Student testimonial

This is an introduction to one of the students of HH JapaNeeds. He couldn’t speak

at all when he came to Japan, but a year later he was able to converse only in
Japanese. He used the Japanese he learned very much at work.

Name: Nick Richter

Nationality: USA
Study area: Nagoya
Starting level: Novice
Study frequency: 60 minutes once a week for one and a half years, two tutors
Goal: Improving daily conversation
Achievement: Simple conversations can be spoken without any inconvenience. He can
write simple kanji such as hiragana and katakana

My name is Nick Richter, and I am a junior high school teacher in Nagoya. I came to
Japan to teach English, spread the Gospel as a missionary teacher, and experience
firsthand Japanese culture and the people. For many years, I had wanted to travel
to Japan. I knew before I even entered the country that the language barrier was
going to be a big one. I knew that Japanese people learned English in school, but
not many Japanese people are fluent in English. I knew that to get the most out of
my time in Japan, I would have to study and learn at least a little Japanese.
Learning online or studying from a textbook can help you, but they only get you so
far. I knew that to start to become fluent in Japanese, I would need a tutor.
That’s when I went to Helping Hands of Nagoya.

Getting a tutor through Helping Hands was a great experience from the beginning to
the end. I am a full time teacher, so I have a busy schedule. I was able to choose
where and when to meet a tutor at times, on days, and at places that were
convenient for me. I was also able to choose a tutor at an age level I felt
comfortable with. My tutor has also been able to rearrange our meeting times when I
have a faculty meeting or other school function.

One of the best things about tutors at Helping Hands is they are able to meet your
specific language needs. Although I studied general Japanese grammar and vocabulary
from a textbook, my tutor was also very willing to accommodate my specific learning
needs as an English teacher of young Japanese students. I often deviated from the
content of my textbook when I asked my tutor many questions about the Japanese
words for items in the classroom and how to give common commands and ask questions
related to classroom activities. In addition, my tutor was also very willing to
answer my many questions about various aspects of Japanese culture.

Thanks to my tutor from Helping Hands, I have become much more fluent in Japanese
than when I came to Nagoya about a year ago. I can now talk to Japanese people whom
I meet and really enjoy all that Japan has to offer. I can also communicated with
my students with much greater ease, making sure my lessons are effective and they
can really enjoy our lessons together.