She Goes Viral Teaching Japanese

Meet Sayaka (‪@NihongoDekita‬) the skit-loving Japanese teacher making waves on KZbin, Instagram and TikTok! How did Sayaka go from working at Outback Steakhouse to becoming one of the biggest Japanese language teachers in the world? Let’s find out 👀
0:00 Introduction
0:40 NihongoDekita with Sayaka
5:00 Language school in the US
11:24 Learning how to teach Japanese
15:16 Why come back to Japan?
21:29 How did you start NihongoDekita
24:17 Did you know there are 3 meanings for ‘sumimasen’
29:31 Thoughts on ChatGPT for translation
34:00 When learning a language, you can’t just explain everything with words
39:00 Wanting to quit
43:30 Mean comments on gaining weight
44:13 Future plans for NihongoDekita
❤️‍🔥 Passion Project Japan a bi-weekly video podcast about inspiring self-starters living in Japan who are turning their dreams into reality. From entrepreneurs to community starters, freelancers to side hustlers, we uncover the wisdom, tactics, and resources they’ve used to chase their passion projects.
About Sayaka:
KZbin: / nihongodekitawithsayaka
Instagram: / nihongodekita
TikTok: / nihongodekita
Website: www.nihongodekita.com
Follow us:
Instagram - / passionprojectjp
TikTok - / passionprojectjp
Theo - / theothespurs
Gia - / stayhomewlinh
Listen to us:
Spotify - open.spotify.com/show/0J6hxty...
Apple Podcasts - podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast...

[@NihongoDekita]

Thank you for having me!🙌🏼🥰

[@passionprojectjp]

Thanks for sharing your story with us 🫡

[@CanyonEdit]

SAYAKA SENSEI!

[@e-care-books9867]

Yokatta!

[@makaizaku]

This channel is going to hit a tipping point and explode. High quality guests, editing, presentation. Matter of time...

[@passionprojectjp]

Thank you so much Makaizaku!! Honestly made our day, we hope to keep producing cool interviews like this 🔥

[@gtortilla]

Came here for Sayaka-sensei, stayed for the great podcast and content. Subscribed! 🫶

[@passionprojectjp]

This made our day!! Thank you and we hope to keep making great content 🙌

[@shoyutheworld]

Always a huge fan of Sayaka and this is a cool episode to understand her origin story! Glad to have found you guys’ podcast 🎉

[@Sodapopper100]

さやかせんせい is an amazing teacher… as a current student of 102, I can attest to the quality of her teaching. (Shout out to じゅんぺい& ゆや) I encourage anyone looking at her classes to pick it up and join us! いろいろありがとうございます❤ -エイドー

[@RandomUser-100]

Sayaka, is sooo likeable 😊 I was hoping you would let her sign off, in her usual fashion 😅

[@viffer94]

I suddenly have a craving for a bloomin’ onion. Congratulations Sayaka san on the success of Nihongo deki ta, I’m a subscriber and a fan! ❤

[@linktube]

I cannot express enough how grateful I am for your videos and reels. I am about to take my second trip to Japan, and your tips and tricks have been such an important part of my studies in addition to flash cards and textbooks. Thank you for your help, Sayaka! ❤

[@connertp]

このインタビューは本当に楽しかったです。 さやかさんはすばらしい先生です。 頑張ってください。

[@sumukhabharadwaj4026]

27:05 I got interested to watch your podcast because of a reel I saw in Instagram lol.

[@passionprojectjp]

Thank you so much!!! I guess the reels are working 😅

[@Khobchba9]

Cool interview!

[@passionprojectjp]

Thank you!!! 🎉

[@PascalJ72]

Very happy for this interview. Sayaka is my sensei and i love the way she teach. I've learned a lot with this interview. ありがとう！

[@passionprojectjp]

ありがとう Pascal!! 🎉

[@brunoinajosa2360]

♥ the best teacher

[@scotkleinman]

What a great converation. Thanks!

[@passionprojectjp]

Glad you liked it 😊

[@paulwalther5237]

In that context where someone gives up their seat for me on the train, I would only say "thank you" in English.

[@craigdubin6325]

さやかせんせい！ おめでとうございます！ from Japanese 102!

[@NihongoDekita]

クレイグさんありがとうございます☺️🙌🏼

[@elijahjflowers]

41:18 i know the feeling. lmao. helps me practice patience.

[@passionprojectjp]

Good to know I'm not alone 😂

[@chirvo]

Sensei, your KZbin Short of the days of the week in Japanese; that is THE WAY to learn them: 🎶Getsu, Ka, Sui, Moku Kin, Do, Nichi 🎶 Awesome!

[@bernoGarcia]

Great interview, super interesting.

[@passionprojectjp]

Thank you!! 🎉

[@pjdilip]

What a lovely person ❤ i wish there was a Japanese version of this!

[@paulwalther5237]

I have a tiny KZbin channel where I randomly blog about studying languages. I am too afraid to read the comments 😂😂. Sometimes KZbin shows the comments in the alerts just like when it recommends me a new video from someone I subscribe to so I see them then but otherwise I would never go in and deliberately read them.

[@JM-sl9ql]

Such an interesting interview. I am living in Japan and watch her channel to be able to learn phrases and understand nuances. So entertaining as well. I'm sorry Michigan can be so "middle of nowhere"! It is so true.

[@passionprojectjp]

Thanks for tuning in!! All the best for your Japanese learning journey ☺️

[@robshandl3]

教えてくれてありがとう

[@jeremyT-ASL]

NihonGoDekitaのチャネルが凄いです。

[@PROBODAFERRARI90]

Goddamn Bro... 👍

[@lukerockhold5216]

chkita hermosa😘

[@paulwalther5237]

I think the random conversations with strangers thing in America is a little exaggerated. I rarely have conversations with people I don't know. Although I think people maybe like talking to young people more so if you come over as a student it's more likely to happen.

[@christopherpaul7588]

Sayaka I just looked at your website. "Assistants" is spelled wrong on your website. I'm interested in taking classes if it's not too late!

[@paulwalther5237]

All three of you speak English at a really high level but Sayaka's pronunciation is off the charts. If she wanted to fool me and was careful about her wording instead of saying "how do you say?'" and just played it safe... I would not know she wasn't a native English speaker. How does someone learn to pronounce a foreign language so well?? * edit * as long as she doesn't say "faculty card" 😂😂. It sounds like something else.

[@coolbrotherf127]

She teaches well, but it also helps that her videos are way more entertaining than the "standard" Japanese teacher.

[@paulwalther5237]

I really enjoyed this interview but I will be honest. Educational Japanese videos like hers are a lot like reading the dictionary or a textbook to me. I'm really surprised they're so popular.

[@markdeguzman6556]

I think AI complete with a virtual human talking will replace google translate soon.

[@christopherpaul7588]

That's not true. I was in Japan for three weeks and on at least two or three occasions I got help from Japanese people without asking. Once in a train station, another time in a restaurant. In the train station, a very nice lady with a baby walked with me to show me where I needed to go. And in the restaurant a girl with her family helped me speak to the waiter since she spoke English well. Japanese people are very friendly. :)