(Fukuoka | Japan )
Genki Japanese and Culture School
About Genki Japanese and Culture School
Genki Japanese and Culture School is an internationally acclaimed communicational Japanese language school that offers short-term study abroad courses, learning the Japanese language and culture in a relaxed and friendly environment. We are located in the heart of Fukuoka City, in South Japan, in Tokyo close to Shinjuku station, in Kyoto in the Gion district, and in Nagoya in between Kansai and Tokyo.
GenkiJACS was shortlisted as one of the world's top language schools at the STM Star Awards every year from 2009 to 2021. We are one of only two Japanese language schools in the world that are accredited by IALC, the International Association of Language Centres. We offer courses in a range of areas, including conversational Japanese, and cultural activities, all with an emphasis on practical work, inside and outside of the classroom. We can prepare a range of accommodation options including homestays and dorms, and arrange a wide range of activities.
Classes are limited to a maximum of 8 students. We accept all levels of learners, from complete beginners to advanced. All teachers are qualified, and bilingual English/Japanese. Courses start every Monday throughout the year and run for as long as students want. We also offer group programs, volunteer placements, and long-term student visa programs with a partner school.
Our Fukuoka branch is located just a few minutes' walk from Hakata Station, the biggest train station in Southern Japan, and only five minutes from the international airport! In addition, it's a short ride from school to the nearest beach.
Additional Services
- Airport/Station transfer
- Facilities for students with disabilities
- Student counselling
- Visa support
Accommodation
- Host family accommodation
- Host family accommodation without students of same native language
- Own apartment
- In hotel/guesthouse
- Shared Apartment
- Student Residence
Work and Further Studies
- Student legally permitted to work / earn money during course
- Work experience / internship with local companies
Activities
- Dancing
- Film
- Music
- Theatre
- Art / Painting
- Cooking
- Cultural tourism (theater, museum, etc.)
- Fashion
- Historical sightseeing
- Volunteering
- University student social events
- Culture Shock presentation
- Local cultural events (festivals, etc.)
Courses
General Japanese
90% 8 Reviews
This course is for students aged: 14-70
Location Type: Town/City
Levels: Basic, Intermediate
Class Sizes: Medium, 6-10 students, One-to-One, Small, 2-5 students
Weekly Hours: General 15-25 hrs/wk
Our Standard Japanese course has 20 classes per week, usually divided into 10 grammar, and 10 four-skills "application" classes, where you learn to use your Japanese in real-life situations. All classes are held in very small groups, with a maximum of 8 students per class, and topics are focused on practical communication skills for daily life. You'll be speaking and understanding Japanese in no time!
Japanese online
0% 0 Reviews
This course is for students aged: 16-70
Class Sizes: Medium, 6-10 students, Small, 2-5 students, One-to-One
Levels: Advanced, Upper Intermediate, Intermediate, Basic
Weekly Hours: Relaxed 10-15 hrs/wk
Online lessons with GenkiJACS offer the best of both worlds: our passion, expertise and innovation in the field of Japanese language learning, but available anywhere on Earth! If you can't make it all the way to Japan, give our online Japanese lessons a try, and you'll soon understand why our school is regularly voted one of the world's best language schools! We offer both group lessons and private lessons through an online format.
Do you prefer studying in groups? Talk to your teachers and classmates, do your homework, take tests, engage in pair work, and get feedback on your progress, all from the comfort of your own home. Our interactive, engaging lessons have been designed specifically to give you the best educational experience possible in an online medium. Classes are divided into small groups at very specific levels, so there's sure to be a class that's just right for you.
Would you prefer a more personal touch? Online private lessons always have you at the centre. We will literally be bridging gaps of space and time to make sure that you can cross oceans and continents with a click of a button.
Japanese Summer Courses
92% 1 Review
This course is for students aged: 14-70
Location Type: Town/City
Levels: Basic, Intermediate
Class Sizes: Medium, 6-10 students, One-to-One, Small, 2-5 students
Weekly Hours: General 15-25 hrs/wk, Intensive 25+ hrs/wk
<p>Our summer courses are the perfect way to spend your summer vacation! Combine intensive Japanese study with a variety of fun activities. Courses start every Monday and run for as many weeks as you like.</p>
Brochures
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GenkiJACS brochurePDF | 7MB added 01.20.2015 Download
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What students are saying
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Adrienne Fernando Guam
studied General JapaneseI recommend it if you are tight on time
I attended GenkiJacs as a short-term student for two weeks. I was very happy that the campus accepted students to study abroad for this amount of time as I was limited to two weeks off from my job during this specific quarter.
