While students enrolled in SILAC do not study for a full year, the pace of learning is such that the SILAC is one of the most intensive programs in the country, and yet retains the low at-cost tuition rates only possible through a non-profit institute. The intensity of the program is a key reason as to why Yamasa's SILAC is good value. Not only will your budget for public transport, cost of living, accommodation, internet access etc be much lower than for alternative education providers, but you will receive far more actual instruction in Japanese than elsewhere.

"SILAC Plus"

Customized Option A:

SILAC students can choose to do up to 5 extra classes in addition to the group classes. These are either CALL seminars or Private lessons, or a combination thereof, and are usually scheduled from 2:40pm or 3:40pm if preferred. These lessons require payment of a small extra fee.

Customized Option B:

This option does not impact on your study schedule, as the field trips (3 days or 5 days) take place at the end of your period of study, commencing on the Friday morning after you complete your studies. For more information about the schedule please contact the Coordinator of the field trip program, ground floor office, Aoi Hall. These field trips require payment of a small extra fee. Numbers are limited so early application is advised.

Customized Option C:

This option includes "hands on" Culture seminars such as music (learning to play shamisen & koto), traditional cooking techniques, dance, ceramics and other courses. Each course is held twice a week from 3:40pm for 2 hours each time. The courses run for 6 weeks, and are held 4 times per year. Enrollment in Option C is limited to those able to complete the 6 week module in its entirety (ie it isn't possible to enter this option after the start date).

During the April 2010 - March 2011 academic year, Option C modules will be held during the following periods: May 17th to June 24th, July 12th to August 19th, October 18th to November 25th, January 17th to February 24th.

Class Hours:

Mondays to Thursdays:
Beginner: Start at 9.00am and finish at 2.30pm. Intermediate: Start at 9.00am and finish at 1.40pm.

Fridays:
Start at 9.00am and finish at 11.50am.

Notes:
1. Each class period is of 50 minutes duration, 5 minutes longer than APJLE regulations.
2. Program hours does not include time spent in essential tasks such as placement testing. Yamasa is virtually the only education provider that only calculates the actual teaching time as program time. According to the APJLE regulations, activities such as Welcoming Ceremonies, parties or field trips can be counted as classes. However Yamasa does not consider these activities to be actual classes, even though activities such as testing are of course integral to the program. This means that the gap between the actual teaching hours of Yamasa and that of other program providers is also considerably understated.

Also please note that Yamasa's teaching teams use an interactive style - rote learning has no place in the curriculum. You will be required to speak Japanese and participate in class discussions and graded accordingly. In addition to the formal classes, you need to factor in a minimum of 2-3 hours per day of homework, preparation and review. You will need to prepare for classes and submit all homework tasks and assignments.

In addition, all students enrolling in SILAC program should be able to learn to use Japanese language software and send/receive simple emails in Japanese. As mentioned earlier, all students will also have access to the interactive learning resources produced for Yamasa's OCJS as each resource becomes available.