Is two quarters of college Japanese enough to get around in Japan? -

So, I m going to study abroad in Japan to learn Japanese and also learn the culture. I figured that I should take some Japanese classes before I go, since I have not taken Japanese before (I took Spanish in high school). However, since I m applying to study abroad in the spring, I can only take 2 quarters of Japanese (fall and winter quarter) before I leave to Japan. Do you think it s enough to get by in Japan? How tough is college Japanese compared to High School Japanese?

I have had a similar experience. I took 2 semesters of Japanese at the University level and then went to Japan for a study abroad program. Assuming you put in the effort and study well you should be fine in getting around. On the other hand this is definately NOT enough to be able to have a conversation in Japanese. If you want to be able to hold a conversation with others then I am sorry but you will need to take more Japanese classes. I would recommend taking 2 years before going. I myself regretted going os early because it was too difficult to communicate. On one hand I could somewhat get across what I wanted to say about half the time but for the most part oculd not understand what people were saying to me. So, unless you spend a lot of your free time doing additional studying I would say this will not be enough. Also the person above suggests that the classes will be in english, this is not true. If you are doing exchange with a university then expect your classes to be in Japanese. However my classes and those of people form other universities in Japan that I talked to all have classes conducted fully in Japanese.

My understanding is that 1 quarter of college work is equivalent to 1 year s work in high school. The pace is much faster in college so you might be alright with 2 quarters if you don t fall behind. That said, there s nothing like immersion. 1-2 quarters will give you the basics you need to be familiar with some handy words/phrases and you should be able to read the important signs around the city everyday in Japan. It should give you enough confidence to walk around and interact with people. Plus, it is likely that your study abroad classes will be in English so you d only have to know and practice Japanese outside of class so you want to learn as much daily conversation/essentials as possible before going. Once there, at first it will be tough but you d be surprised at how quickly immersion works. That s how I learned Japanese.