I had studied a bit of Japanese for a couple of months prior to arriving, so I had a little familiarity with the language.
After a pre-arrival exam and interview via zoom, I was placed in a class that was almost finished with the Minna No Nihongo 1 text book. I was able to get familiar with new grammar usage. The teachers assigned to the classes wanted to make sure the students understood when to use these points, and how to use it.
I enjoyed how the class is smaller (maximum of 8 students in the class). Each student had a chance to participate. This also allowed the teachers to provide some individual input on each student’s weakness and to facilitate their understanding of the lesson being taught.
I want to add that the classes move at a steady pace as well. I never felt rushed to cram the information nor did I feel like it was too slow. The teachers were able to make the lessons fun and engaging, which was great for me!
For the most part, the scheduling was okay. Perhaps keeping a consistent schedule time would be better for the student, but this wasn’t a big issue.
As for the accommodation, the school took charge in finding the right private apartment for myself, which was at most a 17 minute walk to the school. Any and all questions I had were just an email (or an office visit) away. The support of the staff at the school is phenomenal here.
I was a little sad that my two weeks passed by so quickly. I’m happy to have passed my oral exam and written exam at the end of my two weeks, and I hope I can only improve from here on out. It’s a little difficult outside of the classroom to obtain professional input in the Japanese language and I am convinced that attending an actual school is effective and worth the investment.
I want to end my review with saying that the teachers at the school are so supportive, friendly and helpful. They are the reason why I recommend anyone currently looking to learn Japanese - with comfort - to give GenkiJacs a try if they are able to.
posted 2 years ago
Joseph Hertz Switzerland
studied General Japanese9 semaines à Fukuoka!
En mars 2019, pour la première fois de ma vie je suis parti plus de deux mois tout seul dans un pays étranger.
Ce fut une sacré expérience de vivre au Japon à l'autre bout de la planète, et étudier à Genki Jacs contribua grandement à cette superbe expérience.
L'école est située à moins de 10 minutes à pied de la gare d'Hakata, une des stations les plus desservies de la ville de Fukuoka. Vous pouvez donc vous rendre à l'école plutôt facilement, que ce soit par train, métro ou bus.
Le bâtiment de Genki Jacs en lui-même est plutôt discret. C'est peut-être la seule critique que je pourrais faire à l'école: à mon avis elle est trop petite pour le nombre d'étudiants qui la fréquente (plus de 100 en tout, mais avec des horaires différents). Le lounge situé au rez-de-chaussée offre un espace de rencontre entre étudiants, de travail pour ceux et celles voulant faire leurs devoirs, de loisirs (avec sa bibliothèque de mangas et sa télé écran plat accompagnée d'une Nintendo Switch). Le seul défaut que je vois à cet espace, c'est que durant la pause de milieu de journée, il devient vraiment trop rempli, et assourdissant. Impossible de trouver une place pour manger la plupart du temps... heureusement le staff autorise les étudiants à manger dans leur salle de cours, ce qui est nettement plus agréable.
Les salles de cours parlons-en. Réparties sur 4 étages (du 3ème au 6ème), les salles sont toutes assez différentes les unes des autres. Certaines très petites sont généralement réservées aux cours de conversation, la majorité sont plutôt spacieuses pour accueillir les étudiants (4 à 8 par classe en moyenne). Les salles sont lumineuses, avec de grandes fenêtres, toutes équipes d'air conditionné (ou de chauffage pour l'hiver j'imagine). Ce point-ci est parfois un peu dérangeant, le souffle pouvant être vraiment froid... choisissez bien votre place, ou demandez gentiment à votre enseignant d'éteindre l'air conditionné!
Au niveau des cours j'ai tout simplement adoré. Même si ce fut difficile et que le rythme est plutôt intense, les méthodes d'enseignement m'ont conquis. À Genki Jacs, contrairement aux autres voyages linguistiques que j'ai pu faire pour apprendre l'anglais, nous n'avons pas un.e seul.e enseignant.e référent.e. Au contraire, chaque semaine vous pourrez avoir 3-4-5 sensei qui vous enseigneront la leçon en cours. Cela peut sembler déroutant au début, mais plus on apprend à les connaître plus les sensei sont passionnants à suivre. Chacun.e a sa méthode d'enseignement, quand certaines feront des petits dessins au tableau illustrant les formes grammaticales à apprendre, d'autres seront plus axées sur le jeu de rôle entre les personnages du livre "Genki". D'autres enseignantes encore préfèrent axer leur cours sur beaucoup de "conversation", ou de questions ouvertes, quand d'autres favoriseront les travaux en binôme ou trinôme.
