«This is a pen.» The most heard sentence from my Japanese friends during my time in Japan between 1973 and 1983 :-)

We've all come a long way since then. But English still poses a challenge for most Japanese. And here is where I can help. Having lived in Japan for quite a long time, I know why most Japanese struggle with English: Japanese is a sign language while English uses «romaji».

The difference between a Japanese who speaks English fluently and one who doesn't lies mainly in whether or not she/he has learned to disregard Hiragana and Katakana while speaking. For example: A fluent speaker will pronounce the word «energy» like a native speaker, while a not so fluent one will use Katakana to try the same. Using Katakana to pronounce English words limits them to a fixed amount of phonemes. If you now consider the fact that approximately 90 percent of all English words are not pronounced the way they are written, you know what I mean. Using Katakana to pronounce «energy» leads to «e ne ru chi» or «e ne chi», both of which are far from being fluent and often prompt foreigners to ask for a repetition because they just can't decipher what has just been said.

You may now ask yourself how you can solve this problem. One way is to try one of the countless apps or programs which let you repeat previously spoken words. The better ones will record your speech and play it back for you to judge. Or you can listen to native speakers, whose pronunciation is flawless, and repeat what they say. Best would be a mixture of both.

What also helps is my virtual conversation class ;-) You will meet and hear like-minded students who are on the same level as you. You can listen to the conversation and share your ideas and answers if you wish.

Of course I would also love to teach you individually and prepare you for any certificate you plan to acquire.

ENGLISH 360°.ENGLISH 360°
Wie wäre es, wenn Sie für alles was Englisch betrifft nur noch einen Ansprechpartner hätten?
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Virtual Conversation Class.

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Nachhilfe
Manchmal kommt man allein nicht weiter. Ein Klick auf obiges Foto und wir gehen ein Stück zusammen 🙂

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    For my Japanese students

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Englisch kann manchmal ganz schön verzwickt sein. Haben Sie eine Frage? Ich helfe Ihnen gerne. Einmal pro Woche werde ich hier eine Frage beantworten. Kurz und bündig. Einfach auf das Bild klicken.
English can be quite tricky at times. Do you have a question? I would love to help you. Once a week I will answer a question right here. Short and sweet. Just click on the pic.
Ask Dan!

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