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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.

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 Nakano 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 Nakano sensei in my trial lesson, and liked her from that first contact!! Nakano 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!

Nakano 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 Nakano 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 Nakano sensei! My Japanese certainly improved a lot in a very noticeable way!

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