How to Use Language Partner Service

What is Language Partner Service?

The Language Partner Service is a service that enables Japanese and English language learners to safely find language exchange partners who are a good fit for them.

Many language exchange services and apps have raised concerns about safety.
Many of these services and apps have a mix of users with different goals than improving their language skills, such as malicious solicitation and dating, making it difficult to find a language partner who can help you improve your language skills.

In addition, the steps required to actually engage in conversation were complicated, and chatting was not always easy.
The Language Partner Service eliminates these safety and convenience issues and helps you find and establish a relationship with a language partner more safely and quickly.

This service has a screening system

This language partner service has introduced a screening system to ensure a higher level of security.

Those who can register for this language partner service are as follows

Those whose safety has been approved through a screening process based on face-to-face consultation.
Students of Ohanasi Japanese Language School
Students of Ohanasi English Personal Gym
Ohanasi Kagawa / Ohanasi Japanese Language School staff and teachers

We limit the number of people who can register for our service through a screening system to ensure that only high quality users can use our service.

We will also keep track of user evaluations, reports, and the number of late arrivals and no-shows, and will forcibly terminate users who are not suitable for our service.

We will make this service as safe as possible for all users.

From registration to establishment of a language partner

The following is the process from registration with the Language Partner Service to the establishment of an actual language partner.

There are six major steps.

Step 1 : Book a Consultation Appointment

If you are interested in this language partner service and would like to use it, please make an appointment for free consultation before joining.

Appointments can be made through our website here.

Consultation Appointment >>>

Step 2 : Free Consultation

At the free consultation, we will ask you about your current Japanese study status, the purpose for which you wish to use this service, and tell you how to use this service.

After the consultation, we will conduct a screening and inform you of the results within 1 to 3 business days by e-mail.

Only those who pass the screening will be able to start using the service.

Please understand that we cannot tell you the details of the screening process.

Step 3 : Membership and Subscription Registration

Once you have joined, you will be asked to register your subscription.

If you have a coupon code, you will be asked to enter the coupon code at the time of subscription registration.

We will provide detailed instructions on how to register your subscription on the lower part of this page.

Step 4 : My Page Registration and Partner Search

Once you have successfully registered your subscription, you will first need to edit your My Page.

The following are the details to be edited on your My Page.

Profile Settings
– Set up your nationality, current location, profile photo, language studied, language level, hobbies, self-introduction, etc.
Calendar settings
– Set up a calendar of available times when you would like to talk with your language partner. You will receive meeting requests from language partners at these available times.

Once you have registered on My Page, you can search for potential language partners.

Check the profile and availability schedule of the language partner you are interested in, and if you would like to talk with that language partner, click the Request button to send your request.

Step 5 : First Contact (Trial Meeting)

First contact is a one-time trial meeting.

This is a trial meeting to actually talk with the potential language partner you have sent your request to, and to check if you and the potential language partner are compatible.

The duration of the meeting is 30 minutes, alternating between 15 minutes in Japanese and 15 minutes in English.

No exchange of contact information is allowed within the first contact.

After the 30-minute conversation, please leave the meeting room immediately.

Step 6 : Language Partner Decision

At the end of the first contact, a pop-up will appear in the Ohanasi Kagawa web application and you will be asked if you would like to continue your relationship as a formal language partner with the potential language partner you talked with during the first contact.

If both parties who made first contact press the button indicating that they wish to continue to build a formal relationship as language partners, they will be officially recognized as language partners.

Once a language partner is established, you can send each other meeting time requests from your calendars at any time, and you can enjoy conversations at any time.

Currently, there is no limit to the number of language partners.

Pricing

Monthly Subscription

Pricing is on a monthly subscription basis.

Regular users will be charged 5,000 JPY per month.

In addition, students of our partner schools, Ohanasi Japanese Language School and Ohanasi English Personal Gym, will be able to use this service for free.

As of October 2024, there is no limit to the number of first contact requests sent, the number of language partners, and the number of meetings.

Any future changes to the plan will be announced separately.

