JLMI – Casual Japanese Conversation

IMPORTANT

When signing up for our courses, it is required to register for a free account with our online educational platform, JVTA Online. Once registered, you will be able to see all available courses not only at JLMI, but also at our visualmedia translation academy! Thank you for understanding and we hope to see you in class soon!

Course Description

Perfect for beginning Japanese speakers at the JLPT N5-N4 level.

We cover self-introductions, casual conversation and common topics that come up in everyday life.

This course is taught in English with audiovisual content from anime, reality TV, music and movies in Japan.

We focus strongly on verbal communication skills (speaking / listening) and each session culminates in a roleplay practice and presentation with immediate feedback from instructors.

Course Goals

This course will take you through different social situations and show you how to navigate them casually, clearly and hopefully, successfully.

After taking this class, you will be able to do the following:

speak in compound sentences
react appropriately
discuss and gauge your own abilities
ask simple questions to others in a casual way
set up dates and gatherings
make clear volitional statements

Additional Info

All JLMI courses take place 100% online. In order to attend a class, you will need a device with internet connectivity. Smartphones and tablets are perfectly fine, but in order to interact more easily with media content, chat features and digital handouts, we recommend a computer.

JLMI cannot issue any refunds once a course has begun. Please carefully confirm the times and dates for each class before signing up. All times and dates are listed in JST.

For the security and privacy of all persons involved, course recordings will not be available to anyone under any circumstances. We offer real-time interactive lessons, not to be mistaken with on-demand content. Thank you for your understanding.

Course Instructors

Originally from the US, Bill moved to Osaka in 2007 with zero Japanese knowledge whatsoever. Thanks to that experience of studying to survive and practicing with the super slangy dialect of the Kansai region, Bill has a unique grasp of the language that has opened so many different doors for him from voice acting jobs to hosting live events, from performing for Japanese comedy audiences to officiating weddings. He believes that the goal of language learning is not to be fluent and pass for native but to be comfortable enough to share ideas with native speakers and use language as the tool it is to accomplish one’s goals.

Shoko is a JVTA graduate and works in the school department at JVTA helping young translators. Born in Japan and raised in Germany and New Zealand, Shoko grew up with a keen interest in languages. She has worked in E-J, J-E, and German-to-Japanese subtitle translation.