Japanese Online Lessons using SKYPE

I took J-OS lessons for four years on a regular basis, which was a very rewarding experience and beyond expectations. Thanks to my Professor, Okuyama-sensei, I went from beginner to fluent level in Japanese and passed JLPT N1 Level. I had a passion for Japan since high school and longed to work there in the near future. I started taking classes at University in Europe and really picked up during a summer program at Waseda University. However, when I started working in France, my schedule got very busy and I had no time to commute to a Japanese school. In addition, during the weekend, I tried out several Japanese schools in Paris but the classrooms were too crowded, the pace was too slow and the curriculum was not customized to my leaning objective to work in Japan. With Okuyama-sensei, I could do lessons at 6am on workdays and anytime during the weekend. In addition, she based the program on my learning goals, which evolved over the years, from JLPT N3, N2, N1 and beyond. I really enjoyed reading financial articles in Japanese, so Okuyama-sensei would pick up interesting articles for our lessons. The great level of customization and flexible pace made it possible for me to learn quickly and ask as many questions as needed. She would pinpoint my weakest areas and build exercises to make me improve. For instance, she rightfully observed that my listening skills and reading comprehension were good, but that I needed more training in Kanji and grammar. Koike-san was very helpful as well, especially when I was interviewing with Japanese companies and had to write professional emails. Within four years of studies, I was able to move to Japan to work in a professional services firm and dealt with clients in Japanese. I definitely think that J-OS and Okuyama-sensei were instrumental in these achievements. My advice to anyone interested in Japanese language proficiency is to have a routine and study many different types of materials, such as JLPT testing material, novels, newspaper and documentaries in order to grasp the subtleties of the language. Taking lessons with J-OS is a great way to do so!

I have been studying with J-OS for about 3 months now. In this time, thanks to Ms. Yates, a skilled and highly professional teacher, my knowledge of vocabulary, kanji and grammar increased considerably, although i'm only taking 2 lessons a week. Nevertheless it's mandatory to invest a certain amount of time to keep the learned in memory. The teacher helps here with giving, correcting and reviewing a sensible amount of homework. I came to appreciate the geographical mobility that comes with learning over the net. Usually i'm at home when conducting classes, but in the case i'm busy at work, i can just fire up skype at my office-computer and take the lesson from there. There is no need to hasten to a specific place. One more thing: From the beginning I was able to use the textbooks i already had und learned with, so the transition from online to offline learning was very smooth. The teacher asked in the first lesson to which chapter i have been lerning and we went on from there. To sum it up: My experience until now is very good and i will certainly continue to take online-lessons from J-OS.

I am not an IT-oriented person and I am always suspicious of language schools whether online or not as they rarely offer proper courses for people with intermediate/advanced level. But I have to say the connection test went smoothly although it was my first time using skype and the trial lesson was very good.
I am very pleased with the support always efficient and the all the follow-up/information emails. I am also of course very pleased with my course with Okuyama-sensei. She easily adapts to my pace and when a lesson is finished I always have the feeling that some improvement has been made. She is also very patient in correcting my homework. ;-p
When I go back to Japan, I am always disappointed to realise first thing when I arrive that I have forgotten so much because I do not practise regularly. Now I am actually thrilled and cannot wait to go!!!
Thank you very much for the good work!!!

I have discovered by chance J-OS school through their website, and I must say that I am very happy with the results so far. I have tried to learn Japanese by myself for about two years, studying text books on my own on a daily basis, but my conversation level remained very poor due to the lack of talking. My busy schedule didn't leave me any chance to follow lessons at school, and I thought that self learning was the only option for me. Then I discovered that I could take one-to-one online lessons with Japanese teachers for a very affordable price, and I am very satisfied with the quality of the lessons. My targets have been well understood by Kei-san, who quickly found a teacher adapted to my needs and schedule. In only few lessons, I already started to see a clear improvement, and quickly felt more comfortable expressing myself in Japanese.
Nagata-sensei, who takes care of me since the trial lesson, has been very patient and always adapts the lessons' pace to my level, while smoothly provocking the conversation. I would advise anyone to start lessons in Japanese laguage directly, even though it can be hard at first, as the improvement is tremendous. Now, I'm not affraid anymore to speak Japanese to my colleagues and friends whenever I can, and I believe this is just the begining. I have found the right way for me to learn Japanese, and never regreted to have chosen J-OS.

