Testimonials
【Marc Tanaka】 2009/06/10
My journey into learning Japanese began about 1 year ago. When I first started I barely could say anything, let alone understand. May 2008, I began my lessons at NACOS. When I first started I couldn't have a conversation.
From day one we started to see how much I understood to evaluate how to go about teaching me. I didn't have any understanding of hiragana, katakana or kanji. So they began my lessons with roomaji. I had to develop my own self portrait, one that explains some valuable information about myself. We started this in hiragana, katakana with roomaji translations for me. It was also a way for my teachers to get to know me. They provided both tranlations so that I can see and start to recognize how real Japanese looks like. They very quickly moved away from using roomaji so that I wouldn't depend on it. The first three months were probably the hardest, but also the most important in the development. I learned Hiragana from writing to reading. This required a lot of repetition for me to continue to remember. Also we worked on developing the muscles in my face to form some of the Japanese words. If the muscles are developed properly pronounciation will come naturally.
After 6 months I understood hiragana and was learning katakana. Also we would learn to speak in natural speeds. Conversations would come faster paced and more natural. By the second quarter I was slowly learning katakana which to me is much harder to remember. My ability to speak was improving, now they were trying to expand my vocabulary. During the lessons they would stop my speech and work on a particular word that I wasn't using the right muscles for, to correct my pronounciation. When they started to teach me hiragana, katakana and kanji they had me try to imagine my story. This would help in remembering the meaning of words that maybe I didn't understand. This also helped me invision some of the emotion so that I can put the correct emphasis on the word. Training the muscles in your face to pronounce these words correctly is not easy, I had times of frustration and I felt I wouldn't be able to figure it out. They stuck on me and I eventually started to get those muscles to work. They taught me many things such as sentence structure which I try to practice till this day. Also dates, times, duration, and basic grammar such as particles were taught through my stories.
The third quarter was a really tough transition we started to add in kanji, which till this day I still have trouble. This time was also very important in my development, in that this is when they polish my speech to make me sound more native. I would write in a daily blog some small and interesting stories that maybe later translated. Also it was a great way for me to meet the NACOS community.
It's now 1 year later and they added in kanji in almost every story. Which I am slowly recognizing. I am currently practicing about 4 different stories. Now the process is to polish me, grind it in, so that it becomes natural. Over the process I have missed some classes due to my busy schedule, you may experience better results than I. By the fourth quarter I was getting compliments from coworkers as well as guests, who said that my Japanese is very good now. I had some guests tell me that I am very polite in my speaking and that I sound almost native. To hear this is makes all my effort seem worthwhile. In the last quarter I polished all that was taught to me. Now they end each session with conversation to see how much you can use in a practical situation.
Now present day they expect more from my Japanese so I have to try and work harder to keep up. My lesson pace would be 1 and 1/2hrs. a week. My Job requires a lot of my time, so I wouldn't have time to practice other than at classes. I also took some days off to travel, it had been many years since I took any vacation. In typical schooling you learn from textbooks. At NACOS they don't use textbooks they use your own personal stories it helps you to understand what you trying to say and not what they want you to say. Using their methods have brought me very far from where I started. I am proud and glad at the progress I have made.
Now I look to the future and see myself being able to converse with my Japanese guests without looking for confirmation that I'm using words properly. Hopefully getting more of those compliments that tell me that my Japanese is very good. I imagine it will get harder before I get better. What best describes my up coming experiences is best said in Japanese “keizoku wa chikara nari desu.”
【Olivia Trevino】 2009/06/20
Let's see, I started in August of 2008. I attend NACOS twice a month usually at the beginning and at the end of each month. I began slowly reading the katakana and hiragana. I knew some of them but not enough to read very good. But slowly I began to read the letters a lot better. I was unable to speak very well. Almost a year later, I am beginning to speak much easier. I can read hiragana and katakana much better and am even learning some Kanji. I guess I don't feel as shy anymore. When I first began sensei would tell me I spoke very softly. She would tell me to speak louder. I was shy and afraid my Japanese would sound bad. Not anymore. I think my problem is according to my teacher, I sound like a robot sometimes. It's because I have to think every word while I speak it. I still have problems with my pronunciation of some words. I get them confused since they are very similar, but I try to be careful because I do not want to say prisoner when I am really trying to say husband. I have a snowstorm story that NACOS wrote up for me in Japanese and we have been practicing with it. Every time I go we practice on it. I feel like I am getting better, but as I said before, I still require some practice so as not to sound too robotic. Still, I'm happy with my progress. If this is how well I progress in a year, I am really excited to see how well I do in another year. Maybe by then I will really be sounding like a native Japanese and be reading many kanji, too.
【Cary Fujikawa】 2009/03/29
This year, the cherry blossoms have come early. They are in full bloom. Our hanami party though is next week. Hopefully, the flowers will stay as it's quite cold still. It is very beautiful. I will try to take some pictures.
I'll try to have a story for you with pictures some time next month after hanami. I will check out more of the website, too, to polish my reading skills. Good luck to you and your students.
One last thing, I wanted to thank you. While I was learning Japanese in Hawaii, it was very hard for me to stay motivated because I was overworked and didn't take good care of myself. There wasn't much contact for me and Japan, which made learning Japanese of secondary importance. In fact, I never truly thought I would have the opportunity to live here. Now that I am here, the lessons I learned in your class ring much more loudly in my ears. I remember things from the class that I did not know I knew. I guess that no matter what, the mind is always awake. Even if I complained or seemed tired, the lessons sunk in. And I have been using those lessons everyday. So I never really left NACOS and NACOS has never left me. And you contacting me after such a long time is very touching. I'm happy that you still think about me even though I was not a very good or appreciative student. I will do my best to make you proud.
Very respectfully,
Cary Fujikawa
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