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!

Mariana is a stuctured and intuitive teacher who uses her knowledge of the language and knack for fun learning to create lessons that hit home!

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!

Had another amazing class with Marina! She's always very helpful and energetic during class and we've been focusing a lot on practical Japanese to be used in my daily life. Learned so much today and will keep practicing so I can utilize more and more and become more proficient! Thank you again!

Mari Chan is very encouraging and helpful. I really recommend her.