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Survival Travel Language Courses

Course Introduction

The Survival Travel Language Courses are suitable for those who plan to travel abroad and wish to improve their communicative language skills in a short time. The focus will be on improving your ability to communicate effectively in all kinds of situations in the target language. The courses are also designed to give you the necessary tools to address the specific cultural issues arising from being in a different country. When planning the course curriculum, your schedule, level, expectations, learning style and budget will all be taken into account.

Our one-to-one lesson system offers you total flexibility and guarantees you make maximum progress in the time you have. Semi-Private lessons and Group lessons are also available for students who wish to study with family members, work colleagues or friends. You can start a course at any time, and schedule your lessons how and when you like. Lessons can be held anytime, from 8:00am to 11:00pm, 7 days a week, all year long. Instruction can take place at our schools, at your home or on your organization’s premises.

Since its inception in 1986, ICC has also been offering excellent language programs and services to Japanese and foreign corporations, governmental institutions as well as various other organizations. Our impressive client list includes the Japanese Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, the Japanese Ministry Of Defense, the Japanese National Police Agency, the Pentagon, the U.S. Armed Forces in Japan, the U.S. Embassy, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Sony, Panasonic, Shiseido, Shell, Siemens and Chanel, to name just a few. Upon request, a trial lesson can be arranged at your convenience.

⇒Corporate Programs

Languages Taught at ICC

In addition to English, Japanese, and the other most popular languages studied in Japan, such as French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Korean, more than 50 other languages and dialects are taught at ICC: If the desired language is not included in the above list, please let us know. We are confident we can help.

Learning Objectives for Basic to Intermediate Level Courses

Higher level courses will be adapted to the exact level and specific needs of every student.
The main goal of our Survival Travel Language Courses is to help you use, improve and expand your conversational skills.

These courses will help you develop the necessary language skills to:
• Communicate effectively and confidently in the target language.
• Reserve a room in a hotel or a table in a restaurant.
• Ask for directions, and use public transportation.
• Ask for help in emergencies, and report trouble to the police.
•  Understand and use a wide range of language structures and functions.
•  Express opinions and communicate hopes and desires properly.
•  Produce correct sentences to describe your family, work, school, and living conditions.
•  Deal with all kinds of situations and troubles that might arise while travelling abroad.
•  Write simple notes and messages related to matters of immediate need.
•  Understand the political system, foreign policies and economic structure of your host country.
•  Develop cultural awareness, and deal with culture shock.
•  Understand how your country is portrayed by foreign media, and how it is perceived by other people.


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Sample Course Outline and Content

The course outline and content below are designed to provide you with a general idea of what you might cover in a typical basic to intermediate level course. Upon enrollment, the course curriculum will be adapted to your exact level, specific needs and interests.

Course Outline
Speaking, listening and reading will be emphasized. Improving proficiency in speaking and reading
will also re-enforce listening skills. Knowledge of vocabulary will be gradually increased. Structured
activities will be utilized to integrate speaking, listening, reading, and any new vocabulary. Writing will

also be taught but with less weight than the other skills.

Speaking
Listening to a wide variety of materials in Japanese and discussing the content and context to check for meaning. Through presentations on current news as well as active discussions, you will develop both formal and informal oral communication skills.

Listening
You will listen to dialogues, speeches, and news clips, selected for use of vocabulary, idioms, accents and representation of Japanese life and culture, and will engage in discussions relating to both content and context. This will also improve your understanding of different voices and accents.

Reading
The textbooks and other reading materials will be used primarily to demonstrate grammar points and show how they reflect meaning. Our instructors will lead focused reviews of vocabulary, grammatical structures and discourse features.

Writing
Writing exercises will be mainly a part of homework assignments. You will compose sentences or short essays using new vocabulary and grammatical structures introduced during the lessons.

Assignments
Depending on your home study time, you will be assigned about one hour of homework after every class to review the previous lessons and preview material that will be covered in the next class.

Assessment
In addition to regular short tests, the instructors will give you a final test at the end of the course, assess your progress, and make recommendations for continued study.

Books and Materials
In addition to the main textbooks, other authentic materials will be used for reading and listening practice. For example, you will read and listen to news and discuss its content and context. Most news materials will be current and come from online news reports, commentaries and interviews. All classrooms are equipped with computers which allow both instructor and student to access authentic materials via the Internet.

Course Content
Depending on your exact proficiency level and specific needs, the course content might include the following:

1.Communicative content may include:
• Introducing yourself properly
• Travel related phrases and vocabulary
• Talking about yourself and your family
• Talking about common activities and work
• Talking about health and emergencies
• Talking about leisure time and social activities
• Talking about people and relationships
• Talking about time, dates and timetables
• Talking about the weather
• Expressing feelings, emotions and hopes
• Expressing opinions
• Asking and giving directions
• Common phrases and vocabulary related to eating and drinking
• Booking a room in a hotel or a table in a restaurant
• Other subjects related to your specific needs

2. Pronunciation and intonation
• Key sounds and phonemes
• Word and sentence stress
• Intonation
• Linked sounds
• Dealing with other common pronunciation and intonation problems

3. Grammar content
• Present, past, future and other tenses
• Modal verb structures
• Imperatives
• The affirmative, negative and interrogative forms
• Word order and word classes
• Adjectives, adverbs and prepositions
• Linking words
• Word families
• Common idioms and common collocations
• Compounds and narratives
• Other important grammar points

4. Cultural content
• Greetings and introductions
• Traditions and customs
• Business culture
• Social and family life
• Common directional signs
• Multiculturalism and intercultural communication
• Religion and beliefs
• Education
• Regional differences
• Gestures

• Other important cultural subjects

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Types of Lessons

One-to-one Lessons
Our One-to-one Lesson system, designed to fit your level, schedule and needs, offers total flexibility and guarantees that you make maximum progress in the time you have. Following a thorough needs analysis and level testing, instruction plans and teaching materials are tailor-made to suit your needs.

