I've been studying the Japanese language for over 20 years. I was certified N1, the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, in December of 2024. Japanese is a wonderful albeit intimidating language to learn, but with the right support, tools, and attitude it is absolutely doable. I know how important a strong foundation is- I have a great deal of experience from my own self-directed learning and in tutoring other students at the college level. I'm a firm believer that learning in a vacuum amounts to little more than rote memorization and that seeing in context through media is absolutely essential to the learning process. In my spare time, I enjoy reading in both English and Japanese, playing video games, watching anime spending time with my wife and two cats, and doing photography.

I enjoy photography, hanging out with my cats, video games, watching movies, horror, science fiction, and murder mysteries! I have a particular love of anime from the late 70s to mid 90s, as well as Star Trek and Star Wars.