~ようにする (~ you ni suru)
Basic meanings: see to it that ~, make sure that ~; make a point of ~; bring it about that ~; do ~ in such a way that ~
Comments: Someone causes some circumstantial or behavioral change to take place
Key sentence:


Formation: (plain imperfect verb) ようにする
Additional examples:

1. 出来るだけ日本語を話すようにしている。
   dekiru dake nihongo o hanasu you ni site iru.
   I make a point of speaking Japanese as much as possible.
2. 毎朝八時に来るようにして下さい。
   maiasa hatiji ni kuru you ni site kudasai.
   Please make sure to come in at 8:00 each morning.
3. 分からないことは先生に聞くようにしている。
   wakaranai koto wa sensei ni kiku you ni site iru.
   I make sure to ask the teacher about anything I don't understand.

Usage notes:

1. Similar to ようになる (you ni naru), there are two different ways to negate this kind of expression. See ようになる for more information.
2. In general, ようにしている (you ni site iru) should be used when you make a point to do something (a habitual action). If ようにする (you ni suru) is used, it may have the meaning that you will do it, but you have not yet started. In that case, ~ことにした (~ koto ni sita) (= I've decided to ~) is probably more natural. ようにする might be used to if you want to strongly express that you will do something, as in response to pressure or questioning.
3. Consider using a similar expression, ~ことにした (~ koto ni sita) (= I've decided ~) as in 毎日運動することにした (mainiti undou suru koto ni sita) (= I've decided to exercise every day.)

Thank you for taking the time to explain this complicated phrase in Japanese! <br>Arigatou gozaimashita.