HAMANO

I recently completed my 135th lesson with Hamano-sensei, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from such an outstanding teacher. Not only does she tailor each lesson to suit my interests, but her profound knowledge of Japanese culture, history, and current affairs enriches every session. Initially, I struggled with expressing myself in Japanese and felt hesitant to engage in conversation. However, Hamano-sensei's patience and expertise have boosted my confidence, and I can communicate easily even in Japan. Our curriculum has been diverse and engaging, encompassing traditional textbooks like Genki, as well as delving into classical poetry such as the 百人一首 and modern literature by renowned authors like 太宰治 and 夏目漱石. Beyond language proficiency, Hamano-sensei fosters discussions on current affairs, offering insights into the Japanese mindset and way of life. Most importantly, her enthusiasm makes every lesson incredibly fun. Thank you, Hamano-sensei!

Hamano is a brilliant teacher! I majored in Japanese at university but struggled to find online resources aimed at more advanced learners after I graduated, so I was worried about losing my Japanese ability. Now that I've been taking lessons with Hamano for about three months, though, my confidence and ability to read and speak Japanese have improved considerably. I was so impressed by how, in my first lesson, Hamano took the time to thoroughly understand my goals, interests, and previous experience learning Japanese. I said that I mainly wanted to work on my reading comprehension and speaking, so Hamano finds great books and articles for us to read together that are challenging and interesting. Hamano is just as enjoyable and easy to talk to about the nuances of vocabulary and grammar as she is about the ideas explored in the texts we read or more everyday topics! We mainly talk in Japanese but her excellent English ability is also immensely helpful. I look forward to every lesson!

今日はとっても面白かったです！いつもありがとうございます。

I have had ~50 lessons with Hamano-sensei. My experience has been very good. * Her English is very good - if you're a beginner/intermediate, don't worry about communication issues. * She is very skilled in linguistics. If you ever want to know “why” something is a particular way in Japanese, she will be able to answer this. * She has plenty of interesting stories to tell to drive lessons and keep lessons interesting, in case you are feeling self-conscious and don’t know what to say. * She makes great use of whiteboards to present material in both spoken and written form * She has a totally flexible teaching style depending on what the student wants. We have changed styles multiple times so far, and it's always enjoyable. * She has lots of suggestions for what the student can work on at home, in case they have time, but never puts any pressure on the student to do so. 
 * She has always been very kind and respectful.
 * She has never missed a lesson or been late.

今日もまた色んな面白い話が出てきて楽しかったです。勉強にもなりました。ありがとうございます！

Hamano-sensei always has interesting stories to share. I always have a great time.