Learning Japanese - what's the best way?

I've got a friend who wants to go travelling and spend a few months in Japan. He's in the UK right now and threatened to come visit me for a bit before he heads out there, figuring Vancouver might be a good place to learn Japanese.

I know there's a language school on Burrard that wants people to teach English to Japanese students and offers Japanese lessons in return but not sure how practical/feasible that is if he's only gonna be here for 4 or 5 weeks. Are there crash courses in Japanese anywhere? Or families he could stay with?

All and any suggestions gratefully received...

Talk Radio: Looking For Relationship Issues To Debate And Give
Feedback On

I'm going to be doing a pilot/proof of concept for a talk radio show. The main topic of conversation will be people and their lives and relationships. Style wise it will be gritty, no nonsense, blunt, and to the point. There may be insightful feedback that's valuable, there may be things you just don't want to hear - the truth hurts sometimes!

I'm from the UK and I won't sugar coat things. If you've ever watched American Idol and been shocked by Simon Cowell's comments, you may not be the person I'm looking for. If you can take the feedback on-board and engage in a debate, rise to the challenge, have a conversation about your situation, you definitely are - I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

I'm considering a couple of options right now:

1. You leave a voicemail (or recording a description of your situation and emailing me the MP3 file). I listen. Maybe we email back and forth for a few points of clarification. I play your clip on the show then give my response.

2. We do it traditional talk-radio style, where you tell your story and I respond in real time. I'll record the phone call and use it in my show, provided you're happy to air the call.

Got a boyfriend that's pissing you off? A girlfriend that isn't giving you what you need? Send me a private message with a summary of your situation, or see my Craigslist posting at http://tinyurl.com/4o6l9k and send me an email!