I am having an anxiety attack just watching the debate. I can't even argue in proper sentences in English as well as in my native language which doesn't even have grammar. -_-
Same. Although i think im fairly smart (kinda narcissistic statement lul), i perform very slow under pressure. Even if i am better prepared in terms of information on my material, i just blank out in a debate.
Sarah Fasure I did!😃 You can find snippets from their interviews at 05:25 . Sebastian started learning at FFLC and has become advanced so quickly. Johanna studied abroad once in high school, self studied a lot but her studies became really full on here in FFLC. Ricardo mentioned he's been studing for five years, many of which were outside Japan, and Nara studied formally back home but said it was difficult for him to improve his speaking skills until he moved to Japan. They all seem to have become fluent in less than four years and can read/write with amazing proficiency, too!
Hi Sarah, I'm the guy walking to class at the beginning of the video, though I didn't do an interview! I had a pretty long journey with Japanese myself. I took some short beginner classes when I was in high school, but nothing really stuck until I started classes in Uni. Even then, I had a very difficult time remembering simple grammar and vocabulary, but I was fortunate enough to study abroad at Kansai Gaidai in the Osaka-Kyoto area for one year. I graduated and decided to continue trying to master the language and chose FFLC because my senpai was studying here! That was about 5 years into my study, but I can easily say most of my language knowledge has come from these past two years at FFLC. :)
I’ll share my experience too (Johanna, jan-ken master in yellow shirt and also interviewed)! ✋🏻 I started off with a 10-week course which taught me the very basics back in 2012, continued with attempting to study by myself which didn’t get me very far. Then I went on an exchange student program to southern Japan in 2014 and attended a Japanese high school while living with a host family for 10 months. I didn’t have anyone to properly teach me the language but did a lot of self studying, complemented by help from my host family and friends at school who would answer questions and teach me random expressions. I’ve been attending this school since April this year, so in total that makes around 1,5 years of quite intense studies while actually living in Japan!
This would be an absolute nightmare! I’m very glad you enjoyed it, and it seems like a super effective school, but... Debating in a foreign language?! I can’t form sentences in English during a debate, let alone any language I’m learning (personally). Having said that, encouraging people to push themselves like that is probably a big part of why the school is such a success. Thank you so much for these awesome back-to-back video days! The quality of your content is really impressive (and enjoyable 😁).
Debating in an other language that you are studying is actually really good to improve your skill ! and to make you feel confidence while talking in a group of people :)
bublegirl21 I will have to try it! I have been studying Spanish for 7 years, but I am still not able to speak it without many breaks in my voice. Maybe a debate would help!
I would give everything to go to a language school like this. I've been taking Japanese classes for almost 3 years now but the lessons are really inefficient and they're only once a week, so my Japanese level is still only somewhere between N5 and N4. Sadly I'm not really good at self-studying either so I just never improve... I just wish I would finally have a chance to improve my Japanese and get better :(
well it takes more then wishing to actually get better at something. no one said it was gonna be easy. get some kanji textbooks or download some podcasts at japanesepod101 and practice
I go to this school now and want to thank you for being part of my inspiration to choose fflc. I really miss class rn in the times of COVID, but we start online classes tomorrow, and my friends and I have been studying from home. Still, cant wait to get back in class tho, I miss my 先生。。。 Thanks again!
It makes me glad seeing videos like this where it shows how if you are a little more of a beginner in Japanese, that there is an end in sight, and you shouldn't give up. Thanks, ロレッタ!
I am really bad at Japanese but I am going to try to compliment your channel the best I can: 私はあなたのビデオが本当に好きです。日本語を勉強したい人には本当に便利だと思います I hope I wrote that right, love your channel!
I plan on going to Akamonkai in Tokyo as soon as possible after graduating highschool. People in the comments are talking about how hard this looks but this just makes me more excited! One step closer to becoming a professional manga artist after all
This and any other language related videos like this makes me feel so happy and determined, yet so sad because I find it really difficult to find the right places and enough money to go to a school or university at a low budget, but I know it's not that easy and that's the reality of it. However, I'm not giving up and I want to keep away from as many distractions as possible to help me learn Japanese. Thank you for making this video; it's precisely why I watch J-Vloggers and language channels to keep me inspired to pursue my dream!!!
The fact that you and the other students have been there for a considerable length of time and still take the time to take an advanced course in the language is both inspiring and terrifying! Is Japanese just that tough that it takes more than just initial study and immersion but also years of concentrated effort/study/coursework etc. to become fluent?
Have you ever heard of Toastmasters? It is a world-wide organization that helps people develop their public speaking and leadership skills. There are many Toastmasters clubs in Japan. I think it will be worthwhile to visit the clubs.
The good thing about living in Fukuoka Prefecture is that The transportation is very convenient. Subways and buses are readily available from the airport to Fukuoka City.
