Testimonials
What to Expect Testimonials
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If you are committed to the reasons that brought you to learning Japanese, you can get a great deal out of your time at KCP. Take it a month, a week, a day at a time if you have to. Lean on your support, your fellow students and KCP teachers, and make the most of your free time. This is an incredible opportunity and if your experience is like mine, you can easily go from knowing no Japanese at all, to being near conversational level, in just a few short months. Make the most of it, and always thank your teachers for the gift they’re giving you!
—Garrett
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Make the most of your time here in both studies and cultural experiences. There are lots of opportunities for you here at KCP and in Japan, so be sure to seize them!
—Gabriel
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Be prepared to work hard, but don’t forget to cherish the time you have, memories and friends you make, and take care of your physical and mental health!
—Moriah
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KCP is a great school that has really accelerated my learning of Japanese. The program is tough, but incredibly rewarding. There are regular tests but it has really helped solidify everything I have learned so far. Try your best to polish your Hiragana and Katakana, and if you enter at a level higher than 1, ask your fellow students for tips.
—Matthew DeSousa
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The main piece of advice I would offer to prospective students is that they should only attend KCP if they are serious about studying Japanese. Studying here is not as relaxed as studying at many colleges in the U.S. and will require not only a large amount of your time, but also constant effort. Of course the work is rewarded and this program seems to be one of the best ways to improve your Japanese.
—Chris Bagdon
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KCP is a fantastic — but rigorous — program. Those considering must be prepared to work hard and put in extra hours to succeed, much more so than most any class in the states. However, it certainly doesn’t feel as though any of my work is going to waste — quite the opposite actually. Because I get to use my newly learned skills regularly outside of class, I feel very satisfied after every lesson and come back ready for more. It’s difficult, it’s fast paced, but in the end it pays off extraordinarily well.
—Katie Penvose
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Don’t do KCP if you’re not really enthusiastic about learning Japanese. KCP’s program is rigorous and demanding but if you put for the effort to study and really try to master the material you will be amazed at what you can accomplish here. Coming to KCP was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I did things that I never thought I would do in a language that I had zero knowledge of. Everyone at KCP is willing to help you as long as you are willing to help yourself and put your best foot forward every day. I would recommend KCP to anyone interested in learning Japanese. So sad to leave!
—Andrew Kustodowicz
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Be ready for a challenge. KCP is not for people who are just going to want to have fun and smell the roses; it takes time and commitment to have a good experience at KCP. It is definitely not for people who are lazy or who are not serious about improving their Japanese. On a positive note, it’s EXCELLENT for people who are serious. In my nine months at KCP, I went from being able to say, ‘Hi I’m Colette and my hobby is movies and my favorite color is purple,’ to being able to have conversation with relative ease with native Japanese speakers. I went from being unable to speak Japanese to a native speaker without feeling embarrassed to being able to ask strangers for help, or restaurant workers for their recommendations. It’s a great program for people who want to quickly improve their Japanese.
—Colette Kinder
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I couldn’t be happier with my experience at KCP, as it has helped me to become better in reading, writing, listening, and speaking Japanese. I couldn’t recommend the program more, as the senseis are all extremely helpful and willing to spend extra time speaking one on one with you if you need help or want some extra practice. The classes really challenge you to try your hardest, and if you work hard you will most definitely improve. Learning alongside classmates that were at the same level as me gave me plenty of chances to improve. Everyone is really encouraging and overall I would say if you are considering going to KCP, do it, I couldn’t speak more highly of the program.
—Benjamin De Angelis
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“Your Japanese will improve by leaps and bounds if you study at KCP. Before coming to KCP I studied Japanese for a year at the university level, but even still I felt like I hardly knew anything. While I still have a long way to go, I feel like I learned twice as much material from 3 months at KCP than I did in the entire year that I studied at the university level. The classes are really fast paced and sometimes it gets tough, but if you are really serious about learning Japanese then KCP is the school for you.
—Lauren Finley
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The program is very well organized and worth the investment, especially if you take advantage of every opportunity available (and there are many) to practice and reinforce the concepts taught in class. It’s also a great opportunity for general cultural exchange, as students come from several different countries, different backgrounds, and with different goals. If at all possible, consider staying for more than a single term to really take advantage of the immersive experience.
—Cristina Cano
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The program is a great experience, one that I wouldn’t trade for anything. But it is very hard work. There’s no escaping it, so just be ready for it.
—Sarah Zakrzewski
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I feel like KCP has really helped solidify knowledge that I already had. I’ve not really learned anything new here as such, but I’m definitely in a place where I now have a strong basis to learn a lot more than I could if I hadn’t come. Also I think part of the strong foundation that KCP has given me comes from how finetuned the teachers are. They pick on every slight mistake you make which really helped for me. Because I’m not doing this class for credit I could afford to lose marks and make mistakes, and learned a lot from making slight errors in the exams and tests as I would never get away with being messy. So that really helped to create a strong grammatically correct basis with everything reinforced and such. It also meant that when I got a good mark in a test or got praised by a teacher I really felt like I deserved it which was always a nice feeling.
