PLANS & PRICING

That’s right! You’ve heard correctly.

As we prepare to exit our nearly year-long beta program, we’re re-examining our pricing structure as well as student enrollment caps.

At this point (October 1, 2022) tuition will increase to $1200 USD per new student beginning January 1, 2023, and we will reduce student enrollment numbers to only ten students per eight-week enrollment period. All payment plans will also cease to be on offer after January 1, 2023.

This price increase is also a preliminary number, we expect the number to increase between 2023 and 2025 as we settle into a pricing structure more in line with a two semester college course of this caliber.

Why now?

We’ve always thought about pricing, actually, and adjusted the numbers since the course began in the early part of 2022. We’ve also kept our audience abreast of the fact that changes to pricing would continue to evolve as we matured as a firm.

Additionally, in continuing conversations with Japanese language educators, institutional leaders, and university language department chairs, we’ve been reassured of our unique place in the Japanese literature and language space, and over the next few years, we look forward to continuing our work with professionals in these sectors to bring Maplopo Schoolhouse to a wider audience through these educational and business channels.

This pricing and enrollment shift is in recognition of this reality, and will help us deliver on our promise to enhance Japanese language education throughout the world, and likewise support our mission to increasing the spread of Japanese literature throughout the world.

To date, Maplopo Schoolhouse has functioned like an online school, open to everyone. Moving forward, however, as we shift our focus to larger channel partners who can help us bring Maplopo Schoolhouse to more people, our personal involvement with students will lesson as we teach other providers how to deliver on our curriculum. So, this online version you can purchase here, will, in essence become the “private” version of the course. Reasonably, open to only a few dozen people a year.

If you wish to join us before these changes occur, you’ll want to do so before January 1, 2023. After that enrollment caps will be instituted so we can deliver as much attention to students as possible, and pricing will increase to $1,200 USD as stated above.

Additionally, our 30-day trial will cease to be on offer as of September 30, 2020. (The trial offer has now concluded) Why? Because at this point in our journey, we realized there is such a wealth of complimentary Maplopo Schoolhouse material already in existence here on the website, as well as on YouTube, SlideShare, podcast platforms, LinkedIn and Twitter as to make enrolling in Maplopo Schoolhouse an entirely risk-free adventure.

So, again, if you’d like to kick the tires, get in there now, as access (and the bonuses you receive) will only be available through September 30, 2022.

If you’re currently enrolled in Japanese language classes (or completed language studies within one semester), you may be eligible for complimentary access to Maplopo Schoolhouse if you attend an accredited college or university anywhere in the world. Visit the Maplopo Schoolhouse for Students page for more information.

Because we offer extensive opportunities to test out the course (videos from the entire first section on YouTube, numerous worksheets on the site as well as on LinkedIn, and the Maplopo Schoolhouse podcast) there are no refunds offered once you enroll in any given Maplopo Schoolhouse season. If you’re not yet sure of whether or not Maplopo Schoolhouse is right for you, please check out these materials first.

If you are on an installment plan and can no longer make payments, we will pause your account so you can pick up where you left off when you can once again make regular payments.

All prices are listed in U.S. dollars. The conversion to your currency happens as a natural part of the transaction once you enroll. We recognize the yen isn’t performing well these days… we’re all in the same boat, unfortunately.

Students who complete a Season are provided a discount on additional seasons, however, outside these offerings there are no additional discounts or trials.

If you are a college or university student currently enrolled in Japanese classes (or have taken classes as recently as a semester prior to now), please visit our Maplopo Schoolhouse for Students page to see if you may be eligible for complimentary access to the course.

We accept: American Express, China UnionPay (CUP), Discover & Diners, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB), Mastercard and Visa.

Yes.

1. If you sign up for the one time payment plan, you will be automatically charged $350 on the 1st day of your enrollment.

2. If you sign up for our three-part installment plan, you’ll be be automatically charged $128 for three consecutive months beginning on the 1st day of your enrollment.

