[Ultimate App Introduction] Overcoming the Weaknesses of an International School Upbringing? A 12-Year-Old Returnee's TOEIC Exam Journey Part 2

I am terribly sorry for the delay in reporting back.

Believe it or not, it has been a year since the first article! I am so sorry...

The reason is that I spent the month of March 2024 living a 24-hour life centered around my second daughter's TOEIC studies, and once she achieved the required score (730), I suffered from burnout and ended up bedridden.
After that, we plunged into the tumultuous returnee entrance exam process, and once she passed, I collapsed again. Before I knew it, a year had passed, and here I am finally writing the sequel.

Man... but she did it! She actually got it on the first try.
Clara stood up!

Scores available on the same day

My second daughter took the TOEIC in Amsterdam on April 12, 2024.
The results are available digitally on the same day.
765!!!

After that, I suffered from burnout and was bedridden for two weeks.
I didn't even have the energy to cook, so I just kept ordering frozen pizza via Uber from the supermarket, eating it day and night, and sleeping the whole time.
It was rough (I recovered in May).

After all, I had been constantly supporting my second daughter's TOEIC self-study and online lessons for two hours on weekdays and four to six hours on weekends.

I had to calculate time differences with teachers living in Japan and the US and remind my daughter about each online lesson.
On weekends, my iPhone would have 5-7 alarms set throughout the day.
In between, I had to keep her in a good mood, let her play, and cook her favorite meals...

My second daughter is the type who is bad at taking exams, so honestly, I was prepared for her to take it 3-4 times.
Even though she came from an international school in Hong Kong, she wouldn't read the questions carefully and would make mistakes in how to answer, and she failed the Eiken Grade 3 exam three times while we were in Okinawa. (Also, Eiken is designed so that you can't answer if you can't read the Japanese question text. I wish they would display the questions in English too. This is supposed to be a test of English ability, right...?)

And yet, she got it on the first try!
All the tension I had been holding onto just whooshed away.
No wonder I ended up bedridden.

So, what materials and apps were actually useful?

I'll introduce them!

Materials -> Studysapuri. Especially the dictation section
Apps -> Santa

That's it!

I used other apps too, but in the end, I think these two were all I needed!

I will write about specifically which parts of Studysapuri were useful below.
Here, I'll talk about the Santa app.

At home, we only used the AI score prediction feature of Santa (since we already had Studysapuri and an online tutor for actual study).
I will write in detail about the accuracy of the score predictions, which you might be curious about.

These are the screens from Santa and abceed (another AI score prediction app) from the day before and two days before the April 12 exam.

Santa prediction: 720

abceed prediction: 545

The predictions were completely different!
However, as the result was a 765 on the TOEIC taken the very next day, Santa's prediction was spot on.
It turned out that abceed's prediction was way off!

And this is abceed

Exam Date: 2024/4/12
Measurement Date: Santa 2024/4/11
abceed 2024/4/10

The actual score was 765 points, so it can be said that Santa's prediction accuracy was higher this time.

The strongest tool is Study Sapuri's dictation. Over 100 points increase on the TOEIC in one month.

My second daughter started saying she wanted to work in Japanese society in the future, so I thought, 'Well, we should transition her back to the Japanese education system now!'
'I haven't prepared for that at all, what should I do!'
I ended up crying out for help to my friends on Facebook.
Asking, 'What should I do?!'

Then a university classmate told me to do this Study Sapuri dictation.
Dictation might feel like a dull, painful task.
But even if it's painful, do it for a few months.
Then your listening, reading, and writing skills will all be comprehensively boosted! they said.

Come to think of it, the international school my daughters attended in Hong Kong had English or Chinese dictation every week.

Since I knew the power of dictation, I worked hard for 30 to 60 minutes every day using the recommended Study Sapuri TOEIC course.

It went up! It increased by 100 points in one month.

My second daughter's English reading and writing ability one month after the TOEIC bootcamp

It has improved!

Before the home bootcamp

After the home bootcamp
(My second daughter was in the Himawari Theatre Group in Japan. She even appeared in dramas.)

Therefore, I highly recommend using both the TOEIC Study Sapuri and Santa apps together!

In this article, I will introduce the teachers who supported that bootcamp.

[Repost] [NEXT2035] "Before you decide on your target school, let's talk about money and work. A seminar for parents and children to happily survive the turbulent world of education" Free continuous online seminar held from April 6 to July 13, 2025

Even if they don't say it out loud, children think quite a lot about their future, don't they?
Especially children today, who are smart and start gathering information at an early age.
But in the end, it's only the information-gathering ability of a child.
I wanted to help with that.

Why not talk about work and money with your child while they are still in middle or high school?

This seminar is hosted by Betty, a real-life Mencius's mother.
Completely free! There is zero sales pitch involved!

Nikkei, Toyo Keizai, President, Mainichi Shimbun, and others have featured this seminar, and it has received quite a response.

No matter how good your English gets, if you don't acquire wisdom and courage, it will be difficult for your child to work happily in the future.

How to acquire wisdom and courage!
It's not straightforward, but listening to people is definitely necessary.
Stories about navigating the world from adults who have experienced both the bitter and the sweet, which you will never find on Instagram.
There are no shallow lecturers here who only talk about their success stories to look cool.

Opportunities to listen to adults are decreasing now.
Let's talk more about work and money.
Let's listen to people more.
The lecturers who agreed with the importance of this will speak passionately, like friends or relatives.

★Missed stream available https://www.youtube.com/@next2035education
★Lecture materials only available. You can apply using the form below

Click here to apply

2025.3.26