Akira Online Japanese School TOKYO — Attraction in Tokyo

Short Review: I enjoyed the opportunity to take lessons online with Daigo Fujinami for about half a year studying to improve speaking (assessment measure: JSST) and the JLPT. I highly recommend giving Akira a chance and taking lessons with their highly qualified and passionate teachers.

Long Review: Through my time taking lessons with Akira, it was easy to see Fujinami-sensei's dedication to teaching and the organization of the lesson schedule and materials was consistently prepared ahead of time. We used the Zoom platform for our lessons without any technological issues on Fujinami-sensei's side (I think I had computer issues at least one time); this is important because some other school's level of internet connectivity is unable to support the strain of Zoom lessons. We prepared together for the JSST and JLPT (N2). Many Japanese teachers do not know how to teach JLPT (N2) + well, or more consistently use English when what is needed is exposure to high quality Japanese at this level. Fujinami-sensei could explain in English if necessary, but did not use it unless it proved beneficial to advance my understanding of particular vocabulary or concept.I never had confidence to memorize lines in English, let alone Japanese, but Fujinami-sensei could carefully explain the purpose and suggest strategies (even if just as obvious as you need to study it more than one day before the lesson). He also kindly understood when life events came up and supported my language growth at my own pace. We were able to have friendly conversation in Japanese, I could study for the JLPT, and improve my speaking skills through repeated practice. I have to end lessons at this point due to my own schedule demands, but I hope to resume lessons with Akira some day, soon. I will note as far as pricing goes as well, I am able to study the Korean language online three times a week for half the price of studying Japanese twice a week, but I have yet to find a quality Japanese language school offered at a price more accessible. Sites such as Hello Talk, Busuu, or iTalki where you are able to practice the language are nice, but are really only just for language exchange or short self-study bursts. If you are seriously studying Japanese (or most other languages), you need to do so with a teacher, as with most things the more experience the better quality. I would say, what you save in money to a flight and accommodation to Japan, you get by enrolling in lessons such as this one which really has reasonable pricing and a "no strings attached" commitment with an experienced educator, unlike other Japanese language schools which may ask you to sign a contract committing to a set length of time such as 6 months and then you may end up still with a teacher who is haphazardly teaching. That is not the case at this language institution. As such, you also receive homework, but it's not just tedious homework to have checked to say that you did it. Any homework received, will be used to progress the next lessons forward which helps maintain motivation for...

Lessons: 10/10. Each lesson covered roughly half of a chapter from the textbook. Each lesson, Yuka-sensei would ensure that I am able to recall material from past lessons, and help walk me through things I forgot. Nobody is perfect, and Yuka-sensei was patient with my mistakes. I have learned so much through the lessons.

Learning Coordination: 10/10. The use of prosody, among other things, was very helpful in learning not only the pronunciation of the words, but the intonations of how to formulate sentences.

Methods: 9/10. Yuka-sensei employed methods like spaced repetition, as well as reviews after every 5 lessons. Additionally, we frequently did practical speaking practice and prosody. The only change I would make is more frequent reviews (after every 3 chapters), but that is more of a personal issue rather than an issue with the learning methods.

Materials: 10/10. The textbook, the Powerpoints, the prosody vocal practice, the Quizlet flashcards, and the Word documents prepared between Yuka-sensei and Team Akira as a whole have been very helpful to learning the Japanese language.

Curriculum: 8/10. Overall, I had no major problem with the curriculum, but sometimes, it felt like giving 2 lessons to one chapter was too many, and other times it felt like it's too much. Some chapters were much more challenging to grasp, and others were incredibly easy. I believe that an adaptive lesson curriculum, based on the needs of the student, is the only major change I would suggest. That being said, I think it was executed very well by Yuka-sensei.

Thank you for...

For a little of a year, I have been working Keiko-Sensei on my Japanese and let me just say that I enjoy every minute of it. Team Akira truly knows how to adjust the learning curriculum to your needs and speed. Keiko-sensei always explained through the lessons/PowerPoints truly well and went into more detail when I had further questions. Akira definitely provides the strong foundation needed for you, but of course that is only half of it. When learning a language, the other half is you putting the effort to study on your own. Which is why I love how they have the class structure here, you go to class prepared and should expect to use what you are studying straight to work. It has truly is a better way to retain a new language for me, and sometimes I find myself putting sentences together easier than I would initially think. I find taking one class per week is just enough for me with the time I have, as I tend to be pretty busy with work and what not. Overall, Team Akira and Keiko-Sensei is amazing, patient, and always provides me with everything I need to be successful in my...