Itsuko Kinoshita is October's Linguist Learner of the Month. Itsuko has been studying on the Linguist for nine months. She is from Japan but has been living in Los Angeles, California for the past year. Itsuko works from home as an administrator for a Japanese e-mail magazine. She is also a homemaker with two young children.
Itsuko was chosen to be the Linguist Learner of the Month because she has excelled in all areas of her English studies, in particular, writing. When she first began submitting writing on the Linguist, it took her about one hour to write 120 words. She also made an average of one error every seven words. Now, nine months later, Itsuko can write 120 words in 20 minutes and she only makes about one mistake every 16 words. Itsuko's writing has improved a lot because she not only spends time practicing her writing, but she also spends time listening, reading and reviewing almost every day. Itsuko spent eight years studying English at high school and at The Kanda Institute of Foreign Languages in Japan. She also studied English for one year at a community college in Los Angeles. However, she still had problems expressing her thoughts in English. She decided to try the Linguist and this is what she says: Do I like The Linguist system much better? Yes! It is not so expensive, I can study at my pace and I can talk with friends who live in other countries. Also, I have tutors I can speak to whenever and about whatever I want by talking online. It makes me relax.
At The Linguist I can study, not only reading and writing, but also speaking. I feel they are related to each other. Also, I can choose the content I want to learn. I could not choose the content when I went to school. It is very hard to study content which is not interesting.
I can practice speaking through not only the discussions but also 1-on-1 conversations. I am not good at speaking on discussions yet even in Japanese, but I practice during 1-on-1 conversations and I get more comfortable attending discussions little by little. I learn more and become more brave. In school, there is too much pressure. The best thing is The Linguist has a homey feel and I am comfortable. I can rest whenever I like. The Linguist is becoming a part of everyday life for me.
