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Nihongo Online School > Students > [Study Plan with Ben-san] Completed 150 Hours of Studying Japanese

[Study Plan with Ben-san] Completed 150 Hours of Studying Japanese

2024/03/29

Director: Kotaro Muramoto
Principal of Nihongo Online School
In September 2019, he founded "Nihongo Online School". Since then, has been teaching Japanese online lessons, with a total of over 1,000 students.
He has designed an individualized curriculum based on student’s needs and study goal. And is conscious of making the classes speech-centered in order to improve students’ speaking skills.
The school asks students to submit homework assignments worth 2 hours per lesson to improve faster. By supporting students with these features, students are able to efficiently improve Japanese language skills.

Hi, this is teacher Natsumi of Nihongo Online School. Today, we introduce study plan for one of our students Ben -san living in UK who completed 150 hours of studying Japanese. 

Teacher Natsumi Higashiyama

Qualifications

Teacher Natsumi

Completed 420-hour Japanese language teacher training course

Experience

After obtaining her Japanese language teaching certification, she traveled to developing countries as a member of an international independent administrative organization and worked at a local Japanese language school, while also being involved in school management.

Since 2019, she has been working as an online Japanese language instructor at Japanese Online School, LLC, teaching practical skills for doing business or living in Japanese, drawing on her many business and Japanese language teaching experiences.

We reviewed, 1. Trial lesson 2. Feedback about Japanese level  3. Study plan  4. Study approach  5. Improvement for this blog.

●Summary


Nationality: UK
Age: 20
Occupation: Office worker
Reason for learning Japanese: ​​​​​​
I love Japanese culture, and when I went on a trip to Japan, I felt frustrated because I couldn’t communicate with the local people. I want to be able to communicate with Japanese people as soon as possible. I also plan to study abroad in Japan starting October of this year. After graduating from Japanese language school, I’m considering finding a job in Japan.

●Trial Lesson Feedback

【 Level : JLPT N5  (Level 2 in our level chart) 】

※Based on the OPI level criteria, we will evaluate your conversational ability on a scale of 10. If you want to more about conversation level criteria, please check this blog.


Listening: 1 Speaking: 1 Reading: 2  Pronunciation: 2
・Pronunciation is clear and easy to hear.
・Able to read Hiragana and Katakana accurately.
・He can understand if I ask him questions slowly using simple words.
・Unable to form sentences and respond by arranging words.
・He can read the time, but he says numbers incorrectly.
・He remembers the words he studied, but it takes time for him to output them. If he has more time to output, his speaking ability will improve even more.

※we will evaluate your Japanese ability in terms of Reading, Speaking, Listening aspects.

●Learning Plan Enrollment Course: 150 Hours Course


★Lesson (50H)

150 hours sample plan, Ben-san
1Explanation of the class, Greeting and self-introduction in Japanese26Minna no nihongo Lesson13
2・First 20 minutes for free conversation
・HIRAGANA Lesson1-2 あ〜き line
27Minna no nihongo Lesson14
3・First 20 minutes for free conversation
・HIRAGANA 2 Lesson3 た〜は line
28Minna no nihongo Lesson15
4・First 20 minutes for free conversation (continue every lesson)
・HIRAGANA 3 Lesson4 ま〜わ line
29Minna no nihongo Lesson9~15
5・HIRAGANA 4 Lesson 5 Voiced sound and P-sound, ・Writing of Hiragana30Minna no nihongo Lesson16
6HIRAGANA Review31Minna no nihongo Lesson17
7HIRAGANA TEST32Minna no nihongo Lesson18
8KATAKANA1 Lesson6-733Minna no nihongo Lesson19
9KATAKANA Lesson8-934Minna no nihongo Lesson19
10KATAKANA Lesson1035Minna no nihongo Lesson20
11HIRAGANA + KATAKANA Lesson1136Minna no nihongo Lesson20
12HIRAGANA + KATAKANA ReviewLesson1237Minna no nihongo Lesson20
13Minna no nihongo Lesson138Minna no nihongo Lesson21
14Minna no nihongo Lesson239Minna no nihongo Lesson21
15Minna no nihongo Lesson340Minna no nihongo Lesson22
16Minna no nihongo Lesson441Minna no nihongo Lesson22
17Minna no nihongo Lesson542Minna no nihongo Lesson22
18Minna no nihongo Lesson643Minna no nihongo Lesson23
19Minna no nihongo Lesson744Minna no nihongo Lesson23
20Minna no nihongo Lesson845Minna no nihongo Lesson23
21Minna no nihongo Lesson1~846Minna no nihongo Lesson24
22Minna no nihongo Lesson947Minna no nihongo Lesson24
23Minna no nihongo Lesson1048Minna no nihongo Lesson25
24Minna no nihongo Lesson1149Minna no nihongo review Lesson 1-25
25Minna no nihongo Lesson1250

