Learn Japanese with a Tutor in London & Online

‘I think the 2 x 45min online sessions a week have been really beneficial for my progress in speaking and listening.’

MS, Adult Learner, 2020

It’s your choice! Some tutors prefer Skype, as it offers the chat function that can be saved to refer back to. Zoom chats aren’t saved, so it can be a great idea to use Whatsapp alongside it.

Personally, I really like the way that this use of technology gives me a typed reference of phrases and vocabulary from the lesson (that I can use to review).

The content is tailor-made for your own goals – whether this is business speaking skills, survival phrases for a holiday, or to pass an exam such as the JLPT.

Some people learn simple for an enriching hobby, whereas others have commitments to keep up with their university course, group classes or to increase their fluency to an advanced level.

Whatever your own goals may be, the tutor will likely use a textbook picked for you as a springboard.

Students often find it works well to use lesson time to focus on speaking and listening with your tutor, and then focus on reading and writing as self-study (homework).

The writing systems of hiragana, katakana and kanji can be introduced by teachers, but students need to take their own time to review & repeat, in order to memorise them.

Surprisingly, beginner level Japanese can be quite quick and pain free to learn, giving a great sense of achievement that boosts confidence!

As each learner is unique, their results will vary, according to their needs, interests and goals. We will assess what each individual is looking to get out of their learning, and tailor lessons accordingly.

Most beginners will want to build vocabulary and communicative phrases, and enjoy learning to write the kana (phonetic alphabet).

For many, the results could be described as planting a seed to nurture a lifelong love of Japanese language and culture.

All of our tutors are qualified, experienced, native Japanese speakers who can safely & enjoyably tutor adults & children.

It’s really important that sessions are ‘omoshiroi’ (fun & interesting) – it’s proven that we all learn more through play.

Something to note is that our tutors reside in the UK and can speak English. This can be particularly important when tutoring beginners, or to explain tricky grammar points.

Having more than 20 years experience in teaching, I am always personally available to support tutors with materials and ideas, whenever they may need it.

Our tutors are UK-based native speakers of Japanese.

Our tutors can also speak English, which is especially helpful for beginners, and for explaining specific grammatical points.

With tutors based in the UK, we also avoid the scheduling difficulties that occur when working with another time zone.

Our tutors are of course familiar with UK culture & customs, which makes for very interesting and lively discussions regarding the similarities and differences between the UK & Japan!

We carefully consider: time of day & day of the week, the learner’s goals & interests, the tutor’s qualifications & experience, the lesson location, and – importantly – your unique personalities too!

1-1 lessons create a fun, goal-orientated & sustainable learning-based relationship for both the student and the tutor.

It depends on your goals and lifestyle. There are benefits to each style of learning, and in fact, many of our students take group classes and have a private tutor too.

One of the main benefits of private tuition is that you can learn to speak Japanese by speaking it with a native teacher. This is deceptively simple, and undoubtedly the most effective way.

It can can be fun to meet fellow learners in a group, but it can also be hard to get your individual questions answered – the teacher needs to think about the needs of the whole class, not just yours.

‘I’ve wanted to learn Japanese since childhood. I did a term of lessons with (reputable uni) but to be honest I didn’t find them very helpful, I think it is because of the large class size.’

MC, Adult Learner, 2021

Japanese is perceived as being one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn. Of course, it is certainly a challenge to learn any language, and for English speakers, learning a different writing script can be daunting.

However, even beginner level Japanese can be extremely satisfying, and the language does not feature tonal pronunciation, like Chinese, for example.

To learn more, please do check out: Three Surprisingly Easy Things About Learning Japanese

YES. Please do. Even just a smattering of key phrases is a very good idea for a trip, after all, Japan is a monolingual country – like the UK.

Not only will learning survival words & phrases enrich your connection to people you meet on your holiday, getting more familiar with the culture is a gift to yourself to enjoy all your life! I speak from experience – as learning Japanese changed my life – learn about my journey here.

To find out more, read: Do I Have Time to Learn Japanese (Before My Trip)? 3 Questions to Ask Yourself

With so many visitors heading to Japan after the travel standstill over the past few years. There’s never been a better time to really get prepared properly for your long-awaited trip to Japan.

