Keiko Okamoto

I've been so lucky to have her for two semesters by chance. Incredibly kind, patient, funny, and sweet — someone who genuinely brightens up my day every time I go to class. She came out of retirement to help teach class this semester which shows her dedication to teaching and her students as well. Best teacher ever!!!!

I feel like I might be shot for writing this review, but here goes. Yes, Okamoto-sensei is a wonderful person. And she's certainly not a bad teacher either. She's basically a kindly smiling old lady who still enjoys having fun with the youngins....your typical benevolent grandma, really. While you will certainly enjoy class with her, there are a few drawbacks to her teaching style. (In a nutshell: if you need an instructor that goes through Japanese VERY SLOWLY, and if you're not comfortable with your ability to keep up with a brisker pace in class, Okamoto is for you.) First: class with her moves slooow. This works for some people, but it did not work for me. This may not be very apparent to you unless you've actually had Japanese with another professor at Columbia - but once you have, class with Okamoto can seem almost excruciatingly slow at times. Her teaching style involves grilling every single person to make sure they grasp some new grammar concept and can reproduce it in a made-up sentence - students making up sentences take time. Okamoto herself trying to come up with new and exciting sentences for them to complete takes time. Be prepared to wait and space out during long periods of awkward silence. Also, sometimes class feels like it's going so slow just because she's such a nice old lady. Sometimes when she spoke to us I felt like I was back in preschool. Second: Oka…

Funny, nice, and a really great teacher! Work for this class may take up a large portion of your semester but it really doesn't feel like work at all. First Year Japanese will whet your taste for gaining command of the language and also set you quite well on your way. Okamoto is obviously very knowledgeable of foreign language pedagogy, and one gets the feeling that the entire department is extremely cohesive and plans well. The textbook is very well organized. You will learn the two syllabaries (hiragana and katakana) very quickly while learning many of the basis vocabulary words and grammar points, and then you will delve into kanji and some more complex ideas. By the end of the course you will be able to watch a Japanese movie or listen to a conversation and pick out an impressive number of words and phrases, although admittedly it will still mostly sound like gibberish. Ultimately, a very difficult language will begin to be accessible to you, and because of Okamoto's easygoing yet tough teaching style fluency in the future will become conceivable. I recommend taking this course in conjunction with an introduction to japanese or east asian literature or intro to japanese civ, as it will get you excited about learning the language of a culture with an extraordinarily rich linguistic tradition.

Japanese language, culture, and perspectives

Lovely, amazing, kind, fun. Okamoto sensei is an angel and one of the best professors at Columbia. I don't know how she doesn't have 5 stars yet. I always came out of her class feeling at ease and happier than when I came in. She often goes around the classroom to make sure everyone knows the sentence structure and students are always eager to participate.

Okamoto-sensei will smile at you mercilessly until your sense of shame dissolves and you spit out the vocabulary you weren't sure you memorised the night before. She is one of the nicest human beings on campus, and also one of the hardest working -- she is always full of energy in her classes, which makes a huge difference in everyone's attitudes by the end of the hour. In terms of teaching style, Okamoto-sensei reviews the grammar and then round-robins questions until everyone has had their turn, which helps shore up oral practice. She has never failed to entertain a question before, during or after class.

More similar to an anime character than a Columbia Professor, Okamoto sensei is perhaps one of, if not, the best professor I have had thus far. Although she moves at a quick pace according to the department schedule, she always takes time to make sure her students understand the content before moving on. In her first-year class, she is most helpful by incorporating english explanations into her lessons so that no one becomes to bewildered. In tune with pop culture and familiar with high class locations, she transforms every class into a hysterical lesson that many times consists of comparisons between Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Nonetheless, she is hardcore about Japanese and wants her students more to understand the language and culture than she does about them making the best grades. Homework can be heavy at times, and quizzes are given everyday, but I don't believe this method is any different from any other first-year Japanese course. For any student thinking of taking first-year Japanese, Okamoto sensei has my highest recommendation for both increasing language proficiency as well as making an hour of classtime very enjoyable.

How to read authentic Japanese material.

Okamoto Sensei is perhaps the greatest Japanese instructor at Columbia. She is kind, patient, and loving to all of her students. Why is it that she is yet to receive a big gold star?

Okamoto-sensei is lovely and amazing! She is so cute and quirky; every day I walked out of class more cheerful than when I'd come in. I learned a lot of Japanese in the class too; Okamoto is really good with her examples and also using English if the class is just giving her blank stares. Take it! You'll love her. <3