I hope it`s ok to start posting just after registering. I was just curious about other peoples experiences studying their desired language overseas. Also how you kept the studies up after returning to your home country, if you could. I took a year of Japanese at University, but the environment wasn`t good and I ended up putting it aside after a semester. I halfheartedly tried independent study over the next few years but the improvement was next to nothing and just watching Japanese drama and movies and stuff had less of an impact than I thought at the time. Anyway a year ago I decided to bite the bullet and enroll at a Japanese school (<- linked) in Kyoto. Earlier I`d imagined it would be a hard and expensive thing to do, but it turned out the be pretty straight forward and the experience has been amazing (the whole `I`m actually here` thing). In less than year I passed the international Japanese language exam (N3, N2) on consecutive tries and have already enrolled to go for the top level the next chance I have. I just decided to extend my stay for another year, but lately I`ve been thinking about how little progress other methods of study worked before I came to Japan. And the fact that I`ll probably be back home in a years time where I won`t have the great teachers and structured environment etc. So has anyone had that kind of experience in their language or their own study abroad? (And incidentally is anyone else studying Japanese at a dedicated Japanese language school in Japan, or Kansai/Kyoto now??).
