Japanese Space Kyoto — Local services in Kyoto

I've been attending classes at Japan Space Kyoto for around four years and can't recommend it more highly! I passed N1 and gained so much more confidence with my Japanese conversation skills thanks to my patient and generous N1 teacher Tsuji-sensei.

You can attend classes in person or via Zoom from anywhere in the world. Classes are super small and friendly, and as other reviewers mentioned, it's really affordable and flexible to study here. There's no contracts, just a voucher system (prepay for 5 vouchers and use them whenever you want.)

JSK is volunteer-run by wonderful teachers who donate their time week after week to help the community. All the class fees go toward keeping the space going. Post-COVID I know they are very much welcoming new students! If you're reading this and want to improve your Japanese, please take advantage of this...

I've been going to Japanese Space Kyoto off and on (depending on my schedule) for about 15 years. During this time I have improved my Japanese a lot and also met loads of interesting people from all over the world. Unlike most language schools, you don't have to sign up for a long course and pay a lot of money up front - you can pay for lessons as you take them, which is much more flexible and convenient, especially for people who are working and may not be able to attend every week. The classroom is a short walk from the subway station, and the atmosphere is always very friendly...

(English below)

我已經在京都日本語空間上了三個月的N2課程了。雖然第一次上課時覺得自己能力完全不及其他同學，差點要放棄，但我現在很慶幸自己有堅持下去。帶N2課程的鳥塚老師是一位很幽默而且想法很開明的老師。她知道怎麼跟外國人溝通，而且完全不需要借助英語。

雖然這是一個JLPT取向的課程，但是我們上課氣氛輕鬆，而且練習口說機會非常多。鳥塚老師不但會讓我們用新學到的文法造句，她還常常跟我們聊日本與海外的時事，再加上小班制的關係，來這裡不但能學文法，口說也會大大進步喔！同學目前大致上五到七人左右，來自世界各地，而且大家都很友善、健談，上課氣氛真的很棒，有時候還會約下課一起去吃飯喝一杯聊聊。

我知道京都有很多語言學校，但是風評參差不齊之外，學費又高得嚇人，效果也坦白說讓人質疑。所以各位何不來京都日本語空間試試看呢？這是一個NGO團體辦的課程，老師們都是志工，所以學費便宜到我們都很怕它會倒閉啊！無論如何，一次也好，請各位務必來嘗試看看吧！真的推到一個不行啊！

OK I have no idea why JSK has such few reviews here cause it's absobloodylutely amazing. Currently I go to the N2 class with the brilliant Torizuka sensei every Thursday evening. Even though it's supposedly a JLPT-oriented class, it's a compact, lively classroom with around 5-7 students from around the world. Not only do we get to learn grammar, we also practice spoken Japanese all the time, because Torizuka sensei encourages everyone to speak by asking us to come up with sample sentences on the fly with the grammar points we learn, or simply have us talk about stuff like news both domestic and international, culture, etc.

In short, awesome vibes, and a wonderful place for people who actually wanna take their Japanese to the next level. On top of all that, it's an NGO program with volunteering teachers, so the fee is so cheap it's practically stealing. Please, please, if you seriously wanna learn proper Japanese, but don't have the time and/or the money for language schools (which are not necessarily better), look no further! This is THE...