Semi-Private Lessons　（Small classes of  two  to five students）
Semi-Private Lessons are available for corporate clients and for students who wish to study with family members, work colleagues or friends. Each student undergoes a rigorous needs analysis and a level testing process to ensure the language instruction plan will be effective. The emphasis will usually be on developing communicative skills. However, the course curriculum can be adapted to different professional or private needs.

Group Lessons (Classes of more than five students)
As with Semi-Private Lessons, Group Lessons are available for corporate clients and for students who wish to study with family members, work colleagues or friends. Each student undergoes a rigorous needs analysis and a level testing process to ensure the language instruction plan will be effective. The emphasis will usually be on developing communicative skills. However, the course curriculum can be adapted to different professional or private needs.

On-site Lessons
Upon request, ICC can dispatch excellent instructors to your organization’s premises or home. Our tailor-made language programs are flexible and adjustable. We will listen to and analyse your needs, create a suitable program, and modify it where and when necessary. When preparing the course curriculum, your schedule, level, specific needs and budget will all be taken into account.

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Instructors

Our courses are conducted by professional Japanese instructors. As we are convinced that the success of our schools ultimately depends on the quality and efforts of our personnel, we hire only instructors that are well-experienced, friendly and dedicated to their work. Depending on your objectives, typical classroom activities might include role-plays, discussions, and other enjoyable language practice.

Our instructors are trained and instructed to:

  • • Use Japanese whenever possible when teaching.
  • • Ask their students to create realistic and meaningful language.
  • • Put new language and ideas into practice as soon as possible.
  • • Use techniques to motivate their students into using Japanese as much as possible.
  • • Incorporate lots of listening practice.
  • • Systematically teach the grammatical structures, vocabulary, and functional language, necessary to achieve the students’ learning aims.
  • • Work on pronunciation techniques, intonation, and stress patterns to ensure their students can be understood by others.
  • • Make sure that all learning is relevant to the stated objectives.
  • • Keep motivation, challenge and interest levels high at all times.
  • • Systematically review and repeat new language to make sure it remains active.

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Approach and Methodology

Our lessons will generally follow an integrated skills approach. Classes will focus on functional and notional areas, and then work on the language skills required to achieve competence in those areas. These will consist of a mix of structural, lexical and cultural items, including work on question forms, polite phrases, and appropriate intonation. The instructors will always follow an active learning approach, engaging their students in Japanese.

Testimonials

Many of our students have decided to study at ICC by being introduced to us by one of their friends, colleagues or family members. Many of them continue to study at our schools for years or come back to learn a different language.

Please listen to the voices of some of our current students and graduates:

“The teachers adapt the lessons to my specific level and needs"
I was interested in Russian from my childhood on. I tried learning it by myself in various ways such as using textbooks, watching Russian language courses on TV or listening to Russian courses on the radio, but because of the complicated grammar and the slow progress of the courses, I often felt frustrated, so I decided to join ICC. Since my first lesson, I have never felt frustrated anymore, and I have been enjoying my lessons very much since. I can ask questions about anything that I do not understand, and the friendly instructors will always explain to me until I understand. Since I joined ICC, I no longer get discouraged by complicated grammar or the slight difference in meaning of words. In addition to the textbooks we have been using, we also watch DVDs, listen to CDs, and before going to Russia on a trip, the instructors teach me a lot of useful expressions that I might need to use on my trip. All the lessons are really fun because they are tailored to fit my level and interest. Hearing stories about Russian culture, history and everyday life in Russia in class is also a valuable experience. In my last trip to Russia this year, I was able to communicate in Russian, which made me very happy for feeling that I’m really mastering the language little by little. My dream is to be able to communicate with Russian people freely in Russian someday, but to realize this dream, I need to make more efforts and keep studying, so I would like to continue to study at ICC as long as I can.
Yukiko Ishikawa, company employee


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Course Enrollment Procedure

1.The Initial Conversation

In the first conversation, you will be asked about your aims in order to find out as much as possible about key issues, such as why you want learn, how you want to learn, what you wish to achieve, how much language you already have, how much time you would like to commit, and other important issues.

2. The Proposal

After discussing the details, we will create a proposal which will reflect our understanding of your needs. It will include instruction format, course content, course duration and price. The proposal is a framework which you are able to refine to meet your schedule and specific learning circumstances.

3.The Trial Lesson and Level Test

Once the proposal is agreed upon, you will be contacted to discuss the course location, time, duration and other important details. Suitable instructors will then be selected and fully briefed prior to your first lesson. Upon request, a trial lesson and a level test can be arranged before the start of the course, at your convenience.

4. At the Beginning of the Course

In the trial lesson or in the first lesson, the instructors will get a clearer idea of your linguistic strengths and weaknesses, learning style, and what your priorities are. Together with the instructors, you will draw up a course plan which will focus on what you want to be able to do with the language and what you will need to cover during the course in order to achieve your goal.

5. During the Course

During the course, the instructors will keep assessing your strengths, weaknesses and learning style on a regular basis, and adapt the teaching method and materials accordingly. You will also have the full support of our dedicated staff throughout your course. We will also collect feedback from you regularly, responding where necessary.

6.At the End of the Course

The end of the course will include a full review of what you have learnt, a final assessment test to find out how far you have progressed, and some suggestions on what you can do to maintain and improve all the acquired Japanese language skills.