i dun intend to go for any 1 year intensive course; be it in ikoma or bunka or any other school. dun wanna rush through it just for the sake of taking jlpt. and the regular path for ikoma is 3 years plus the fact that ikoma's fees is one of the highest.
if what u said is true, then i'm really keen in joining bunka as i feel my conversational skill is not there. ikoma is good in the sense that it is all rounded which has helped to build up my foundation. so jlpt2 in bunka has PA1 and PA2? and 3 levels for each PA1 and PA2?
ahh, so the reason is the fees =) ok ill explain to u in detail the system to my best understanding. After jlpt 3, you can take Pre Advanced class. There are a total of 3 Pre Advanced class, 1, 2, 3. which means u finish PA 1, u will be promoted to Pa2. there is one one lvl for each PA. BUT!! ur lvl will be determined by the sensei through conversation. different people have different lunguistic lvl n thus promote at different speeds. IF u are taking, i strongly advise u to speak up in he class, grab every opporunity to talk and interact with the teacher. PA 2 and onwards is taught by 1 sensei. so the waiting list for the next lvl will be long, due to people stuck in the level that u going to. i've waited since nov after they promote me to PA2, and i'm still in the waiting list for late jan class, so in the end the decision is still up to you.
If i were u, i will consider ikoma pre advanced class. i know the fees are high. if i had the time, i would enroll in pre advcanced class instead of the jlpt prep class i enrolled. next year going university le, dunno can cope and it's the last year that i can try the jlpt2 before they change the format (if they change) in 2010. i also like to take it easy n slow, and slowly have fun in learning jap, but sometimes suitation like time and money does'nt allow me to do so. i would take ikoma's further advanced class after my jlpt 2, it will be the time when i start to slowly enjoy learning jap =) hope that helps and thanks for reading my ranting =P