Intensive, high quality teaching, well-coordinated. (summer, 2007)
My conversations with host family on a variety of subjects truly helped me improve my speaking skills. The instructors were incredibly enthusiastic; and I am grateful to them for making an intensive program so enjoyable. The course material was interesting, especially Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. Our visits to local schools (elementary school, high school and Kanazawa University) were also meaningful. (summer, 2007)
Homestay provided a great opportunity to learn Japanese life-style. (summer, 2006)
Excellent language program, lots of fun and amazing for improving language skills rapidly. Great instruction and host family experience was a pleasure. (summer, 2004)
Homestay and very competitive students. (summer, 2004)
The rigor of the program is strong, because the students are all very good students (coming from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, etc.); the professors are also very good. Kanazawa offers a smaller town feel, which helps to learn the traditional Japanese culture more easily. (summer, 2003)
Homestay really helps hone your speaking and listening skills. Also, it's really strict, which forces you to study and get better. (summer, 2003)
Weak Points:
Some students did comment that their host family members were often too busy for conversations. Thus, a language partner program might have been helpful. (summer, 2007)
There are too few opportunities to meet Japanese people our age. (summer, 2006)
It is certainly strenuous at times. (summer, 2004)
Sometimes it's too much work, so that we didn't have enough time to experience Japanese culture and interact with homestay family. (summer, 2004)
While being in a smaller city may be helpful in learning the language and culture of Japan, it is much less convenient in terms of going out and experiencing Japanese city life. Since we were doing homestays, and our host parents mostly lived outside of the city, there was limited transportation available to and from the city. (summer, 2003)
It can be a little boring because Kanazawa is a relatively small town, unlike Tokyo. (summer, 2003)
