Hi, my name is Yuki Shimizu. I am a Japanese Neurolanguage Coach and also, a full-time college instructor in the U.S. Today, I would like to write about my journey to become a Japanese coach.

How did I get interested in Japanese?

Since I was a first grade, I have been fascinated by the beauty of Japanese, especially the pronunciation. Have you ever seen a child who is always eager to read aloud in front of the classmates? I was that kind of girl. Evidently, Japanese caught my heart. That’s how I became interested in the Japanese language.

Why did I become a Japanese teacher?

Well… I moved to the U.S. with my parents when I was in high school. The school I went to did not have ESL classes, and of course, I was the only one who could not speak English. To survive at school, I spent so much time studying without sleep. Then, I realized how much I had missed reading and writing Japanese. At the same time, I became interested in what was going on in my head. How do people learn and be fluent in a foreign language? Does my mother tongue interfere in my acquisition of English? After high school, I decided to learn Japanese linguistics at college in Japan. Afterwards, I completed an MA degree in Japanese linguistics and became a college instructor.

Then, why did I become a coach now?

This is another story, so I will write about my transition from a traditional teacher to a coach in my next blog.

This was just the beginning of my journey, but what I want to tell you is how much I love Japanese. Since I started teaching Japanese in the U.S., I have met thousands of students who aspire to work and live in Japan. You might be one of them. What is your motivation for learning Japanese? How does Japanese change your life? I would love to hear your story.