Ms. Yumi Konishi
Ms. Konishi was born and raised in Japan. Upon graduating from Sapientia University in Japan, she taught English as a foreign language at her local high schools. Her love for teaching prompted her to continue her education by coming to the United States to attend a Master’s degree program in English from Loras College in Iowa and then a Master’s degree in Japanese from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Teaching the Japanese language is a passion for Ms. Konishi who believes that the language is an important part of the culture. Japanese is not difficult; it has only two irregular verbs and five vowels. The linguistics of the language makes for an interesting study.
Her teaching experiences have allowed her to instruct students from all over the United States, Canada, and Japan. Most of her teaching instruction has been at the University level, most recently, she taugh at the University of California, Berkeley as a lecturer. She has also worked with gifted high school students from the UC Berkeley’s Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP). This past year, she has been invited by Mission San Jose High where she teaches Japanese 3.
During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and prepping for 5K races, whom she was motivated to start by her son, who is on his school’s track and cross country team. Ms. Konishi is excited to bring the Japanese language to young students who are interested in studying a new culture.