—Riyoko Shibe
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If you are considering KCP, you have made an excellent choice. A total immersion Japanese course in the great city of Tokyo is a truly unforgettable experience. However, be prepared to work hard and focus on your studies or you will fall behind, fast.
—Alexander Courtney
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“I enrolled in the KCP program because, at my university, I felt that I was not learning enough and I didn’t have enough opportunities to use my language skills outside of class. I felt that by being in Tokyo, I would have to speak Japanese everywhere I went. And even if I made a mistake or didn’t know a specific word, I would have to keep trying. This experience and my time here have given me a new outlook on Japan and its people, and an enthusiasm for learning that I had lost while I was at university.
—Lissette Aldrete
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Be prepared to work hard, and achieve results. You’ll be surprised at how much you improve when you apply yourself. KCP is here to be your partner in education. Have an open mind, heart, and be prepared to put the time in to become fluent.
—Brittany Crouch
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Definitely a good choice for anyone who is serious about learning Japanese thoroughly and at a fast pace. I learned more in three months here than I did in probably the equivalent of two years in the U.S. All the teachers I have had thus far have been great, and the students are all nice and very self-motivated. It is a very good atmosphere.
—Seamus Gildner
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The most interesting and productive aspect was just how intense the program is to others. The high expectations brought on by the teachers really pushes students to put in their best efforts.
—Taylor Marshall
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Be ready to be challenged academically and always be open to try new things! Whether its traveling to unknown area of Tokyo or tasting food you would never imagine eating, give a shot, you’ll never know until you try. And as long as you’re super serious with your language studies, you will definitely exceed and succeed in this program!
—Haley Albin
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I like the fast paced, but in-depth way the teachers went through each of the lessons. I felt like I learned so much in my short two months here; much more than I have learned in two years of Japanese classes at my home university.
—Yalimar Pagan
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“It really is a difficult program and studying hard won’t always get you good grades in return. I’ve found myself struggling with grades even after studying for hours each day, and it can be really discouraging. Always retake tests when given the option. However, if you’re willing to put in the time and learn, KCP will help you improve! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and learn as many things as you can by talking to as many people as possible. Your teachers really do want you to do well.
—Kelly Couto
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It was the longest and most intensive program that I found while searching for study abroad programs. I really wanted to be challenged, and the reviews I read about KCP certainly praised the difficulty level of the classes and the amount of work needed to get a good grade.
—Shannon Welch
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I highly recommend the program for those who are considering it. I definitely suggest brushing up on any previously learned Japanese before the start of the program because there is a placement test at the start. During the course of group sessions, the students should definitely continue studying if they wish to be placed in a higher level. The teachers and other administrators at KCP are amazing and the program is definitely what the student wishes to make of it.
—May Leung
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Be prepared to really work hard. KCP takes a lot of dedication and time. If you’re going for just a good time KCP isn’t for you. KCP will vastly improve your Japanese but it requires a lot of your time, motivation, and dedication. Be prepared.
—Shanti Francoeur
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Hard work will take you far at KCP. Even when you feel like you’re doing terribly, hard work and patience with self is one of the most valuable things you can give to yourself and your Japanese study.
—Ashely Hale
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It is intensive and fast-paced. Just in these three months alone we have covered about the same material covered in nine months of classes back home. At this point I am learning new material that I never got to back home in my classes.
—Brittany Murphy
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KCP really is an intensive program and will teach you so much Japanese in a short time, however it is doable. I highly recommend making sure you stay up on studying because you can get behind very quick. However, the teachers and staff are all really helpful, especially if you show your hard work and interest. Saitou Sensei especially made learning Japanese enjoyable and kept me interested and working hard.
—Marissa Ford
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I picked this program because It is intense and I need to be challenged in order to make progress. Also its one of the few programs that actually give college credit. I truly enjoyed my first semester teachers and overall experience in Japan. I learned so much and improved so much so, I would love to continue with this program.
—Amanda Curry
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KCP provided an experience that I will never forget. Thanks to the intense program, I was able to improve my Japanese more in a short amount of time than I ever have before. The summer long-term program was the perfect length of study to achieve my goals within the limited time I had and it was compatible with my academic schedule. If I could stay for one term longer, I would, because I know that with KCP I would definitely improve even more. The program not only allowed me to greatly improve my Japanese, but to live in and explore Tokyo while meeting new people from all over the world who I can now call friends. KCP is a greatly worthwhile experience in more ways than one.
—Colleen Plunkett