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One day I had to attend a—I can’t remember exactly what it is called, but it was one these brain-washing, team-building things every company nowadays tortures their employees with. We started with a short introduction round—name, hobby, etc. Of course, everybody had model hobbies like hiking or reading or reading while hiking.

Everyone except this one Japanese guy, who said without any false modesty: “My hobby is drinking.”

So, he and I started drinking together. Regularly. Meaning almost every day. But in a totally responsible manner.

One thing led to another—or, to be more precise, drinking together led to cultural exchange—or, to be absolutely precise, he started drinking Russian vodka and I started learning Japanese. It was fun, but I wasn’t really making much progress in Japanese, although I was (and still am) quite committed to learning the language. Maybe I wasn’t focused enough though…

Thanks to Nihongo-Pro I discovered that one can learn Japanese without drinking! What a mind-blowing experience! Well, to be honest, with Araki-sensei we quite often talk about food and drinks, but so far we have managed to remain sober.

The most amazing thing though is that online Japanese lessons with Araki-sensei actually, really help. Before my first lesson I was, let’s say, a bit concerned whether I’d be able to understand anything, but right from the first minutes, Araki-sensei involved me in a conversation I couldn’t even imagine I was capable of. But by means of some voodoo magic (or maybe due to Araki-sensei’s experience?) all of a sudden I realized that I can be quite talkative, even in Japanese.

It has been almost a year since our first lesson. The only disadvantage of online lessons I have discovered so far is that one can’t drink together with the teacher. But collaboration technology and tools are rapidly improving, so I’m pretty sure the day will come when Araki-sensei and I will have an online Japanese class while drinking. Of course, in a totally responsible manner.

First, it's not easy to find a lesson time suitable for both teacher and student when they live thousands of kilometers apart.

I am a 53-year old European student, and, due to job commitments, I can take lessons only on weekday evenings. With Nihongo-Pro, I had no schedule problems at all, since my teacher lives in the U.S., which gives me many more scheduling options than with teachers living in Japan.

Having tried several languages schools in the past, I really appreciate the high quality of Nihongo-Pro's classroom software. Really well-thought out and extremely easy to use. There were extremely few technical problems, and they were solved very quickly thanks to quick support. The classroom software is always improving and evolving, too, with new features.

Now about teaching: I am really happy about the lessons (several dozen already!) I have taken with Nakano-sensei.

Intermediate level is a tough step, where you have to find your way through the intricacies and subtleties of intermediate-level Japanese grammar, as well as spoken Japanese, which differs quite a lot from the "proper" didactic language you learn at elementary level.

At the intermediate level, understanding often depends on nuances and on your acquaintance with Japanese culture. Nakano sensei is a wonderful guide: She gives careful thought to how to explain the difficult points of Japanese, and she always works painstakingly to answer my questions, to provide the best examples, to show the differences between similar words or grammatical structures.

When you take private lessons, the quality of human contact between teacher and student is essential. When I take a lesson at Nihongo-Pro, I am pleased to meet both an excellent teacher and a friend.