I cannot recommend Taro Sensei enough. From a qualifications standpoint, he is a native speaker who is at the same time impressively proficient in English. Furthermore, he draws on his experience learning a second language which helps him employ and recommend more effective ways to improve your Japanese skills. In addition, Taro sensei truly tailors his lessons to each of his individuals students so that he can best help address your problem areas and ensure the content is relevant to your situation or interests. Lastly, Taro Sensei’s positive and encouraging personality coupled with a sincere dedication to helping his students achieve their goals in Japanese is what truly makes him stand out as an exemplary instructor.
Some more in-depth points:
Beyond the summary above, I would be remiss not to provide more details given just how incredible of an instructor Taro Sensei is. Here are a few points that I would’ve found helpful when I was looking for a instructor and I hope it helps you in your decision making:
Taro Sensei is a native speaker who you can trust will be able to teach the nuances of both Japanese language in context with Japanese culture. At the same time, his incredible journey and experience as an English learner really shines through in how he structures his lessons and the effective methods he recommends to learn Japanese more efficiently. Furthermore, his proficiency in English is a massive asset when explaining those hard to understand concepts or nuances (It also helps avoid those situations where there’s a concept that you don’t understand and a teacher’s English limitation also prevents them from explaining it in a way that you can understand)
Another point that truly sets Taro Sensei apart is that he truly tailors his lessons to each individual student. Every instructor claims to do this but he is only of the scarce few that truly practice it. From a technical standpoint, he’ll listen to what your goals are and as an example, will accordingly adjust how much he focuses on listening, reading, speaking, Kanji, and etc. Secondly, Taro sensei understands how beneficial it is to have lessons that are relevant to your background and interests. For instance, he created lessons that tie in TV shows that I enjoy watching, Japanese music that I may listen to, hobbies I may have, or my topics related to my career just to name a few things. He really takes it upon himself to do his best to keep students motivated and engaged and always strives to teach Japanese in as much relevant context as possible.
Lastly, you will be hard pressed to find another teacher who has such an affable nature and positive attitude all the while being sincerely dedicated to helping his students grow. He’s goes above and beyond in answering questions and explaining concepts, even in between lessons through emails. His lessons are always complete and you never feel rushed for time.
If you’ve read this far, I hope some of those anecdotes help you make a decision. I could not be more grateful that I’ve been able to learn Japanese from him and truly believe that you are in the best of hands with Taro Sensei.
Posted Dec 22, 2021