Improve your speaking skills by Reading Aloud with private session and in-person Oral Performance Culmination

You’ve got the textbooks and flashcards. You know hiragana and katakana by heart. You’re making great progress in your Japanese skills, but… you’re afraid of speaking.

Whether you fear making mistakes, being misunderstood, or not being able to say what you want to say, you are not alone. Speaking a new language is intimidating! But it’s also a necessary ingredient for improving your conversational skills.

Tackle your fear and learn to speak Japanese smoothly with award-winning Shimizu-sensei and her special method: Ondoku (音読, “Ohn-doh-ku”), which literally translates to “reading aloud.” This intensive workshop will sharpen your reading, writing, and listening skills, as well as help you speak Japanese more naturally through a series of exercises in reading aloud. Reading aloud will help you adapt to the “flow” of Japanese and make your speaking and pronunciation skills more smooth.

What’s cool about this workshop is that you’ll have a 30-minute one-on-one lesson with Shimizu Sensei, along with 2 online lessons and in-person group session “Oral Performance Culmination” session.

Qualified students must live in the Bay Area and have already taken Beginning 1 & 2 classes at the Japan Society of Northern California or have passed the JLPT N5 exam.
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Workshop Details:

1. Online Session (1 hour): October 4, from 7pm-8pm / Zoom
2. Online Session (1 hour): October 11, from 7pm-8pm / Zoom
3. Private Session (30 mins): 3^rd week of October, individual appointment / Zoom
4. In-Person Session (2 hours): October 25, 6:30-8:30 / in person at the JSNC San Francisco office
5. Communications such as: editing and writing by email

Class Material:

• GENKI 1, reading and writing section from CH 3-6
• Shimizu-sensei’s original materials

Fee:

$250 (Membership is required for this booking. Join and support the Japan Society! Membership can also be applied to sign up for group lessons and workshop in the future!)

***Minimum of 4 students are required. Maximum of 8 students. Deadline to register for this class is September 25!!

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Our Amazing Teacher:

MASAKO SHIMIZU

Shimizu sensei grew up in Japan and graduated from Keio University in Tokyo with a B.A. in Japanese Literature. She received an M.S. in Journalism from Boston University. She worked for the Yomiuri Shimbun and TV Asahi, reporting from Japan, Asia, and the US. Prior to teaching for the Japan Society, she taught Japanese at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco, where she received an Award for Distinguished Service to Disability Issues.

She has focused her studies and career on improving communications between cultures. She has been an active member of the Japan Society since 2001.