Tomoko Sanders
about the teacher
I was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. I earned my teaching credentials at KEC Japanese School and received my B.A. in Japanese Linguistics from Osaka International College in 2007.
At the age of 13, I started studying English at school since every student was required to learn a foreign language. Although it was a requirement, I really enjoyed it because I believe English is a language that allows me to communicate with people from different countries. To improve my listening and pronunciation skills, I used the radio for practice. Later on, I went to a community college in Australia to study English for four months. It was tough at first because I had never heard an Australian accent before, but about a month later, I suddenly started to understand what they were saying! After returning from Australia, I had the opportunity to continue speaking with English speakers. I later taught Japanese privately to missionaries and other students in Japan. I currently live in Lynchburg, VA, and am homeschooling my two young children. I enjoy remodeling the house, cooking, and playing with my kids.
Teaching Philosophy
I believe the best way to teach a language is to speak to my students primarily in Japanese and use English only when necessary. We start off with learning large amounts of vocabulary and memorizing grammar patterns. This will give us plenty to work with as we move deeper into the language. I will use pictures, audio, flash cards, and videos to help students understand, remember, and use Japanese. My prayer is that my students will take their new language skill to proclaim the gospel to the people of Japan.
I strongly encourage students to learn Japanese because as you learn a language, you will also learn a new culture.
Many students have studied Latin expecting to move on to a modern Romance language. Why learn Japanese? The grammar you learned in Latin and also in your native language will not be exactly the same as what you’ll find in Japanese. But if you have studied the grammar of any language, you will find Japanese grammar familiar in some ways and a challenging stretch in others. For example, we use subjects and verbs, just like any other language. In English, you have a subject, verb, object (SVO) word order: ‘I eat sushi." But Japanese has a subject, object, verb (SOV) word order: ‘I sushi eat.’ This is one of many grammar differences that can be confusing at first for new learners, but it is definitely possible to learn. It just takes a lot of practice. Also, the Japanese writing system is unique. It consists of three different sets of characters: 1) Kanji, which has several thousand Chinese characters. 2) Hiragana, which is used for native or naturalized Japanese words, and for grammatical elements, 3) Katakana, which is used for foreign words and names, scientific words, etc.
Regarding culture, Japanese people are well-mannered and polite. In fact, this is even seen in their speech. Japanese have what is called ‘keigo.' Keigo is used as an honorific speech in order to show consideration and respect to a person who is older than them, or to someone who has a higher position than them. So their speech will differ depending on the person they are talking to whether it is a friend, a colleague, a client, etc. When Japanese people say いいえ, そんなことないです (iie, sonna koto nai desu), it is used as a way for them to humbly say 'You're welcome,' but it really means ‘No, I am not the one you should thank.' I think these words show their care for others and it also represents how Japanese people value humility and respect. This is one reason why I find Japanese culture to be so interesting, and I think you will too!
Statement of Faith
I hold to the essentials of the Christian faith as displayed in both the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. Additionally, I affirm the five solas of the Reformed tradition. I currently live in Virginia.