“Determined to solidify my accumulated Japanese knowledge over the years, I had sworn to pass the JLPT N4. I estimated having 80% of the necessary theoretical knowledge, and I had three months to reinforce my skills and discover the remaining 20%: keigo politeness, passive verb form, causative form... the end of Genki II!

I contacted Nanami sensei, who opened the doors of Kotonoha JLS, to ask for an N4 JLPT program considering all my constraints:

• I live in France, so I have an 8-hour minus time difference with Japan.
• I work 5 days a week, so I have limited time to dedicate to Japanese.
• I have a good grasp of many basics but need to review them to prepare well for my exam.

Nanami sensei offered a very clear approach to achieving my goal within these constraints! The classes started, and it was a true delight to work with Nanami. She is genuinely interested in my culture, like the different cities to visit in France and the good dishes. She's a bit disappointed that I drink my tea from a bowl, but that's how it's done in France 😁. We can talk about daily life together, which is ideal for expressing oneself well. This gives me confidence to communicate with the Japanese I meet in France or understand video games and anime in Japanese.

The grammar approach was also very dynamic, and we had numeric support shared in a Zoom video call to assimilate the Genki 2 manual's grammar.

For reading, my weak point, Nanami assigned readings of a very easy level, then gradually increased the difficulty until we could prepare for the JLPT without too much stress.

In the end, I obtained the JLPT N4, and I believe it brought as much joy to me as it did to Nanami. This wouldn't have been possible without her encouragement, received during my train journey to the exam center.

I am very happy with my learning time at Kotonoha JLS, and I recommend this school to everyone preparing for a Japanese exam that is dear to their heart. It's a language and culture worth learning.”