OHAYO CENTER

I’ve been taking Japanese lessons with Shinya-san for over a year, starting as a beginner and now speaking conversationally. He is a fantastic teacher at any level. Every lesson is well prepared and tailored to what you want to achieve. Now that I can hold conversations, I’m consistently impressed by how he keeps the discussion in Japanese at exactly the right level — natural, engaging, and perfectly paced. Shinya-san is friendly, patient, and makes lessons enjoyable as well as productive. I would strongly recommend him to anyone serious about learning to actually use Japanese.

I have been learning Japanese with Shinya Sensei for exactly two years now and I just want to share a little bit about my experience. Every lesson has been really enjoyable. Shinya Sensei communicates clearly and his manner is friendly and relaxed. I also appreciate that Shinya Sensei uses different kinds of resources and that he will adapt the lesson according to my needs. Sensei also uses a shared Google Doc where he makes notes that I can review. I can also make sentences here and receive feedback. I can honestly say that I don’t find speaking Japanese easy and I am prone to getting nervous and having my mind go blank! However, Shinya Sensei is always patient and he encourages me to keep trying. He is also great at explaining things and he corrects my mistakes in a positive way. If you are looking for a Sensei who is professional, engaging, patient and fun - definitely book with Shinya Sensei. 先生、ありがとうございました。

I have been taking weekly lessons with Shinya Sensei for over a year now, and I couldn't be happier with my progress! My Japanese has improved immensely thanks to his guidance. He is incredibly kind, patient, and supportive in every session.

It is always a great pleasure having classes with Sensei! With your great patience and continuous practice with you in each class, now I could speak more and more Japanese! I hope I could have more time studying continuously and hope by the end of next year I could conduct Japanese conversations very fluently and hope I could also good discussions with my clients in Japanese by then.

Shinya-sensei exemplifies high-impact language teaching through his strong emphasis on tone, pronunciation, and phonological accuracy, which are often underestimated yet essential components of Japanese language proficiency. He consistently stretches learners beyond their comfort zone in a way that is both challenging and supportive—an ideal application of productive struggle within the Zone of Proximal Development. For a learner like me, his passion for anime and manga serves as a culturally authentic entry point into language learning, while his interest in cross-cultural exchange deepens learners’ pragmatic and sociolinguistic competence. From an educator’s perspective, his focus on tone reflects best practices in second-language acquisition, as early attention to phonology prevents fossilization of errors. He holds learners to high standards because he genuinely believes in their capacity to grow, which is a hallmark of effective teaching.

We had a nice talk about my new house and dried persimmons. After that, Shinya-sensei had prepared some slides with his New Years plans and traditions. あけましておめでとう。今日もありがとうございます。