I have been taking conversation based lessons at Apricot once a week for 2 months and Eiken exam preparation lessons for another 2 months. Within those four months I've achieved so much! My teacher explained every lesson's content and provided feedback to my parents after every lesson. She also outlined how to prepare and review the coming lessons. Within those short four months I feel I've improved my pronunciation of common English sounds (phonics) and I'm now able to read words that I had never seen before. I also practiced reading my homework aloud in front of my parents until I could recite it in the next lesson. The classes aren't grammar heavy, but rather emphasize on specific English sounds and teach how to move your tongue in order to pronounce them properly. In the class before my exam, I was a bit nervous and talked less than usual, but remembered what my teacher has taught me. On the test day we had a heavy snowfall, which is very rare in Kagoshima. I went to the test site with my parents. When I found out that I had passed the exam, my classmates in the English conversation class were happy for me. Since then, I have gained more confidence than ever before and am working harder than ever to learn English.