I’ve been working with Marichan sensei since June, in the run-up to my first ever trip to Japan. I wanted to hold off on writing a review until I was over here and experiencing Japan itself! I basically knew zero Japanese a year ago, started with Du*lingo and WaniK*ni, and added iTalki after a few months. I’ve now been in Japan for one week and I’ve used the language in all sorts of situations, finding the way to a bus station, troubleshooting a Suica card that malfunctioned, getting to the correct platform for my first ride on the bullet train, locating and buying shaving cream at a pharmacy. Each time I was cheerful and confident speaking in Japanese, I was always understood, and also I always understood enough of the response to get by. It’s Marichan with her numerous role plays who got me to this point, and she deserves tons of credit! Too often, language learning produces uneven results, but if you want to speak—and understand when you are spoken to—iTalki is worth the money.

Marina is really easy to talk to and cool about customizing lessons to whatever you're into. Her lessons flow nicely, compared with other teachers there aren't as many awkward moments where the communication barrier slows things down. This is due to Marina's excellent English that allows for less time in the lesson spent with the dictionary or trying to explain what you don't understand and more time spent improving your Japanese! 10/10 would recommend!

Marina‑san is truly a wonderful teacher! Her helpful feedback, well‑structured homework, and clever tips and tricks make the language easier to understand and fun to practice.

Thanks Marichan for a great, fun, and educational lesson. I enjoyed role playing as a customer in a Sushi restaurant. I know this will come in handy when I eventually go to Japan on Vacation. Thanks again, see you next class!

She is an amazing teacher! She explains everything so well and is so encouraging!

First impression couldn't have been better. Looking forward to future lessons.