Kanako

My second review for Kanako sensei. As in my first review, I'd stress that Kanako is a really good conversationalist in Japanese, speaking very clearly and waiting very patiently for my answers. I'd also now add that Kanako is being too modest when she says in her profile that she might not be the best person to answer grammatical questions; I've actually learned a lot about nuance of language and grammar from Kanako. I hate learning grammar by rote, and can only seem to commit it to memory when a specific structure comes up in conversation. When this happens in our conversations (often because I've got it wrong....), Kanako is really good at explaining the particularly grammatical point in a way that an intermediate learner can understand.

I've done weekly lessons with Kanako-sensei for about 4 months now, so I thought I'd write an English review with my thoughts for anyone interested. Lessons with Kanako-sensei are always fun, comfortable, and helpful. Her informal teaching style is great for conversation practice - I was so nervous the first time, but now I'm finding that I can build sentences and clauses more quickly in natural conversation, thanks to speaking practice with her. She uses Skype chat to make notes on new vocabulary, sentences I made mistakes on, or more complex sentences we make together, so I can look at them more later. She always has something interesting to talk about or a good question to ask, even when I haven't thought of much to talk about that day. And finally, she is kind and patient when correcting - even if I say something silly like "そうと思う” instead of ”そう思う" 5 times in the same lesson, she'll always gently correct, which I am very grateful for. Thanks for everything so far :)

今年本当にありがとうございました。かなこのおかげで、私の日本語が上達したと思う。今日も楽しかった。「にて」と「ばちぼこ」を説明してくれてありがとうございます。来年を楽しみにしている。また、今年本当にありがとうございました。よいお年をお迎えください。またね！

I’ve taken many lessons with Kanako-sensei. She is an excellent teacher who creates a very comfortable and supportive environment in which to improve your Japanese through fun and interesting conversations. Kanako-sensei has helped me learn new vocabulary and expressions, identify and fix bad habits and improve my overall Japanese conversation skills. If you’re interested in improving your Japanese conversation skills and having fun while doing it, I highly recommend her.

今年レッスン納めということで、相変わらず楽しい会話ができて、意味深い日本文化の勉強になりました。ありがとうございました！また来年よろしくお願いします！！

私は先生に勉強のアドバイスをお願いしました。 先生は、レッスンのあとにまとめを復習すると良いと教えてくださいました。 これから実践してみようと思います。 今年も大変お世話になりました。 来年もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。