With j-os online one-on-one Japanese lesson, I can stay at home to study Japanese effectively with a native speaker while I still made time for my two little kids. Lesson report is an effective material for me to review the lesson. It always be sent within one day after my lesson, and covers many main points of the lesson. Recognizing my mistakes and correcting them is an important part in order to improve my Japanese. So my sensei also notes my mistakes that I made on that lesson in the report. Morever, useful information about Japanese learning such as e-magazine, selected website ... are also sent to support my self-study from the sensei and support staff.
Besides, at the beginning, it concerns me that which textbook is suitable for me, and I really appreciated that J-OS support staff has suggested the right one. Even though I am advised to study with the textbook not study the textbook, choosing a right text book made my study more interesting and effecitively.
Last but not least, that communicating with Japanese sensei almost every week has not only improved my Japanese but also built my confidence in my Japanese ability. My sensei is also my mentor too. He did not forget to say "がんばってください" which means "Try your best" when I got a cold or tired.
In conclusion, I am totally satisfied with high quality J-OS's service and all I want to say now is "J-OS, my love".

J-OS is great way to learn Japanese language online for a very reasonable price. One-on-one online lessons provides a very stress-free environment that encourages easy learning. Flexibility on time and place provides additional comfort, so student can focus more on the lessons it self. My teacher is very pleasant and is very knowledgeable about the subject matter. She gives me enough explanation and answers my questions intelligently. Staff are very helpful in sharing information and techniques about how to study Japanese. They also responds in a timely manner to all my inquiries and I've never really had difficulties in finding solution to system problems. The reservation system is great, It saves me a lot of time and effort in securing class schedule. One thing I also like is how the lesson reports were written and submitted after the class. It helps me review important topics that were discussed during the lessons and the correction notes from the teacher helps me so much in remembering my mistakes.

Dear J-OS Support Staff
I must say i really like your friendly staff. Also i'm enjoying the lessons i have taken until now. It really helped me a lot to get closer to my goal, the JLPT-3. Even though i have to work a lot and was able to take lessons only on weekends i tried my best to do the homework each week and receive the correction from my teacher. It was really hard for me to find a good place to study near where i am living (probably there are not many people in germany learning japanese). But when i found J-OS i was really glad to have found a working solution. I also like to read your newsletter each time, cause it usually provides some really interesting information about japan. keep up the good work 🙂

Aside from a few phrases, I am a complete beginner in Japanese.
There is nothing like having one-on-one live lessons for language learning. My main problem was finding a Japanese teacher locally that would teach during evening hours. Through J-OS and Skype, I suddenly had available to me any registered teacher anywhere in the world. And I don't even have to drive to a classroom, and my teacher is fluent in English, too!
The lesson material is also excellent. A previous CD-based self-learning course taught me that apparently the most useful phrase after getting off the plane at Narita Airport was "Won't you have a drink?" Instead, with the Minna no Nihongo textbook, I'm learning useful phrases for introduction, directions, and so on. Live learning, no travel, a great pool of teachers, and a great textbook. This is a powerful combination!

I choose J-OS over a number of options because J-OS gave me flexible teaching and Japanese learning options. I work in a typical Japanese office. Real-world situations like telephone calls and business meetings over-run. The days that I planned to finish work at 6pm, often due to reality of the office, often end at 7pm, or 7.30 o'clock, or later. J-OS is a 24 hour Japanese language school. I can take a lesson in a quiet office meeting room during my lunch break on a notebook PC, or at home in the evening. To take a lesson with J-OS, I'm not having to make excuses, or explaining to my co-workers why I have to leave the office early (again), in order to get to some Japanese language school, that is half way across town, and on the 4th Floor, in some anonymous building, somewhere. I've taken lessons with a Japanese teacher in an anonymous building, somewhere, before. Of course the clear difference is that you are in the same room as a physical person, (the teacher). However, I have found with J-OS, even though the teacher is talking to you over a web-cam, and a Messenger chat session is a white board replacement. You can still learn Japanese just a well with J-OS. (Plus after the J-OS lesson you can do a Control-C Copy, and Paste of everything the teacher wrote on the J-OS Messenger chat "whiteboard", after the lesson. For study later in the week. Just _try_ and do that in a real classroom!)

I've found the J-OS teachers and the teaching to high quality. The teachers accept that I have holes in my knowledge of Japanese, which is the reason I came to a Japanese school in the first place. Absence of knowledge is accepted and worked with.

J-OS school is a fresh idea to teaching Japanese, and for me, clearly works.
The reservation system is easy. You select a day, you select a time, you press submit. It's truly that simple. Plus the J-OS staff can speak, read, and write English, so there is no communication problems.