Sho

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’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 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

Sho Sensei is an excellent teacher. He is very patient and covers lessons very thoroughly.

Just had my second lesson with Sho sensei and having him be part of my Japanese learning journey was the best decision I made. I work full time so learning on my own can be quite difficult and having him send material to review for each upcoming lesson was super helpful! I enjoy the variety of different methods that he uses to help me retain the information. I already feel confident speaking and I can't wait to see where I'll be at in the future! I have tried a few teachers on italki and as wonderful as each of them were, I feel Sho sensei takes Japanese learning to a whole new level! I highly recommend Sho sensei to be a part of your Japanese learning journey! I'm already looking forward to my next lesson with him!

Recently, I completed Minna no Nihongo Book 1 with Sho Sensei. Although I took introductory Japanese in university, I never managed to finish the course, so completing this textbook feels like a huge personal milestone. This summer, I had the chance to travel to Japan again, and for the first time, I could read basic Japanese on trains and at places like 7-Eleven and Family Mart. I even successfully bought JR tickets from station staff and ordered food at restaurants using the Japanese I learned in class. Taking the time to study Japanese truly made traveling around Japan a much more rewarding and enjoyable experience. Thank you again, Sho Sensei, for your patience during our lessons. Speaking is still a challenge, but all the hours of studying and class time are starting to pay off. ありがとうございました！