⭐ Ejderha Sato ⭐

As 2023 concludes with today's lesson, it’s time to reflect on a year and a half of learning Korean! I am deeply and incredibly thankful for discovering Sato! While I began the year familiar with many words, now I can engage in basic Korean conversations. My proficiency in conjugating between past, present, and casual to polite tenses has grown significantly. Sato's teaching skills are evident; he gauges precisely when to challenge me and when to allow independent exploration. Whenever I struggle with a concept, his patient explanations ensure clarity. He will always keep at it until I have fully grasped the topic. His organized Google Docs of lesson notes are invaluable, and his commitment shines through—even when responding to late-night questions! Beyond language, Sato also adds invaluable insights into Korean culture and lifestyle. His meticulous attention to my pronunciation ensures I sound as authentic as possible. Truly a dedicated and skilled instructor! Thank you!

Another fun and very helpful lesson with Sato-sensei! I appreciate his patience and understanding when I forget vocabulary or make mistakes. And I'm super enjoying the pace and really am absorbing the new information well. I also enjoy all the cultural and language context that he gives as we go through the lesson. It gives so much more life and meaning to learning Japanese. I also found it very easy to study up on the previous lesson thanks to the Google Doc notes and organization.

This lesson I learned: ＿に　のめりこむ　to be heavily into something, ignoring other things, lose oneself ＿＿が・に　ひたる：to get lost in thought about, to be submerged in おもい is becoming more 平板 so I should treat it as such りょうほうに　とって　もっと　こわい　ことに　なります。　＜ For the both of them it will become a scary thing. ことになる is important here becuase it emphasizes that it is a situation てもちぶさたに　なって　< too much free time on their hands/nothing to keep smbd busy 小人　閑居して　不善　為す (しょうじん　かんきょして　ふぜんを　なす) : Idle hands are the devil's workshop. 「Something] is no longer needed, [Something is subject], [Something]はもう。。。

As another year studying with Sato San is finishing, I feel the need to write a proper review. A new year's resolution two years ago changed my life, I decided to try learning another language and shortly after discovered Sato San. Looking back after almost 100 lessons it is hard to believe we've come so far. Starting from scratch, we are now conducting class in almost exclusively Japanese. I am still far from proficient, but feel like I have an extremely solid foundation to build my intermediate level Japanese on. Sato San's style of teaching puts the ball in your court as a learner. The amount of information and study material he provides is abundant, its up to you as a student to study and apply. We have come a very long way together and I am very grateful as a student to have found such a great guide on my language Journey. We continue to trudge towards the metaphorical peak of Everest together. Sato San- 本当に　ありがとうございました

Learned this lesson: のに　ＶＳ　ても　： =========================================== Based on factual thing, a のに situation should happen but didn't. An adversative conjunctive based on the factual things [のに,けど、が] Although I didn’t eat meat for a month, I didn’t mind it. =========================================== ても Based on a generalized situation, ても assumes something should happen even without factual basis 【ても】Even if/though I don’t eat meat for a month, I don’t mind it. 【ても】Even if/though I didn’t eat meat for a month, I didn’t mind it. ちゃんと＝ いい　ひとだった。　： A good person, a nice person / やさしい　ひとだった。: A kind person (implication soft) 良い much more general use For using と to convey an unexpected situation, the verb should always be in present tense　（I talked to my friend, and...／ はなすと...） NOT はなしたと、 COMPLETELY WRONG あんがい ok for unexpected, but better to use いがいと・いがいに Sometimes Sato will throw a curveball to make sure I'm paying attention so need to watch out for it grammar really works

sato-san and I had a great lessong even though it was short!