hina

If you like Hina Sensei’s podcasts then you will almost certainly like her italki lessons. The approach is similar - very professional and 100% focused on learning. Lesson time is always well utilized and her approach is structured and engaging. She provides direct feedback, which is a very good thing in my opinion as that’s the only way I will know how to improve. For example, today she helped me work through some example sentences I wrote using new grammar I’ve struggled with - there were a lot of things she needed to correct in my writing but her explanations were clear and in the end I understood the grammar point much better.

If you’re a serious student (or just wanting to become more serious 😅) I highly recommend Hina Sensei! I knew I needed to make some changes in order to move from Beginner to Intermediate level, so I recently started taking lessons from Hina Sensei. I’m really impressed with how Hina Sensei approaches the lessons. Rather than just read the textbook, she brings in other material to teach with that makes me think and ultimately understand the new grammar better than I could achieve with self-study. I like that she only uses Japanese during the lessons - it’s tougher for me but I know it’s what I need to be doing. At the same time, she’s very patient with me as I struggle to read kanji that I should know or when I don’t understand something. I’m very happy that I found her on this site!

Today was my last JLPT prep lesson with Hina Sensei and the JLPT is in two days. I’m really glad I was able to work with Hina Sensei and her lessons were great, although I probably should’ve started a lot earlier. Nonetheless, I think she did a fantastic job of getting me up to speed in the limited time we had. My brain is frazzled from too much studying and I couldn’t even answer basic questions today, but she has amazing patience even though I’m sure she thinks I have no chance of passing now 😅. Whether I pass the test or not (I’m just taking it for “fun” after all) I look forward to continuing my studies with Hina Sensei!

For my current level and goals (trying to get to N2), I think Hina Sensei is the perfect teacher for me right now. I feel like I’m being challenged to get better in every lesson and I really appreciate that she gives me honest feedback on how I’m doing and how I can improve. It feels like I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge but fortunately Hina Sensei is patient with me as I (frequently) struggle through these things. Since I started working with Hina Sensei a few months ago I’ve made a ton of progress, and I’m looking forward to how much further I can go!

I’ve been taking Japanese speaking lessons with Hina sensei, and I honestly couldn’t be happier. She is incredibly patient, kind, and always explains things in a way that’s easy to understand. Every lesson feels comfortable and encouraging, which is so important for speaking practice. She adjusts the pace perfectly to my level, corrects my mistakes, and gives me phrases I can really use in daily life. I can feel my confidence growing each week. If you’re looking for a teacher who is supportive and professional, I highly recommend Hina sensei.

I signed up for the JLPT and then quickly realized I was in over my head. I started working with Hina Sensei about a month ago and she's really been helping me get up to speed. Her explanations are always very clear and each lesson is packed with useful information - it's clear that she puts a lot of thought and effort into her lessons. Thanks to Hina Sensei, now I have at least a chance of passing the JLPT if I keep studying hard 😊