NS practice

★Homework (100H)

The teacher gives you 2 hours of homework per lesson as follows:

  • Create and output sentences using new words and grammar
  • Read NHK’s “News Web Easy” and learn Japanese expressions and phrases. 
  • Practice writing impressions about articles (when improved)

★Lesson Notes

He’s making an effort to speak actively using the words and grammar he knows. However, he makes noticeable mistakes in grammar and tenses, so I will provide appropriate guidance. Since he is a person who loves talking and would like to improve his speaking skills, we plan to use the first 20 minutes of the class as output time for free conversation. Also, if he cannot explain it in Japanese, he may end up speaking in English, so I encourage him to say something like, “Let’s try speaking in Japanese.”

●Learning Approach


Teaching materials: Original text, Minna no Nihongo, Genki II, Marugoto

Class frequency: 2 times/week (50 minutes)

How to proceed with the class:

① Vocabulary and Grammar

Learn using texts. Make it stick by taking a vocabulary test every time. Create his own example sentences using new words and grammar to deepen his understanding.

② Speaking

The first 20 minutes of class will be used as free conversation time, where students will talk about today’s date, day of the week, and recent events. Allow 20 minutes for students to speak as much as possible.

③ Listening

The teacher asks various questions using new vocabulary and grammar. To improve his listening level, speak faster and ask more questions. In addition, students will prepare for the JLPT using the entire listening Marugoto materials.

④ Writing (Homework)

Consolidate his memory by creating and outputting sentences using new words and grammar.

⑤ Reading (Homework)

Read NHK’s “News Web Easy” and learn Japanese expressions and phrases. As his level improves, he will also practice writing impressions about articles.

●Achievement 【Level : JLPT N3+ (Level 5 in our level chart)】


① Vocabulary and Grammar

Reached N3 level. Even in conversations, he can now use words such as `隔離、両替、停電、症状、違和感.”

② Speaking

N3 level. He’s now able to express what He wants to say in a way that is easy for the other person to understand. He can now say 2-3 sentences per question without making many grammar mistakes.

For example, use expressions such as “I was sleeping in the shade. The mailbox was painted gold. It’s not effective for everyone. If I don’t have any symptoms, I’ll test myself. I want to reduce my load.”

③ Listening

N4 level. Can answer questions at normal speed.

④ Writing

N3 level. He is now able to write his impressions of articles and news written in easy Japanese using N3 kanji.

Overall

Due to the effects of his independent study, he eventually grew from N5 to N3 level. He made sure to review new vocabulary and grammar (homework), and actively used new vocabulary and grammar during class to produce output. In the beginning, there were many grammatical mistakes, but towards the end, He was able to notice and correct them himself. His vocabulary has increased and He’s now able to express his opinions on a variety of topics.

Good luck studying abroad in Japan!

Ben-san The U.S
12 month with 150 lessons course

I only studied at home by myself before signing up for Nihongo Online School, so my knowledge has been pretty basic, theoretical and pretty random. I needed more structure, boundaries and deadlines through a teacher, and conversation practice to force me to say real sentences with proper grammar.
The good points are being able to practice my speaking with someone that can help me with my mistakes. I’ve enjoyed all my lessons so far with Natsumi-sensei. The lesson level has been appropriate, have been going well.

Teacher Natsumi Higashiyama

Qualifications

Teacher Natsumi

Completed 420-hour Japanese language teacher training course

Experience

After obtaining her Japanese language teaching certification, she traveled to developing countries as a member of an international independent administrative organization and worked at a local Japanese language school, while also being involved in school management.

Since 2019, she has been working as an online Japanese language instructor at Japanese Online School, LLC, teaching practical skills for doing business or living in Japanese, drawing on her many business and Japanese language teaching experiences.