Sarah is a Brazilian Youtuber who founded the SpeakJapanese channel in 2011, and it is reaching its milestone of 100K this year, 2016.
It is very difficult to see channels for learning Japanese here in Brazil. Sarah's channel already has several merits among Japanese students in Brazil.
The biggest differential of the channel is the way of teaching, fun and efficient teaching, which aims at all the difficulties that students may have. Another strong point is Sarah's charisma and manner, she is able to pass on what she feels to the students, something that is lacking in today's “robotized” teachers.
Sarah will open a school in the future, and this and other things you will see below!
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How was your childhood?
I was a very active child. I played in the dirt, I loved playing ball, playing with prams and teaching my dolls to read and write. Since the age of 9, she has been doing volunteer work in nursing homes, day care centers, schools to teach students how to dance, do some crafts or even just talk. We traveled a lot as a family and loved to discover new things.
How is your family relationship?
Very good, best impossible. My parents have always supported me in absolutely everything and, like many families of Italian origin, we are very close.
Why did you want to become a teacher?
Since I was little this is my big dream, because I saw my parents, both educators, correcting tests and preparing classes with a lot of love and dedication. Hence the desire grew. Over time, I saw that the profession was even more beautiful than I imagined.
What was the reason why you wanted to visit Japan, learn Japanese and become a Japanese teacher?
It was actually not quite a choice. My mother was invited to work as a principal at a Brazilian school there and I went along. The reason I learned Japanese was to follow the subject (I was studying at an international school, but the classes were in Japanese).
The reason for being a Japanese teacher is that several people told me that I taught English in a fun and easy to understand way, so I decided to pass it on to Japanese too, since it is a super difficult language and any little help is already a great hand on the wheel. I try in my classes to make the difficult become mysterious, and with that, pleasurable.
Was it difficult to learn Japanese?
MUCH! I spent many hours every day doing this, including every weekend.
Is there any reason for you to have created the Denial Channel other than teaching itself?
Yup. In 2011, there were no channels or almost no blogs related to Japanese culture/language. Since I wanted to teach, I decided to create the blog and later the youtube channel. I wanted to teach for free and would like the classes to be easily accessible.
What are your hobbies?
Read, travel, teach anything, eat!
What was your reaction when visiting Japan for the first time?
I found everything very different and found the places extremely tight.
When you go to Japan, what do you miss most about Brazil? and vice versa?
In Japan, I miss my family and friends a lot. In Brazil, I miss security, punctuality, and food.
Each country has unique things, but have you ever thought of hating one of them? Like Japan and Brazil, if so, why?
Hating is a very strong word, but I was not a big fan of the Japanese's coldness and excess of politeness. In Brazil, I am irritated by the lack of seriousness and the famous 'Brazilian guy', I think that first of all we owe his honesty.
Is there anything you intend to do in the near future that will take your focus away from teaching Japanese a little?
I also teach English to foreigners and English. However, I think that everything from now on will be focused on teaching a language, as this is what I love to do. In the future, I intend to take groups to know Japan, being able to explain things about the country's culture and history in our mother tongue.
What are your current goals?
We are opening our school, so my main goal at the moment is to get time ($$$) to open a physical school in São Paulo, to be able to provide a great place and material for my students.
Sarah, please tell us about the course and classes you plan to run.
The courses have as differential this more dynamic teaching, mixing information about the culture and current life in Japan. It is a very personalized course, we really teach what the student needs or wants to study. Since the classes are online, I have several students from Japan and other countries like Canada and the United States, even one of the residents there may fall into your class!
Do you intend to have a classroom or online school?
Both! If all goes well, this year we will open our physical space!
If it is face-to-face, will you introduce yourself as the owner and only administer or will you teach normally?
Introduce myself? Hm... I'll teach normally, but I'll also take care of the pedagogical part of the school in general. I would introduce myself as principal and teacher, I guess, although I don't think the way I introduce myself would change anything.
How will the classes be?
Classes currently have a maximum of 4 students. With a physical space, it may increase a little, but not so much.
What about the price? Will it be accessible?
We did several price surveys and tried to make it average and in groups, below it.
What is the minimum age to participate in the course?
We have no minimum age or age limit.
Do you think that your course will differ from the existing ones? If so, why and for what purposes?
As I said earlier, we like to teach in a dynamic and fun way, always looking for things outside the handouts to get out of the routine a bit, like working with songs and series, etc. Another difference is the teachers trained in Japan. We know a lot about what life is like there and what it would be better to do on certain occasions. I believe that we could help not only in language learning, but we would also be a survival guide in Japan.
What do you have to say to people who are thinking about learning Japanese or who are already starting to learn?
Don't give up, really. The start is hard, nothing is easy. However, with great dedication, you can get anywhere!
I arrived in Japan not even knowing how to say thank you and managed to reach the level of fluency even though I was not a descendant. It's possible! Just strength, claw and will! Good luck!!! < 3
As we have seen, Sarah is a very outgoing and communicative person. She always does her best to answer everyone's questions.
It is the first time that I interview someone, and I admit that it was very good and profitable, I hope every day to improve more as a writer and also learn a lot more about Japan and other things of self and mutual interest.
NOTE: Some questions have a lasting time, and may change due to Sarah, but we will not change anything in relation to this article in the future!