Subscription Renewal and Cancellation

Subscriptions are automatically debited by a payment system called Stripe.

If your billing cycle starts on September 2, you will always be billed on the 2nd of each month.
If the starting date of the billing cycle is January 31, the billing date will be the last day of the month closest to the starting date.
Thus, the billing dates would be February 28, March 31, April 30, and so on.

Please check My Page → Other → Payment Information for the next billing date.
You may cancel your subscription at any time.
Once you cancel your subscription, the fee will not be automatically deducted from your next billing date.
You will still be able to use the service until your next billing date.

To cancel your subscription, go to My Page → Other → Payment Information → Payment Information and click on the “Cancel” button on the Payment Information page.
Please note that when you cancel your subscription, all information about your language partners will be deleted.

If you have any further questions regarding fees, please contact us anytime at one.ii.seventy@gmail.com.

How to Register for Subscription

We will now tell you how to register for a subscription and how to use the Language Partner Service.

In order to use the Language Partner Service, you are required to register for a subscription.

If you have a coupon, please be sure to enter the coupon code when you register for subscription.

Step 1 : Log in to the Ohanasi Kagawa web app

To use the language partner service, you need to log in to the Ohanasi Kagawa web application first.

Please login to Ohanasi Kagawa web app from here.

If you have not yet registered for Ohanasi Kagawa Web App, please register first.

Step 2 : Click on the Language Partners tab to go to the subscription page

Once you have registered for an account on the Ohanasi Kagawa web application and are logged in, click on the “Language Partners” tab on the left side under the Home, Events list.

Clicking on it will take you to a page like this one.

Step 3 : Click on the “ Subscribe” button to set up your payment method.

Scroll down to the lower part of the page after clicking on the Language Partners tab and you will see the “ Subscribe” button.

If you click the “ Subscribe” button here, you will be taken to the payment method setup screen.

When you enter the Add Payment Method screen, please enter the credit card information you would like to use.

Even if you are a student of one of our partner schools, which are available free of charge, you will need to add your payment method here.

For credit card payment, we use Stripe, so please check with Stripe by yourself.

Step 4 : Agree to the Terms of Use and add a coupon code

When you add a payment method, you will be asked to agree to Ohanasi Kagawa VIP Terms of Use and Stripe Payment Terms of Use.

If you agree to the Terms of Use, please check the box to confirm your agreement.

If you have a coupon code, please enter it here.

Once you have agreed to the Terms of Use and entered your coupon code (if you have one), click the “ Subscribe” button to start your subscription.

You will be able to use the service as soon as your subscription starts.

Edit My Page

Profile Settings

Once your subscription has started, you should first edit your My Page.

You can jump to My Page by clicking on your icon mark in the upper right corner.

Once on My Page, click on the Edit Profile button (pen icon) to edit your profile.

Edit Profile List

Name

Full name or just the first name is okay, but we recommend writing it in alphabetical characters so that people from different countries can understand it.

Birthday

Select your birthday from the calendar.

Please note that once a birthday is set, it cannot be changed.

You can change the month and year by clicking on the cursor button ◁▷like this one to change to the calendar.

Gender

Please select from Male, Female, Other, or Unanswered.

Profile Photo

Please upload a photo that shows your face as clearly as possible.

A profile photo can make a big difference in your chances of being matched with a language partner, so please make sure to upload a profile photo.

Nationality and Country of Residence

Please select your country of residence and nationality.

Your Learning Languages

Please select “Japanese” if you are learning Japanese or “English” if you are learning English.

Japanese level, English level

Please select the level of Japanese and English you think you are at.

★5 means you are at a high level and ★1 means you are at a low level.

What speed level are you expecting from your partner?

This is the desired speed at which you would like your language partner to speak the language you are learning.

A score of ★5 means that you are comfortable having your partner speak at native-level speed, and a score of ★1 means that you would like your partner to speak very slowly.

Hobbies

Please select at least 3 of your hobbies.

You can select more hobbies by clicking the More button.

Self-Introduction, Self-Introduction Video

Please fill in your self-introduction in English or Japanese.