J'ai également pris un supplément heures de conversation. Selon le nombre d'étudiants en cours de conversation, je pouvais avoir de 2 à 5 heures en plus par semaine (plus nous étions nombreux plus nous avions d'heures de classe). Même si c'était plutôt fatigant et avec un sentiment de "trop", ces heures de conversation sont sans doute l'endroit où j'ai le plus parlé japonais (si je fais abstraction de ma famille d'accueil). Si vous avez les moyens de vous les payer, essayez au moins un mois, même en tant que débutant (ce qui est mon cas, j'ai rejoint une classe qui étudiait la Leçon 6 du premier livre), cela ne pourra que vous aider à mieux pratiquer la langue.
Autre petit point un peu déroutant, celui des horaires qui change chaque semaine. Ainsi peut-être mardi aurez-vous cours de 9h30 à 13h10, quand jeudi vous commencerez les cours à 11h25 pour finir à 15h50 et vendredi vous aurez cours de 14h05 à 17h45. Chaque semaine cela change et c'est parfois un petit peu ennuyeux pour organiser vos sorties à l'avance.
Je souhaite remercier ici toutes les enseignantes qui ont pu m'aider à améliorer mon niveau en japonais. Toujours attentives aux étudiants et à leur difficulté, elles étaient même ouvertes à nous aider pour des problèmes de la vie quotidienne (comment réserver un rendez-vous chez le coiffeur, comment planifier un voyage, à quel endroit observer les sakuras... etc).
Cependant, initialement cette tâche est plutôt celle du "staff", situé au deuxième étage du bâtiment. Eux-aussi sont toujours très accueillants et sympathique, à la moindre question il ne faut pas hésiter à leur demander de l'aide. Pour les anglophobes, il y a même un membre du staff qui parle français!
En ce qui concerne la vie en dehors de l'école, cette dernière organise plusieurs événements dans la semaine. Les échanges linguistiques japonais-anglais avec des étudiants japonais (je n'ai néanmoins pas expérimenté cela), les films du jeudi après-midi (si vous n'avez pas cours à ce moment-là vous pourrez voir des films japonais, dramas / animes, en VOST anglais dans l'enceinte de l'école), ainsi que divers événements ponctuels comme le cours sur les contes traditionnels japonais, ou encore les "friday party".
Il n'y a pas à dire, vous ne pourrez pas vous ennuyer à Genki Jacs.
Les rencontres avec les autres étudiants sont juste géniales. En tant que suisse francophone, j'ai rencontré relativement peu d'autres francophones. Beaucoup de suisses allemands, d'américains, mais également des suédois, des allemands, des anglais ou encore des belges, il y avait vraiment une belle diversité de nationalités au sein de l'école.
Point positif: Contrairement à d'autres écoles, les jours de congés sont l'occasion de partir en voyage scolaire. Ainsi j'ai pu visité une fabrique de papier, tester la pêche sur un ponton, me régaler autour d'un barbecue gargantuesque ou encore goûter des plats typiquement japonais dans un restaurant réputé.
Par ailleurs, Fukuoka est une ville plutôt agréable à vivre. Pas trop grande tout est accessible en transports ou à pieds. De Tenjin à Canal City, vous aurez l'occasion de faire du shopping, mais si vous préférez flâner dans le parc de Ohori ou découvrir les temples alentours (Daizaifu et Nanzoin, pour n'en citer que deux), vous ne serez pas déçus!
À 2h de route de Beppu et de Nagasaki, vous aurez également l'occasion de faire de petits voyages pendant vos week-end. En bus cela n'est pas trop cher (~35 chf) et les car japonais sont vraiment confortables!