Yes, lots of learners start lessons without knowing any Japanese at all.

As the language and culture is particularly fascinating for fans of manga & anime, we find many children begging their parents to learn (especially after / before an inspiring trip to Japan!).

Yes, as all our tutors are native speakers, they can teach more advanced learners who have been living in Japan, who have learned the basics at school, or from a Japanese descent parent, for example.

If you are anything like me, you might have spent half your time in the past few years trying to coax your kids out from under the desk to do some online work, and the other half revelling in the unexpectedly luxurious convenience of attending your work meetings, lessons and events without proper trousers the slog of the commute to get there.

If you’ve been thinking about learning Japanese 1-1 with a private tutor in 2023, you will likely be wondering what the main differences are between online and in person sessions, and which you should take.

Would online work better for you now, or is it important to you to meet up face-to-face with your tutor? What about a hybrid approach where you meet up occasionally, but not for every lesson?

The good news is: Tutoring is one of those rare services which can actually offer remarkable results online.

I feel incredibly fortunate that my small tutoring business, which I have been running since 2007, has been able to evolve to suit the times.

Tutoring is one of those services which can actually offer fantastic results online, and our professional & dedicated tutors have really risen to the challenge of online teaching. Likewise, so many students embraced tuition online and enjoyed seeing their learning progress steadily.

Here are 5 key questions to consider that will help you decide what approach to Japanese lessons will work best for you.

1. When will you schedule your 1-1 lessons?

Do you realistically have enough time to get to an in person meeting? It’s important to pick a time that will really work for you, each week.

Online 1-1’s can cost less of a time investment. This is due to the saving of travel time, not needing to get ready to leave the house, plus the option of taking a shorter lesson online.

2. How long will each 1-1 lesson be?

Adult in person lessons are usually 90 minutes minimum (due to the time required for the learner / tutor to travel to the location). In person for children can be 60 minutes.

Online lessons for both adults & kids can be shorter – with 30 minute & 45 minute sessions available.

3. Where do you want to take your lessons?

If you are meeting in person, would you like the tutor to travel to a location near your home, or workplace? We have plenty of experience finding public places in London which are quiet & pleasant for your purposes.

If it’s difficult to find time to go to a location to meet your tutor, online might be the solution.

4. What will the lessons cost?

In terms of the financial investment, whether online or in person, the hourly fees for tuition are the same.

Why are online lessons not cheaper per hour than in person? The answer is that both offline and online sessions are equally challenging – in different ways – for tutors to prepare & deliver effectively.

Tutors have had to be adaptable – and acquire a new skill set for professionally delivering communicative lessons online, using the technology well. For those reasons, I believe strongly that tutors should be paid the same rate for their diverse skillset, whether online or offline.

For in person lessons, a travel fee will be added to the fee, to get the tutor to your preferred location (unless you decide to travel to them – this can be arranged – but is not always possible).

For online lessons, of course the travel fee does not apply. Naturally, students also don’t have to pay for their own travel if they meet online.

5. What are your goals for your learning?

As we have found, online meetings can be particularly tiring because of needing to focus intensely on the person on the screen.

However, online lessons put a lot of emphasis on communication, on the active skills of speaking and listening skills.

Communication skills, such as learning basic greetings & survival Japanese for a trip, brushing up rusty skills at any level, and developing small talk & conversational fluency are often the number one priority of our learners.

Online lessons can also be great for building vocabulary because the stream of (typed) chat between you and your tutor can be saved to review later. It’s much easier to look up the meanings of typed ‘kanji’ characters (than handwritten characters – you need to know the elements that make up the kanji) in a translation tool such as Google translate, or in an online dictionary, such as Rikaichan.

On the other hand, in-person lessons might work better for you if you’d like to focus on skills other than speaking and listening, especially writing. The stroke order of writing hiragana, katakana and kanji is best seen in person.

However, I must say that many learners prefer to practice the passive skills of reading and writing on their own time, asking their tutor to correct or explain as needed.