Hajimemashite, everyone. My name is Satomi Murahara
I live in Kagoshima in Kyushu. An active volcano known as Sakura Jima, is the symbol of the town.

I have been teaching at Japanese language schools in Saipan and Kagoshima.  While I was in Saipan, I got to find out about Polynesian dances and now I'm currently learning Tahitian dance. Recently I have become interested in Hula too. One day I'd like to go to Hawaii and Tahiti and dance under the azure sky looking out at the sea.

I love helping everyone to learn Japanese ! So in my class, don't be afraid to make mistakes, just continue to use Japanese.
Talk as  much as possible and ask me lots of questions. This is the shortcut to improving your language skills. I'm really looking forward to hearing about your experiences and have conversations in Japanese with you !

 

Introductory

In the Introductory most of the students are learning Japanese for the first time, or coming back to the language after a long absence, so I try to make the class atmosphere as fun as possible. We learn simple but key Japanese phrases and practice them conversations which are very close to real life situations. Finally you can have a go at talking some of the Japanese you've learned in class with your classmates and with the teacher. Come and experience how fun it is to learn Japanese with me and other classmates.

Beginner 1

I want every learner that takes my class to leave it being able to speak Japanes. So for each class, I set out a key phrase that we are going to learn and we learn the meaning and how to use the phrase, then we spend some time focusing on it and practising it. Then after you've gotten used to saying the phrase, try to practice it in a conversation with your classmates. Talk about yourself, your experiences, friends or family ! If there is a word you don't know how to say, I am there to guide you, please feel free to as the question, "... wa nihongo de nan desuka?"( how do you say ... in Japanese ).

Those of you trying to speak Japanese and practice the language, please come along and take my class.

Low Intermediate Grammar (incl. JLPT N3)

This class is mainly focussing on grammar, but in my class we do not just focus on grammar ability improvement but also try to improve your conversation ability. So just as we do in the Beginner 1 class, each time I prepare a key phrase to focus on in the class and we practice this until you've really got it . Once you've understood the meaning, usage and structure well, then try to use it in your own words and talk about your thoughts and opinions. While we are talking, I'll teach some phrases that Japanese people often use. When you are confident, you will be able to step up to the Intermediate level. You'll increase your vocabulary and learn to speak more fluently as well as "talk correctly" – lets practice Japanese together.

There are so many teachers at JOI but in order to make sure that learners can safely take classes without having to worry about what kind of teacher each one is and whether their classes will be of the same quality, we all contact each other and back each other up. Every member progresses with the others and we all keep an eye on each other as we aim to become better teachers and create even better Japanese lesson plans.