JAPANESE LANGUAGE TEACHER TRAINING COURSE

Yes. Anyone can enroll as long as they pass the entrance exam. We have had a wide range of students from various backgrounds such as students, housewives, and former company employees, as well as Japanese and non-Japanese with various nationalities. For example, the following backgrounds are enrolled in our Japanese language teacher training course:
- Graduated or on leave from a university (Major: Japanese language, tourism, economics, physics, etc.)
- Worked in Japan or abroad
- Language teacher (Japanese, English, etc.)
- Came to Japan on a working holiday
- Graduates or prospective graduates of a Japanese language school

The application period for applicants currently without visa to Japan is from October 1 to December 25 (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays). You must pass the admissions screening and submit BIL your application within this period.

If your visa period of stay is longer than the enrollment period at BIL and you are eligible for the admission, you can apply for BIL. Please inquire us about the application materials to be submitted. The regulation is the same for those who has a permanent resident, spouse or child of Japanese national, spouse or child of permanent resident or long-term resident.

In principle, applicant currently without a visa to Japan needs a Japanese guarantor in order to apply for BIL. However, applicants from the countries where our overseas offices are located can use the school guarantee system and then a Japanese guarantor will not be necessary. If you are from a country without an overseas office or if you already have a status of residence in Japan and do not have a Japanese guarantor, please contact us for more details.

Most of the students do not have experience in teaching Japanese language. Only some of the students have the experience and would like to brush up their skills. You will learn and practice everything from the beginning. After a year of study, you will be able to teach Japanese language.

You can learn the basics of Japanese educational grammar, speech, intercultural communication, and more, so it doesn't matter if your major at university was not Japanese language or education related.

The goal of this course is to acquire teaching skills that you can help learners enjoy communicating in Japanese while acquiring the ability to use the language. Through the experience of “teaching using only Japanese,” you can hone the skills in setting up the classroom as a place for real communication in Japanese. It will be helpful even if you teach Japanese language using an intermediary language.

At a graduate school, you have to decide a topic of research by yourself and write a thesis. However, in Japanese Language Teacher Training Course, you will learn things and techniques needed for teaching Japanese language and you will have a chance to practice what you learned. In other words, it is a practical course. After a year of study, you will be able to teach Japanese language. That is what makes this course different from studying at a graduate school.

Our course has students who speak a variety of languages and come from a variety of backgrounds. It allows you to learn through constant cross-cultural communication and comparisons between Japanese and other languages. By doing so, you can acquire teaching techniques and thinking ability that can be put to immediate use in a variety of Japanese language education settings both in Japan and overseas.

This course is a course at vocational school that begins in April and graduates in March, and face-to-face classes are held from morning to 3:00 pm on weekdays. Therefore, it is difficult for those who work full-time on weekdays to take this course. There are people who take this course while working part-time, but this course has many assignments, so if you work too many hours at your part-time job, you will have trouble submitting your assignments in time.

In this course, practical training and Japanese language teacher training program are integrated, and the practical training is conducted based on the content learned in the teacher training program. Therefore, it is not possible to take only the practical training.

To become a “Nationally Registered Japanese Language Teacher”, you must pass the “Japanese Language Teacher Training Examination” (consisting of two parts: “Fundamental competency exam” and “Applied competency exam”) and complete the “Practical Training”. Upon completion of this course, students will be exempted from the “Fundamental competency exam” and "Practical training.” After that, if you pass the “Applied competency exam,” you can become a Nationally Registered Japanese Language Teacher. However, this national certification is required to teach at a “Nationally Accredited Japanese Language Education Institutions” in Japan, and is not required to teach overseas or online.

The standard for passing the entrance exam is B2 or above on the Framework of Reference for Japanese Language Education, or about N2 to N1 on the JLPT. If you have the communication skills to convey your thoughts clearly, you can learn enough even if your Japanese proficiency is in the 2nd half of intermediate level. We also offer Japanese language classes and supplementary classes for non-native speakers of Japanese.

You will be doing teaching practices to our Japanese language course students. Like many other Japanese language schools in Japan, they are wide variety of language speakers. Therefore, the classes are taught using only in Japanese and there is no problem even if you do not speak a foreign language. However, experience in learning a foreign language will help you better understand language education and learner’s psychology.

Since computers are essential for working as a Japanese language teacher, many assignments in this course will be done using a computer or tablet device. Therefore, it is recommended that you practice basic keyboarding (Roman input) before enrollment. In addition, since many assignments involve the creation of teaching materials using document creation software (e.g. Word) and presentation software (e.g. Power Point), we recommend the use of a computer rather than a smartphone or tablet device.

Yes, there are. However, in order to find employment as a Japanese language teacher in Japan, a high level of Japanese language proficiency is required. Some of our graduates did not become Japanese language teachers immediately after graduation, but instead entered university or graduate school before finding employment as Japanese language teachers.

If a student wishes to enter a master's program related to Japanese language education, we provide support for writing a research proposal and preparing for an interview. We do not provide support for students who wish to enter graduate schools or universities for majors other than Japanese language education.

In addition to providing useful information on employment and job opportunities, we also offer support such as personal consultations, resume corrections, and interview practice as needed.

Room assignments are made about a month before the entrance into BIL. Check-in into the student house is from April 1^st.

You can live in the student house only while you are enrolled at BIL. Please understand that student houses only are for the new students who just arrived from abroad.

We don't offer any original scholarships.　However, we can introduce you to the following scholarships, which have requirements such as grades and attendance rates.

◆Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Students by Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO)
BIL will select students with good attendance and academic results from the scholarship applicants and refer them to JASSO. Current students can apply.
Allowance: ￥48, 000 per month
Period Granted: 1 year (From April to March of the following year)
Qualifications: Students with “Student ” status of residence; students with good academic results; students have passed N2 level or above in the Japanese language test such as JLPT;
privately-financed students only, etc.
For details, please refer to JASSO webpage.

Availability of scholarships is made known in April.

If you are currently holding a student visa and wish to do a part-time job, you must apply for a "Permit to Engage in Activity Other than that Permitted by the Status of Residence Previously Granted" at the Immigration Bureau to get a permission to do a part-time job. Also, you must follow the rules given below.

1. The part-time job must not exceed 28 hours a week. (During long-term breaks, within 8 hours/day)
2. Jobs prohibited by BIL are not allowed.
3. During the first 3 months from the day of enrollment, students newly entered to Japan are not allowed to do a part-time job. We would like you to get use to life in Japan first.

The requirements for completion of the “Training Course” and “Practical Training” for Nationally Registered Japanese Language Teacher are as follows:
- ll the required courses must be completed.
- All the required materials and assignments must have been submitted.
- Passing all assignments and examinations.
In addition, graduation from Bunka Institute of Language requires an attendance rate of 90% or higher. This attendance rate includes all courses and school events other than the courses for “Training Course” and “Practical Training” for Nationally Registered Japanese Language Teacher.