Since the first contact Steve was very helpful, with prompt reply to my doubts. Then I read some testimonials and asked to have a trial lesson with Fujiwara sensei. Steve was always assisting me through the process, answering my emails right away.

The Nihongo-Pro classroom is very good, the whiteboard is a plus helping the understanding of topics. Even with the geographic distance that separates us from the teacher, it is like we are in a real classroom in person.

I met Fujiwara sensei in my trial lesson, and liked her from that first contact!! Fujiwara sensei is very dynamic and cheerful. Her classes are always balanced with conversation, reading, listening. I could even practice my writing skills through the emails that we always exchange, and she even helped me with sakubun-writing!

Fujiwara sensei cares a lot about my improvement, noticing my weak points and working on them in a very personalized teaching. She prepares the classes very carefully, trying to explain the topics in a very didatic way. Even in the conversation at the beginning of the class, she makes sure that we always learn new vocabulary, the way it is written and used, and she gives me many examples of different ways I can use it.

We try to use Japanese as much as possible. My lessons with Fujiwara sensei are almost all in Japanese, which for sure helps a lot my Japanese skills. After every lesson she sends me review files with the topics that were taught and the new vocabulary. That way, during the class I can focus only on learning without having to rush to take notes because I know she will send it after the class. At the end of each month she sends a report of my monthly progress so I can follow it.

I passed JLPT N3 in December 2014 with a very good score (my reading and listening were 60/60 with a total grade of 164/180), thanks to Fujiwara sensei! My Japanese certainly improved a lot in a very noticeable way!

Moreover, I feel that Fujiwara sensei is more than a teacher—she is a friend!

With my Nihongo-Pro lessons, I was speaking a new language from the first minute—a real challenge for me as I am gifted more with writing. I was nervous about one-on-one lessons and always being the one to have to answer questions, but from the first moments with Sei-Sensei, I felt relaxed and not at all embarrassed. Somehow, I picked things up quickly even though Japanese is unlike any other language I’ve learnt!

After just the first online Japanese lesson, I had gotten beyond feeling I ought to learn Japanese, and had instead developed a real desire to learn the language. I also quickly developed a friendship with Sei-Sensei, a wonderful teacher and person who shares some things in common with me. Sei-Sensei has such a great sense of humour and excellent English! She understands all my jokes and we laugh a lot. I really look forward to my lessons; once I get more time, I am looking forward to increasing my study at Nihongo-Pro to two lessons a week.

Sei-Sensei says I learn fast and she often remarks on how I constantly ask for more homework! Not only does she teach me how to speak Japanese and construct Japanese sentences correctly, we exchange cultural information also. Outside of our online lessons we regularly exchange emails—I’m looking forward to the day when I can write a whole email in Japanese!

I have learnt 4 foreign languages at different periods of my life, always with great pleasure, but none have given me so much satisfaction as Japanese—I would never have imagined it! Thank you, Sei-Sensei and Nihongo-Pro!