coto

This chat session was a lot of fun!!! I learned a lot and had a wonderful time speaking and listening with the volunteers. I am grateful to Coto Academy for these free chat sessions, and I am grateful to the volunteers who make this all possible. I STRONGLY encourage all Coto students to attend these chat sessions!!! You will get a chance to speak and listen to native speakers. It is worth your time.

Pros;

- I think is good if you're a beginner.

- It's online.

Cons;

- The topics were extremely common in a typical conversation practice; where are you from? what's your favourite food do you like? what's your hobby? etc. and completely disregard what sort of level the student has.

- The Coto team came into the chat-room and type the instruction for the volunteer in front of our eyes, which make the entire conversation awkward and robotic.

Fun conversation with a great group of people. A very pleasant experience. 5/5

Bento Chat was a LOT of fun! I've been going to many Bento Chat sessions, both in person and on-line. I think these Bento Chat sessions are improving. In this session, I had a lot of fun talking with the volunteers. We mostly talked about current events. I strongly encourage students to attend these Chat sessions. It's FREE. And it's an amazing opportunity to talk with native speakers and improve your Japanese. I appreciate this service that Coto is providing to their students. I also very much appreciate the volunteers for their service. Thank you Coto!

楽しかったですが、一つのビデオがあまり繋がりませんでした。そして、一人よりもっと日本人がいればいるほどよろしいかもしれません。

This was the BEST chat session I ever had! I've been to in-person Bento Chats while I was in Tokyo, and I have attended on-line Bento chats. This was the best experience I've had so far. Everybody had a chance to speak. The volunteers were very nice and helped with grammar and vocabulary. It was a very happy event! Everybody was laughing. I guess the biggest compliment I can give is to say I wish this session didn't have to end. Thank you Coto Academy for putting on this free service for your students. And I also want to thank the volunteers for their service.

It’s a fun event, and I appreciate that coto staff was proposing questions and topics during the chat. Some of the questions where quite interesting, some I’ve had not even thought about in my own language. Deep stuff lol. Thank you again coto staff!

I appreciate that COTO Academy provides this FREE opportunity for their students to engage with native speaking volunteers. I very much appreciate the volunteers for their service. I have attended in-person chat sessions in the past, and I have attended on-line chat sessions. The on-going problem is that the the sessions are not fair. Many times one student will keep talking, and the volunteer will not stop this. In this last session, one student, who had poor speaking skills, would not shut up. He kept on talking. I think he might have been a little drunk. COTO needs to train their volunteers to TAKE CONTROL of the session so that it is fair for everyone. Because of this on-going unfairness, and because volunteers do not take control of the sessions, most of the sessions I have attended have been a waste of time.

Another great bento chat, the volunteers were very nice and fun to talk with!

Unfortunately one of the students just kept talking without letting anyone get a word in edgewise. You would think this would characterize someone at an advanced level, but it was just the opposite. Even when the volunteer asked for a different persons opinion, the problematic person jumped in front and would let anyone speak. He then proceeded to show everyone around his house and brag about where he lived, entirely in grammatically incorrect and broken sentences.

Anyway, I had a great time in the few chances i had to speak with the volunteer and other students!! Thank you Coto!!

Great chatting with fellow Japanophiles and Coto staff and volunteers!

Great bento chat as usual. Valuable time practicing conversation with a native speaker and fellow students. I found that one of the participants was at a higher level than I am at speaking and it was nice to see where I can be at soon.

I wonder why I didnt receive the email with the zoom link until I requested it though? If possible please include me on the zoom links.

Well, the Bento Chat Event is FREE. And, it is supervised by volunteers. So it is very difficult to critique this event and Coto Academy. It is wonderful that Coto Academy is providing this free service/event for their students, especially during the CoVid19 crises. This event was fun. The students seemed to be mostly beginners. I wish the volunteers would be more cognizant of ALL the students and try to motivate ALL students to participate. It is not fair when one student does 90% of the talking, and some students don't get the chance to speak at all. I have encountered this problem in prior "chat events" before. Thank you Coto for providing this service.

Really nice.

Thank you to the organizers! It was really fun!

Very fun and the teacher was excellent! I enjoyed eating the sushi after making it.