Bref, si vous hésitez encore pour votre destination, Fukuoka et Genki Jacs devraient vous combler!
posted 6 years ago
Daniel Ramos Brazil
studied General JapaneseVery interesting classes
The classes were very participative, I'd hardly get bored. During classes it didn't seem so, because we were always practicing speaking, but every week we learned a lot of new things and also, the amount of time needed outside classes to follow what was taught wasn't high, meaning you can enjoy a lot of Tokyo during weekdays. Because of the class style, I ended up befriending my classmates and had quite a busy schedule during my time in Tokyo because of this :P
posted 7 years ago
Connie Holt United States
studied Japanese Summer CoursesA Magical Experience
I studied at the Genki JACS school in Fukuoka and it was absolutely wonderful. The school is located a few minutes away from Hakata Station and many malls, so there is quick and easy access to many restaurants, shops, and arcades. The classes were taught purely in Japanese, which I found extremely effective because it forced me to figure things out myself and thus make more mental connections to the new things I learned. Genki JACS also offered many different cultural activities, which were very funny and interesting. There were also many opportunities to meet Japanese people and practice my new skills. In fact, I made several friends while I was there.
posted 7 years ago
Andy Chum Hong Kong
studied Japanese Exam PreparationMy second time to study in Genki
The teachers were helpful that had given me lots of tips to get through the JLPT N3 and N4. The classrooms are clean and quite for self-study, and it is easy to make different kinds of friends in the campus. Moreover, There are different kinds of courses and accommodations offered. This time I stayed in the dorm and I enjoy your stay in there and made lots of good friends. You may consider Genki if you wanna experience the Japanese culture.
posted 8 years ago
Fung Chum Hong Kong
studied General JapaneseA splendid Japanese Learning School
Genki is a school with plenty of international students from different age groups that you can make lots of friends by studying over there. Moreover, the teachers are very helpful, energetic, and professional that you can learn a lot from them in a short period of time.
Fukuoka is a city quite welcoming foreigners, and you can enjoy living there , Next to Fukuoka is South Korea that you just need to take a ship around 3 hours, then you can explore another culture at the weekend after intensive weekdays ' lessons. Anyway, Genki School shall be your best option if you want to study Japanese, and experience Japanese way of life.
posted 9 years ago
Emily Nishiwaki United States
studied General JapaneseAmazing School!
Genki JACS was an amazing experience! I was extraordinarily worried about adjusting and being comfortable in class because of my limited Japanese knowledge, but I had no problems.
I went to the school in Fukuoka, which had a great location - just a 5 minute walk from Hakata Station. Fukuoka itself is an awesome place to be! It's not overwhelming to navigate and there is plenty to do and eat.
Classes were a lot of fun; all the teachers were knowledgeable and organized helpful class exercises that really helped me practice speaking (which is hard to do at home). Teachers were also fun to talk to about other topics; what to do in Fukuoka, what our weekends were like, etc. All the students were very nice and the class camaraderie was great. My class had many teenagers in it that sometimes caused the class to become a little chaotic, but most of the teachers were able to keep it under control. The traditional culture class I took was also really fun and educational.
I would definitely recommend Genki JACS Fukuoka to anyone who is motivated to study Japanese! I had a great experience and wish I could have stayed longer than the three short weeks I was there.
posted 9 years ago
Karolina Leligdon Czech Republic
studied General JapaneseBest experience of language learning
Genki JACS was my best language learning experience so far. I have never studied japanese before so at first I was a bit scared I couldn't really learn the basics properly, but all the teachers were really nice and helped me with everything. They used English only for important grammar explanations which was the best method to learn japanese properly. The staff was always making sure I have all I need. I am also very glad that I chose to stay with a host family because they were very nice and spent their free time with me. Genki JACS also organise lots of trips and culture programme so you can never be bored there. Also it's a great place to meet new friends from all around the world. I highly recommend these courses because I spent the best three weeks in my life in Fukuoka thanks to Genki JACS.
posted 9 years ago
Joshua Bailey Germany
studied General JapaneseAll Around Great Experience
If you want to learn Japanese, Genki JACS is the place to go. The courses are well-structured, and the teachers are top-notch.
The school management is highly professional. Everything from home stays, and dorm accommodation to culture classes, and field trips is reliably organised.
The staff put together a variety of weekly evening social events that allow you to meet and mingle with Japanese people.
All in all, Genki JACS is a great all around experience. -- I'm planning to go back again for another 4 weeks.
posted 11 years ago
Max Rietveld New Caledonia
studied General JapaneseUnique Experience
GenkiJACS was and is a unique experience.
I went here last year and I will never forget it.
The teachers are all really friendly and helpful.
The Location of the school is perfect since it's in the centre of Fukuoka. In only 2 months I learned so much.
Thank you GenkiJACS!
posted 11 years ago