied with the quality of the department I was assigned to, despite its beautiful location. When I returned to Germany, I wrote to the school with photos to highlight the issues, and they assured me that they would investigate the matter with the service providers. Living in Kyoto was an experience for me, and the quality of the department was an essential part of that experience. If I had to pay double or triple to get better conditions, I would do it without hesitation. For my next visit, I will be more particular about the accommodation.

The teachers was very friendly and had different teaching styles.
It's for the most part fast paced learning. We went through around 2 chapters every week.

We followed the Minna no nihongo book.
With about a month interval there's a test we had to take. If you don't pass you may have to take the same month again.

We got homework every day (except weekends) but for the most part not to time-consuming.

But if you want more homework you can just ask

Some teachers are very zealous to teach such as Keigo San, Kanego San and Yasuko San. Some are not very full-heartedly.

The classes were tough and fast paced, but overall were extremely rewarding. I personally got frustrated at times because the classes are almost entirely done in Japanese and I could not understand what was going on because I was an Absolute Beginner. The teachers are very lovely and helpful. The location is central and great for post class activities.