Received a testimonial from my student who has moved to Japan to work as an ALT.
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This year, I landed a job in Japan. I entrusted Tsubasa Language Services with my learning journey in April, and I moved here in December. I absolutely recommend them because it prepared me very well for living here, among other things, and I will continue to study with them.
This is what I’ve managed to accomplish:
- Negotiated with several estate agents in Japanese (there are cheaper, better, and more options than on English sites, which are often the leftovers priced at a premium, or expensive housing)
- Settled my water, gas, electricity and internet in Japanese
- Handled my bank and city hall application procedures in Japanese (they may have an English speaker, but the queue can be for hours just to talk to that person)
- Face daily life without problems
- I can read the labels in the supermarket, operate machines etc
- I can chat with my colleagues in Japanese
- I can converse with shop staff and ask for recommendations
- I can read food and travel recommendations written by locals
- I can watch Japanese shows and the news
- Minimal culture shock (was mentally prepared)
Before classes:
For context, I had an N4 prior to starting classes, but I was rounded down to a N4 prep class because my foundational grammar was shaky to begin with. I still slip up on some basic grammar concepts, but I’ve already made significant improvements this year thanks to Can-sensei.
These are how his classes stand out from the other language schools that I’ve enrolled in:
- Perspective of someone who studied Japanese and understands the workings of both the language and culture as a non-native.
- Oftentimes, native speakers do not understand why certain grammar rules are a certain way, or are unable to explain them, because they learned them naturally and intuitively.
- Understands the process of learning Japanese from zero.
- Understands Singaporeans’ unique issues when approaching the Japanese language.
- Able to speak with a native accent, and corrects students when they say things in a weird way.
- Uses his own experiences and knowledge to bring real-life dimensions and applications to the textbooks.
- Explains why cultural things are a certain way.
- Strong familiarity with the textbooks
- Can-sensei can immediately tell you which book and chapter a grammar concept is from, and frequently annotates his notes with references from memory.
- Good opportunities for conversation practice
- My experience with language schools is that conversation is often skipped or practiced with fixed phrases (where you model one sentence and just change one or two words).
- At Tsubasa Language Services, students practice having real conversations, and have our grammar corrected live. We often pick up new vocabulary while doing this, too.
I myself am a language teacher, and I sincerely respect Can-sensei’s knowledge, passion, and teaching techniques. He is sincere, compassionate, and capable. I strongly recommend his classes.
Thank you so much for being an integral part of my Japanese learning journey. Best wishes with your endeavours, and I know that with your guidance, this place of study will flourish.
Sincerely,
K
