It has now been one year learning with Sho sensei and choosing Sho sensei to be a part of my Japanese learning journey has been the best decision. We have now completed the whole Minna no Nihongo textbook covering N5 and N4 material. I started from not being able to speak at all to now speaking basic sentences pretty comfortably and can understand much more in my immersion study outside of class. Sho sensei is a true delight to learn with. He is engaging, meticulous with his lessons and makes sure you properly understand what you are learning. His structured teaching style, with vocabulary, kanji and now writing homework provide a tried and true method for learning Japanese in the most efficient way. I have tried many teachers before finally finding Sho sensei and am grateful I have someone who can guide me in my journey. I am very much looking forward to further lessons and moving to the intermediate level. よろしくお願いします。

I have been learning with Sho-sensei for 6 months now, meeting 3 to 4 times a week on average. I just achieved the milestone of completing the Minna no Nihongo beginners course. This is been an incredible experience. Sho-sensei is patient, kind, warm, and a delight to work with. I could not speak or understand any Japanese at all at the beginning, and now I can have basic conversations and understand almost 100% of the beginner Japanese audio content I’ve engaged with. It’s amazing how much progress I’ve made with Sho-sensei in such a short time. I love the immersive approach of his teaching materials and lessons. It would be tempting to resort to English to try to understand things, but the immersion focus really sped up my progress. Sho-sensei is excellent at moving at a students pace and carefully using vocabulary and grammar that the student can handle. I will continue with him for intermediate studies and would highly recommend him to anyone looking to advance their Japanese

I've been going through N3 level stories with Sho sensei for about the last 6 months as a part of his intermediate Japanese course. I had an on and off again history of self-study with Japanese and so was in an awkward position where I could often understand a lot of Japanese input but struggled to produce basic sentences, let alone connect them. Sho's lessons had me focus on reading stories along with an audio track to ensure proper rhythm and pacing. Most importantly after learning each story in the first lesson I would be tasked with describing the story in my own words as best I could. This was a very challenging experience at first, but it forced me to use new grammar and discuss topics or ideas that weren't in my "comfort zone". Sho sensei also offers detailed feedback at this stage, letting me learn from my mistakes after describing the story. I would definitely recommend Sho sensei's lessons for anyone looking to learn Japanese.

I’m finally finished with the first 25 chapters of Mina no Nihongo. Sometimes I’m very hard on myself, as I still have trouble finding certain words or saying the right thing during my interactions with the people I work with (in Japan). But when I look back on where I was when I started, it’s crazy how far I’ve come. I’m so much more confident doing things in my every day life. I have lived in Japan for three years, but have only really started studying for the past five months or so. It’s incredible what a difference these lessons have made. My co-workers will speak to me in Japanese completely, whereas before they would insist on speaking English. I can speak clearly with my barber, waiter, friends etc. Even on days where I’m struggling to find the right words, I can look back on where I was, hardly even able to talk about the weather, and find joy in my journey of improvement. It’s crazy how much I didn’t know that I didn’t know. Thank you very much Sho sensei. Ganbarimasu!

I am really enjoying reading. It has helped me understand more Japanese and have more confidence speaking.

I've studied with Sho san for a couple of months now. He's taken me from about Lesson 16 in Minna No Nihongo Book 1 through to the end (L 25), and then back through the rest as review. This has been really invaluable to me as I was trying to get to N5 level for a course I'm applying for. Sho san has always been super well-prepared, and he clearly explains things to me (even when I am having a slow moment!) I've really appreciated his planning, patience, and precision teaching me; together we've reached exactly the point I needed to for my application.