Known for kindness, quirkiness and mouth-watering cuisine, it’s easy to see why so many of us have a deep fascination with the Japanese way of life.
Study Japanese at City and you will join our warm and welcoming language learning community, with interactive and dynamic online or face-to-face courses, taught by a qualified native tutor.
With part-time classes in the evenings, you’ll be able to fit learning Japanese easily around your busy schedule. It’ll benefit your career too – your official City certificate will show you’ve studied with a central London university.
Pick from start dates throughout the year and learn Japanese at a basic or advanced level that suits you. City’s Short Course lessons are quite unique in regularly running all levels from beginners to advanced. Each level is made up of three parts – take a part on its own or enrol on the full year for the best value.
What level is right for you?
Use our level charts to find the right course of Japanese classes for you
Use our level chart to find a Japanese short course that matches your goals and abilities.
Beginners - year 1
Develop a solid grasp of basic Japanese. You’ll explore everyday vocabulary and simple grammatical structures.
Join us here if you have little or no experience of learning Japanese.
You can study the syllabus in three parts:
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Japanese Beginners (part 1)
- Suitable for total beginners
- Start in October or January
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Beginners (part 2)
- Suitable for near beginners (you’ve studied Japanese formally for 20+ hours)
- Start in January or Apr/May 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Beginners (part 3)
- Suitable for experienced beginners (you’ve studied Japanese formally for 40+ hours)
- Start in April/May or July
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
Our full syllabus runs in October
Beyond Beginners - year 2
Perfect and improve your Japanese beginners skills and communicate with greater fluency.
Working Japanese Language Proficiency Level Test (JPLT) N5 level or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) A1.
Join us here if you have:
- completed our Japanese Beginners syllabus or a similar course
- studied Japanese formally 60-100 hours.
You can study the syllabus in three parts:
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Japanese Beyond Beginners (part 1)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 60+ hours
- Start in October
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Beyond Beginners (part 2)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 80+ hours
- Start in January
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Beyond Beginners (part 3)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 100+ hours
- Start in April/May
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
Lower Intermediate - year 3
Explore more advanced topics and sophisticated grammatical structures.
Working towards JPLT N4 level or CEFR A2.
Join us here if you have:
- completed our Beyond Beginners syllabus or a similar course
- reached JPLT N5 level
- studied Japanese formally for 120-160 hours.
You can study the syllabus in three parts:
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Japanese Lower Intermediate (part 1)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 120+ hours
- Start in October
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Lower Intermediate (part 2)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 140+ hours
- Start in January
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Lower Intermediate (part 3)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 160+ hours
- Start in April/May
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
Intermediate - year 4
Debate complex topics, improve your fluency. We’ll help you communicate with native speakers with ease and boost your accuracy when writing.
Working towards JPLT N3 level or CEFR B1
Join us here if you have:
- completed our Lower Intermediate syllabus or a similar course
- reached JPLT N4 level Japanese
- studied Japanese formally for 180- 220 hours.
You can study the syllabus in three parts:
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Japanese Intermediate (part 1)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 180+ hours
- Start in October
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Intermediate (part 2)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 200+ hours
- Start in January
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Intermediate (part 3)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 220+ hours
- Start in April/May
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
Upper Intermediate - year 5
Debate complex topics, improve your fluency. We’ll help you communicate with native speakers with ease and boost your accuracy when writing.
Working towards JPLT N2 level.
Join us here if you have:
- completed our Intermediate syllabus or a similar course
- reached JPLT N3 level Japanese
- studied Japanese formally for around 240 hours.
You can study the syllabus in three parts:
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Japanese Upper Intermediate (part 1)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 240+ hours
- Start in October
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Upper Intermediate (part 2)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 260+ hours
- Start in January
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Upper Intermediate (part 3)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 280+ hours
- Start in April/May
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
Advanced - year 6
Complete your journey towards JPLT N1, the highest level of Japanese language. Our native speakers will support you as you master your understanding of Japanese.
Join us here if you have:
- completed our upper intermediate syllabus or equivalent
- good JLPT N2 level
- studied formally for 300 hours or more.
You can study the syllabus in three parts:
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Japanese Advanced (part 1)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 300+ hours
- Start in October
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Advanced (part 2)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 320+ hours
- Start in January
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
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Japanese Advanced (part 3)
- Suitable for if you have studied Japanese for 340+ hours
- Start in April/May
- 10 evening classes over 10 weeks.
Why study Japanese at City?
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JLPT (N5 to N1)
Follow a syllabus designed to help you with the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (N5 to N1)
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15
Join a small group of no more than 15 other students – we stick to under 10 when we can
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Learn from our qualified Japanese tutor in interactive sessions
Related courses
- Japanese Advanced Part 3 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beginners Part 3 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Advanced (Full syllabus) Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beginners (Full Syllabus) Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Intermediate Part 3 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Advanced Part 1 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Advanced Part 2 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beginners Part 2 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beginners Part 1 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beyond Beginners (Full Syllabus) Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Upper Intermediate Part 3 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Upper Intermediate Part 2 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Intermediate (Full Syllabus) Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Intermediate Part 2 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Upper Intermediate (Full Syllabus) Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Intermediate Part 1 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Upper Intermediate Part 1 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Lower Intermediate Part 3 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beyond Beginners Part 3 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Lower Intermediate (Full Syllabus) Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Lower Intermediate Part 1 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beyond Beginners Part 1 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Beyond Beginners Part 2 Short courses and professional development
- Japanese Lower Intermediate Part 2 Short courses and professional development