We are fanatics of education of any kind. Imagine how happy we become when we see one of our students making such amazing progress like Thomas! As cliché as is sounds, our future is in their hands, so when we see our students making progress, we want to share it with the rest of the world!
Thomas is an 18-year-old that has been taking Japanese classes with CR Languages for a little over a year now. He is taking a gap year before starting college and is trying to challenge himself to become fluent in a language.
Overcoming the challenge of learning a new language is one of the main reasons why Thomas chose to start taking a language class. He started embarking on this challenge at the beginning of the pandemic, starting alone and teaching himself. His goal was to learn a new language and although he started with Spanish, he changed to Japanese. He is planning on being able to use his Japanese speaking skills and studies in his career at some point as well as being able to meet and connect with new people, travel, and keep learning every day.
When we asked him about his favorite aspect of the language he said, “There are endless learning opportunities with this language. I always seem to be learning something new with Japanese.”
When we asked him what he likes most about his class he said, “Being able to have conversations with my teacher and being able to work through textbooks and assignments together, especially getting the teacher’s feedback, is really helpful.” He also mentions you can practice conversation best in class as well, he personally prefers having the one-on-one time with a teacher rather than being in a group class. He’s in the private one-on-one Japanese class with Asayu!
Truth be told, he admits some days there is no studying because he is tired or too busy during the week. Thomas says he tends to mostly study on the weekends as that’s where all his free time lies. Weekends are the best for studying and he spends about 2-4 hours studying when he can although it’s good to find a balance that works for you and be able to study a little bit every day.
“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
Additionally, he continues to practice with YouTube, watching videos online, self-study, practice workbooks, textbooks, and watching ‘Japanese Short stories’. Writing assignments are also done in class so there is writing practice for him and he is able to complete assignments in class with the teacher which is helpful.
Unfortunately, Thomas doesn’t get much opportunity to practice conversation outside of class because he doesn’t know anyone else who speaks Japanese. He thinks that finding a study partner to be able to work with or meet up with would be helpful.
We, at CR Languages, love working with students like Thomas. Having a dedicated and responsible student makes everybody happy and shows us that we can all learn if we have the dedication and patience that learning a new language requires! Get in touch for more questions about our Japanese class or if you’d like to find a study partner!
Excellent work, Thomas!
If you’re interested in learning a new language, get in touch with us today or check our class schedules!
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