Nihongo teacher shopping...

I've been doing a different kind of shopping lately.

Because I'd like to really improve my Japanese, I've been doing some Skype lessons recently. At the moment, I'm doing three face-to-face lessons a week. One lesson is with a private tutor but it's only 40 minutes. The other two lessons are a group lesson.

The lessons, particularly the private lesson, have been most helpful. However, when I'm thrown in the outside world, I don't feel like I've improved.

I still have trouble expressing myself. I hate it that I can't make long sentences. There's some kind of disconnect between what I learn in the classroom and what is really used in the real world.

So, I've been trying lessons with a few teachers.

I dunno if I'm a difficult client (maybe I am) or because my standards are just too high. I have to remind myself that I'm not really paying a lot so I shouldn't expect too much. LOL!

So far, I've tried lessons with more than 10 teachers. Hehe!

I've had several lessons with one sensei. He's really good because he can explain things well. He also gives assignments which are really helpful. I've made some requests how to handle the lesson but I don't think it's his style so I decided to go look for another instructor.

There's another instructor I tried but it was too easy. I tried a lesson with another instructor based in another country. He was okay, I guess, but I found him to be rude and unprofessional so sayounara, sensei. There was another instructor but that was also terrible so again, sayounara, sensei.

Today, I had two lessons with new instructors. Both are Japanese but based outside Tokyo.

I really loved their teaching style and I think it'll work for me. I hope they plan to teach for a loooong time because it's difficult to go shopping for teachers. Lol!

Tomorrow, I have another trial lesson with another teacher. I hope she's also good.