3. If you sign up for our 12-month installment plan, you’ll be be automatically charged $35 for 12 consecutive months beginning on the 1st day of your enrollment.

VERY IMPORTANT! As is the case with any learning institution worth its salt, once you have enrolled and made your first payment on any of the payment plans, you are unable to cancel. If you are on our three or twelve month payment plan, you may pause your course, however, if you run into financial difficulties. You will lose access to the course, but you will not incur any further payment.

That said, there is no “drop” period, as we have extensive materials available online that allow you to test drive the course. It is in your best interest to use these materials to gauge your interest.

And, unlike regular college courses there is no time limit to your learning. You have forever access to Maplopo Schoolhouse. Please keep this very important clause in mind before you considering enrolling.

First, Maplopo Schoolhouse is for readers. We attract students who love to read all sorts of material, from manga and magazines, to poetry, literature, and contemporary fiction, and non-fiction. At the core of what we do is help students learn the language through story. So… story lovers is our biggest audience.

When it comes to the specifics of language, we find Maplopo Schoolhouse works best for intermediate and advanced learners of Japanese. Those students of the language who have a basic grasp of grammar, but need and want more—and in that same set of students—those who recognize they want structure that helps them understand the language in a fashion they cannot find in a classroom.

Some of our students enjoy taking the JLPT and have already passed the N3 or N2, but many more students have never taken the exam and are studying Japanese with different personal and professional goals in mind.

A good number of our students are translators (or aspiring translators) of Japanese, and enroll largely because they want to learn more about the art and craft of translating. Those students want to tap into one of the most unique parts of Maplopo Schoolhouse… us as translators.

Many more enroll in Maplopo Schoolhouse to refresh or build upon a near fluency they feel could use improvement. Such students often live and work in Japan, and have been here for many years. Or, they lived in Japan at one time, but now live elsewhere and don’t want to lose what they worked so hard to acquire. They find communicating at work and around town fairly routine, but often just that. These students come to us to learn more deeply what the language is about… the nuance of grammar expressions they may only know on the surface, and to add depth and breadth to their vocabulary.

Maplopo Schoolhouse students also come to us from around the world, in all age groups and with many different personal interests and drivers. We’ve welcomed students from America, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, Russia… from where do you hail?!

No. Each Season of Maplopo Schoolhouse runs just as if you were in an in-person classroom. We designed the course this way to keep students progressing at natural intervals, and so the material you learn is absorbed as richly as possible. Learning modules are dripped out every two to three days until the season is complete.

If you can read in English, and understand spoken American English, you should be in good shape. Our videos and worksheet materials do have spoken and written Japanese, but the entire course is taught in English. Each of our videos is also manually subtitled in English.

We have non-native English speakers from India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and Singapore in Maplopo Schoolhouse who are performing just as well as any other student in the program. The trick is having a good grasp of English.

There are no deadlines whatsoever within the course. You have “forever-access” to it, and all the time in the world to complete it. Once you enroll, the course is dripped out to you steadily every two or three days. We’ve designed the course with a host of pedagogical practices in mind, and we move you forward in a way that helps you feel excited about your progress so you complete the course in a reasonable amount of time, and so your learning sticks. But, life does get in the way of progress sometimes, and because of that, your access to the course is yours. Hang with us and the Japanese language as you see fit!

If questions pop up, we are in the private Discord server to help you, and other students are there as well with any questions you may have. We also do regular “office hours” sessions throughout the course where you can lob at us any sort of questions you might have. Of course, we’re always reachable via email as well. Nowhere else will you find this sort of opportunity to engage with Japanese literature translators and language teachers at this sort of price point. Nowhere. 

Life happens. We get it. If you have made your first or second payment, but need to pause your account so you’re not billed beyond that point, just reach to us via email at: maplopo@maplopo.com and we will pause your account for you.

And while you’ll, understandably, lose access to Maplopo Schoolhouse at that time, we will restore your access immediately upon moving forward with your next (or final) installment payment.