Great video Loretta-san. So glad I found your channel. You do amazing videos and they are so informative. Thanks for the motivation to get out our comfort zone and face any challenges in our lives and careers.
I gave up on learning Japanese because of money and resource issues. I'm not very good at studying on my own or even going abroad so I'm really happy that everything did work out for you and I hope you never lose your japanese
Screw debating, I'dbe more than happy to even talk at that level in my lifetime. Thank you for this video! I love seeing high level Japanese with subs. Hard to get out of the amateur Japanese level when all the texts will never touch high level political or scientific topics.
I'm trying to learn japanese :) and what I found interesting, Japanese actually makes sense to me. I'm no where near fluent or anything, but in comparison to spanish and other languages I've tried learning, it just makes sense!
sn3192 I'm not an english native speaker but I speak it fluently, also I haven't really gotten into spanish but I have to study german in school and let me tell you, japanese is so much more fun and easy than german. Yeah the kanji drives me nuts, but the language itself and the grammar makes sense to me, at least compared to german. Idk maybe it's just because I love japanese culture, and that in turn makes me motivated to study
I'm currently a beginner in the Japanese language, taking classes with a few other people. And suprisingly, it makes sense to me as well. I'm Dutch, and the phonetics of the language are a close comparison to Dutch, (just quicker). Thus I can pronounce everything fairly well. This makes learning the language a bit easier :) I've learned a bit of german as well in middle school (3 years) and a bit of French (2 years), but I'm still really bad at that. But I didn't have an interest in it anyways, so I dropped it as fast a I could. Compared to German or French, learning Japanese feels like something that is possible to me. I'm not an English native speaker, but I do feel accomplished in learning the English language, so hopefully in a couple of years, I'm at a more advanced level in Japanese. :)
I’m really glad that you guys are studying Japanese diligently!! We want to incorporate such a program(debate) into our English class..I think it’ll definitely nurture our comprehensive English skills though.. By the way, I’m Japanese:)
My son lived in Bepu while he was in college at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. He lives in Tokyo now. Been there I think about 4 or 5 years. Speaks fluent Japanese like you. I have no idea what either of you are taking about, but it sounds nice. Use to joke that he lived in F.U.O.K. Prefecture.
Ahhh such a great video!!! I can’t wait to visit Fukuoka someday! And I really want to go to a language school after I graduate but they’re so expensive 😱😱
@Cute Girl x i wish:),bcs my plan is study there:'). but i've seen the reviews (on google maps) i think this school is not as good as we thought. but i dont know haha
I'm currently a beginner in the Japanese language, taking classes with a few other people. And suprisingly, it makes sense to me. I'm Dutch, and the phonetics of the language are a close comparison to Dutch, (just quicker). Thus I can pronounce everything fairly well. This makes learning the language a bit easier :) I've learned a bit of German in middle school (3 years) and a bit of French (2 years), but I'm still really bad at that. I didn't have an interest in it anyways, so I dropped it as fast a I could. Compared to German or French, learning Japanese feels like something that is possible to me. I'm not an English native speaker, but I do feel accomplished in learning the English language, so hopefully in a couple of years, I'm at a more advanced level in Japanese, and maybe I can take these kinds of classes in Japan. :)
日本語アドバンスの人らてこんなに上手いの笑 俺英語アドバンスクラスにいるから、俺の英語こんな感じなのかって思うと嬉しいわ笑 I'm impressed by how well people in advanced level speak Japanese. And it made me motivated cuz My English level is advanced so Native speakers hear me as clear/well as I heard them.
I can speak 100 languages, every day I need to learn 100000words, if I adopted those useless normal study methods, I need to learn 1000years to finish all the 100 language study projects.those are low-value useless styles.
I've recently found your page and I just got to say: you are amazing and absolutely incredible! I have really enjoyed watching your videos and felt like I was living my dream of living/studying in Japan through you. Sadly I never got s chance, but seeing this video really has me thinking it's possible for me again to even go for a few weeks. I would be a complete beginner... I can't keep a conversation or make such thorough sentences, as well as being a bit older (26 years old now) do you think these would still be fine for me or would I be considered too old (if I were to go in about 2 years or so)
I went to GenkiJacs which is also near Hakata station but that school is only good for beginners. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of Advanced Japanese classes so I couldn’t learn as much as I wanted. I wish we had debates as well
Ugh I'm so jealous of your Japanese skills. I've been learning Japanese for 3 years and have been stuck at a brick wall for the past 2 years. I can't afford any textbooks, I'm not sure of what level I am and my tutor is completely reluctant to teach me anything past beginner, despite her being a teacher of all levels. I have no idea how to use more than one verb in a sentence (and looking online hasn't seemed to have helped me )or how to make a complex sentence so I'm basically stuck. I have no idea how to get past this.