Hiro

I learned so much today! We focused on similar sounding words and how to put them together in a sentence so I don't get them confused. We also practiced particle placement. We had conversations about different real world scenarios all in Japanese. Until our next lesson, I will be working on putting what I've learned into practice and trying to use the words I've learned into different sentences. I always have an awesome experience with Hiro-san!

Hiro-san is an excellent teacher, very patient and affable. Looking forward to future lessons with him!

Today's lesson was a ton of fun. Because of the protests all over America, we were able to talk about a lot of interesting news. We discussed the reasons for the protests, American society, politics, and elections. It is really motivating to be able to use the Japanese I have been learning to discuss and share ideas about relevant and current events. I also was able to hear about how these events are being portrayed in the international news, and I learned that there was even a demonstration at the US embassy in Kenya. As always, I got lots of new words and some grammar to study that will allow me to better express myself when talking about these topics, which is awesome. I am excited to continue reading and learning over the next few weeks. Safe travels, Hiro! ありがとうございます！

Last lesson, Hiro encouraged me to journal in Japanese so this class we went over my journal entries. He gave me some very helpful advice to improve my writing. Great lesson as always :)

Today we talked about a variety of subjects today including travel, wearing masks in America vs Japan, renting an apartment, education, and updates with a project I am working on. I learned a bit about the mask and quarantine situation is in Kenya and Japan, and I was able to describe the situation in America. This was fun and motivating, and I got a better idea of the areas I can improve in. I want to be diligent about writing and listening more. There were spots today where I struggled with both understanding and expressing myself clearly, and I think this would help since I have spent a lot of time reading lately. Interacting with the language more in different areas like this would also improve my lesson preparation, which was lacking today, by helping me come up with better questions and interesting things to discuss. いつもありがとうございます！

Today we talked about a range of subjects including travel, pronunciation, a skill gap in the labor force, and a recent news article. I felt tired from waking up early for a flight which seemed to make listening and speaking a bit more difficult, but I still managed to learn a lot. I got lots of helpful vocab for the subjects that were brought up and was able to clarify some parts of the book I am reading. I think it would be a good idea to do some extra output this week since talking felt a bit more challenging than usual. For this, more shadowing would be a good idea since I got caught up pronouncing けんえき as けねき and it would help refine my pronunciation along with grammar and vocab. As always, I had a lot of fun and am excited to keep improving! ありがとうございます！