Testimonials
“Zach’s cultural perspective and knowledge of Japanese language greatly benefited the entire team at the Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Botanical Gardens.”
- James P. Folsom, Director of Gardens at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
“Zachary and I worked together as English teachers in Japan for three years. I found him to be a conscientious and hard working professional. He is always prepared and offers new learning materials, always dedicating time to his students.
Zach impressed me with the quality of his Japanese, both orally and grammatically. He has never stopped learning even since coming to Japan.
During the years that I have worked with Zach, I have had the opportunity to observe his interpersonal interactions as well. He is thoughtful, responsible, and pleasant to be around. With his mild and fun personality, many students loved him.
He played the oboe at an evacuation site during an earthquake disaster in our town in Japan in 2018. The community really enjoyed the peaceful moment.”
- Kinuko Kusashio, ALT Coordinator for the City of Noboribetsu Board of Education
“Zachary and I worked closely together for over three years as English teachers for the Noboribetsu City Board of Education. Zach's passion for language acquisition was evident in the way he engaged with students of all ages. Be it teaching elementary students their ABCs or adults how to interact with the numerous foreign tourists visiting the city, Zach's ability to engage a classroom is exemplary. Working closely with Japanese staff and teachers,
Zach endeavored to expand the English curriculum at his schools and foster an interest in foreign language acquisition in students of all ages. His ability to explain complex topics in simple and concise ways not only helped his students learn and apply new language skills, but it also allowed the Japanese staff he worked with teach effectively in his absence. His interest in second language learning is reflected in his students.”
- Koji Umezawa, Instructor at AEON
“I worked with Zachary for 3+ years in Japan as a fellow English teacher. His reputation for being an attentive and effective teacher precedes him. Outside of the classroom Zach is affable, communicative, and collaborative with not only his English-speaking peers, but also his Japanese-speaking colleagues, making collaborative projects exciting and stress-free.
Even when we had downtime, I always found him studying fervently to improve his Japanese to ensure that his language and communicative abilities improved over time as we integrated ourselves further into our Japanese community.
Zach always stepped up and helped us with language barriers we experienced, using his knowledge of Japanese to help us with everyday encounters: paying bills, booking reservations, emails in Japanese from colleagues, flyers in the school hallways, and asking for help from a local when we were traveling around Japan to name a few.“
- Kyla Kerr-Wilson, ALT for the City of Noboribetsu
“Zach,
Thank you for the fun classes every week. Even though I used to not be very confident in my English abilities, thanks to you I’ve grown to not only like speaking English, but even teaching it as well! Take care of yourself and I hope you go out and to great things in the world! Thank you so much!!”
- Mr. Uemori, Teacher for the City of Noboribetsu
“Thank you for the good times and sweet memories that we shared together. It was so fun to be able to do class together for the last two years and two months. When you return to America, take care of your family and I hope you do well and succeed! Good luck at your new job!”
- Akito Nakamura, Teacher for the City of Noboribetsu
“Thank you for [teaching] me a lot of things I [didn’t] understand. It was fun.” -Takuma, 6th Grader
“Thank you so much, I had so much fun. Your class was always easy to understand and therefore fun. I’m studying to take the Eiken level 3 exam, so I am very glad that I was able to get lots of listening practice with you.”
-Kagura, 6th Grader
“Mr. Zach’s class is always easy to understand and very entertaining. Thank you for everything". -Shōma, 6th Grader
“Thank you for teaching us English for the past three years. It was super duper fun, and so I will try my best in the future.” -Hanaka, 6th Grader
