Compare the learners

Sebastian and Maximus are typical of adult learners of Japanese in the US. They speak English as their first language. They are both college students and take Japanese classes on the university campus. However, their Japanese learning experiences are different. While Sebastian learned the language mostly in university classroom settings,
Maximus’ Japanese learning experience took place both in formal and informal settings. He started learning the language at an earlier age. He also lived in Japan for 1 year with a Japanese family while he was in high school.

This difference in language learning experience may play out in the learners’ preferences as to the way they learn Japanese. In fact, Sebastian spoke positively about his Japanese classes and teachers and Maximus said he learned the language most while he was in Japan.