If you are a Japanese learner, try writing your self-introduction in Japanese too.

It is okay if it is simple, so try to write your self-introduction in Japanese, even if only a little.

You can also display a self-introduction video if you want people to know more about you.

If you upload your video to Youtube and paste the link to your self-introduction video, your self-introduction video will be displayed on your profile.

Setting up your schedule

Once you have finished setting up your profile, it is time to set up your schedule.

Click the Schedule button next to your profile.

Press the Schedule button to display the calendar.

This calendar here enables you to set your own free time in 30-minute blocks.

Click on the time cell in the calendar to set your free time that you can have a meeting with your language partner.

Click on the cell for the time you want to make yourself available and press the Setting button, the cell will turn green and the language partner will be able to book a time at that time. (Only when the first contact and language partner are established).

Instead of clicking on each cell one by one to make time available, you can also drag cells to set the available time all at once.

Pattern Settings

By pressing the “Pattern” button next to the schedule, you can also set up a pattern so that the same time slot on the same day of the week is automatically available each week.

For example, if you are basically free every Sunday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, you can enter that time.

If you are available every Sunday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, you can also add the time by pressing the + button.

When you have completed your settings, press the Save button at the bottom.

When you press Schedule and look at your calendar, you will see that the pattern of times you set is set for each week.

You can also click on a cell in your calendar to delete the time for the pattern you have set.

Search for Potential Language Partners

List of Potential Language Partners

Once you have completed setting up your profile and schedule, it is time to search for potential language partners who are a good fit for you.

Click on the Language Partners tab in the menu on the left.

Clicking on it will bring up a list of potential language partners.

In the list of potential language partners, click on the frame of the person you are interested in to see the detailed profile of that potential language partner.

You can also change the order of the list by login or account creation date using the sort button in the upper right corner.

You can register a favorite by clicking on the label icon.
Last access shows when the person logged into this language partner service.

Language Partner Details Page

Click on the frame of the potential language partner you are interested in on the Language Partner List page to view detailed profiles.

On the Language Partner Details page, you can check the name, nationality, last login time, number of late meetings, profile, and availability schedule of a potential language partner, and send a first contact request.

First, check the profile and availability schedule of the potential language partner you are interested in, and then decide whether you would like to become a language partner with that person in the future.

Then, if you are interested in continuing the interaction as a language partner in the future, you can request a first contact with the person by clicking the “Send Request” button in the upper right corner.

Once the request is sent, the partner has the option of accepting or rejecting the request.

If the partner accepts the request, a first contact (first trial meeting) is established and the language partner will be listed in the First Contact tab on the Language Partner List page.

You will be able to have a one-time 30-minute trial meeting with the language partner with whom you have made First Contact.

First Contact (First Trial Meeting)

What is First Contact?

First Contact is an initial trial meeting.

You can have a one-time 30-minute trial meeting with someone with whom you would like to build a relationship as a language partner in the future.

During the 30 minutes, you will alternate between speaking Japanese and English for 15 minutes.

The purpose of this first contact is to see if the potential language partner is a good match for you.

During the 30-minute meeting, you will ask yourself if this person is a good match for you. Will he/she be able to help you learn the language as a language partner? Are you and your partner at the right language level? The meeting is held to check if the language level is appropriate for you and the other party.

For this reason, we do not allow the exchange of contact information during the first contact.

At the end of the 30-minute meeting, thank your partner for his/her time and leave the meeting room.

After leaving the meeting room, you will be asked if you would like to continue to communicate with the potential language partner you talked with in the web application.

Selecting a Date and Time for First Contact

If you see the person you have requested in the First Contact tab on the Language Partner List page, your first contact is in progress.

Once first contact is established, you can set up a meeting time with the partner.

Click the Schedule button on the other partner’s profile page to check their available meeting time.

The green cells indicate available meeting time, so press the time when you are available and send a meeting time request.

When you request a meeting time and the partner accepts your meeting request, information about the meeting partner, the meeting time, and an “ Join” button will be displayed on the home screen.

