- School Overview
- What does "Genki" mean?
- Extra-curricular activities
- Who are our students?
- Professional organizations
School Overview
Our school is centrally located in Tenjin, the heart of Fukuoka City. We have six classrooms, plus a communal space for students to relax.
Our classrooms are designed to facilitate learning in a relaxed and comfortable environment, and contain state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment including:
- Big-screen video projector
- DVD/video
- Wireless Internet access
- Laptop computers
Tape/CD players and computers are available for independent study and homework assignments, and students are welcome to bring their own laptops for free Internet access. A large library of textbooks, manga, DVDs and CDs can be borrowed for free.
Coffee, tea and snacks are provided free of charge.
Read what our students have to say about GenkiJACS!
Why "Genki" ?
We think the "genki" is a wonderful Japanese word. It means something like "energetic" or "healthy" or "in good form" in English, but there's something to it that just can't be fully translated. It's so indispensable that it soon enters the vocabulary of almost everybody who comes to Japan. and you’ll often hear foreigners asking each other, “Genki today?” For such a simple word, its meaning is surprisingly complex, which to us symbolizes some of the uniqueness of Japan. It’s an attitude as much as a feeling, and at GenkiJACS, we’re proud to strive to be Genki both inside and outside of the classroom.
Activities
Movie Night: One evening a fortnight, we show a Japanese film for discussion.
Outings: On weekends, we run outings to
local festivals, shows, and famous places, depending on the interest of
our students. For example, recently we have visited Mt. Aso (the largest
active volcano in Japan), a pottery workshop for hands-on practice, and
a soba noodle workshop.
Game night: As part of our quest to spread Japanese culture around the world, we teach Japanese games such as hanafuda to our students in the evenings. These events can go on until late at night, as no-one wants to lose the last game!
Dinner: About once a week, we take students to a different local restaurant to experience Japanese cuisine at its finest, whether its eating live fish, a horror/prison-themed restaurant, or a restaurant with a two-storey waterfall inside!
Special classes: Whenever we can, we run special "one-off" additional classes, taught by visiting lecturers on Japanese cultural topics, that any students can attend. Recently, we have offered special classes on Japanese flower arranging, tea ceremony, and calligraphy.
Who are our students?
In 2005, students came to GenkiJACS from the following countries:
Japanese level of students when they started with us:
Age distribution of our students:
60% of our students were male, and 40% female.
The average length of study was 4 weeks.
Professional Organizations
- Institutional member of the Association of Teachers of Japanese.
- Member of Japan-America Society of Fukuoka.
- Registered NPO with both Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City
