Tutors
When I planned my trip to Japan in 2012, I wanted to learn as much Japanese as I could before meeting my relatives for the first time. I signed up for a weekly Japanese language class at a senior community center where I met people with different levels of knowledge. I soon discovered that some of the students had been attending the class for seven years and had not made any progress toward fluency. Since I was in a hurry, I asked a favorite waitress at the local sushi restaurant if she could help me. She said she was from Okinawa and did not want me to learn her dialect, so she gave me contact information for her friend (I’ll call her Maiko) who grew up in Tokyo. Maiko showed me how to change the language settings on my computer to type in Japanese and helped me compose emails to my relatives. We even spoke with my relatives using Skype. It was a great experience.
When I returned from my trip, I signed up with tutors over the next two years. However, a weekly hour with a tutor was not helpful – and the cost – usually $35 to $40 an hour for a block of ten lessons was not working for me. Once the session ended, I went back to my English speaking world and did not reinforce what I had learned. Considering the math, I decided that the tutoring money was better spent booking flights to Japan whenever I could and immersing myself in the language and culture of Japan. Every trip brings chances for practicing the language, tasting delicious food, and experiencing memorable and joyous times with my relatives.