When you click on the green color of the meeting partner’s name, you will be redirected to a page where you can view the partner’s detailed profile.

On the day of the meeting, click the “ Join” button to enter the Ohanasi Cafe virtual space and have a 30-minute first contact with the other party.

How do I cancel a meeting request?

There may be times when you want to cancel a meeting request after you have sent it to the partner during the first contact or during an established language partnership, or after a meeting has been scheduled.

In this case, go to “My Page” → “Schedule” to check your calendar.

You will see that your calendar cells are colored orange if you are waiting for a meeting request response, blue if the meeting is confirmed, and so on.

If you want to cancel a meeting appointment, click on the colored cell in your calendar.

Then the Cancel button will appear, and you can cancel the meeting request by clicking Cancel.

Many people try to cancel a meeting appointment by clicking on the colored cell in the language partner’s calendar. Please be sure to check your own calendar from My Page and press the cell of your calendar to cancel your meeting appointment.

Conducting first contact

Setting up the camera and microphone

On the day of first contact, enter the Ohanasi Cafe virtual space using the “Join” button displayed in the Ohanasi Kagawa web application.

Once in the virtual space, turn on your microphone and camera.

Click on the microphone and camera icons at the bottom of the screen.

There is also a chat icon in the lower right corner, which you can use to chat with other people.

What if the camera and microphone do not work?

If the camera and microphone do not work, please first check your browser settings and make sure that you are allowed to use the microphone and camera.

Click on the settings icon ( 〇ー/ー〇) where the URL above app.gather is written.

If the camera and microphone are not allowed, turn them on and allow the camera and microphone.

If you don’t understand, please read this page with translation.

About browser settings >>>

Starting a conversation with your language partner

When your language partner arrives at the virtual room, you will greet them and start a conversation.

You will take turns talking in Japanese and English for 15 minutes, but please discuss with your partner whether you will speak first in Japanese or English.

When you sit down, a timer for 15 minutes will be displayed, so either of you can press the timer from the screen below or press the X button to start the timer.

Once the timer starts, you can start the conversation in either Japanese or English.

After 15 minutes have passed, switch the language of conversation from Japanese to English or English to Japanese.

If the partner does not show up

On the day of the meeting, you may be waiting for your partner to arrive at the virtual space, but he/she may not show up.

If your partner does not show up after 10 minutes, please leave the space.

After leaving the space, you will see a popup on Ohanasi Kagawa’s web application where you can write down your evaluation of today’s meeting partner and whether you would like to build a relationship as a language partner in the future. Please check the box if your meeting partner was late or absent for more than 10 minutes.

If you are late or cancel more than 3 times, you will not be able to use this service.

End of conversation with language partner and exit the virtual room

When you have talked with your language partner for 15 minutes in Japanese and 15 minutes in English, you will thank your partner and leave the virtual room.

Please note that it is not allowed to exchange contact information with each other during first contact.

You can leave this room by closing the tab of the open page by pressing X.

After you leave the room, you will be asked to enter your evaluation of the other person and whether you would like to continue to communicate with him/her as a language partner on Ohanasi Kagawa’s web application.

Language Partner Establishment Selection

Evaluation of first contact partner

After the first contact is completed, a pop-up will appear on the Ohanasi Kagawa web application asking you to rate the first contact, to confirm that the person was not late or cancelled more than 10 minutes prior to the first contact, and to indicate whether you would like to continue to communicate with that person as a language partner.

Please complete the form when the pop-up appears.

If you click “Partner Consent” and the other partner also clicks “Partner Consent,” then you have officially established a language partnership.

Unless either one of you clicks “Partner Rejection” or the other partner does not evaluate you as a language partner, you will not be able to establish a language partnership.

Language Partner Established

When both partners have made initial contact and clicked the “Partner Consent” button, a language partner is officially established, and the established language partner will appear in the Language Partners tab of the Language Partners List.

You can schedule as many meetings with your language partner as you like on each other’s calendars until one of you terminates the partnership or cancels the subscription.

We hope you will try to build a better relationship with your language partner!