Sometimes potential Japanese students ask: ‘
Why can’t I pay lesson-by-lesson?’. After all, a block booking of 10 lessons of 90 minutes (see the
prices page here) can seem like a large initial outlay of money (not to mention the commitment of time).
I totally understand why people ask to pay lesson-by-lesson, and that’s why I’d like to talk honestly about some very good reasons why your connection to your JapaneseLondon.com tutor doesn’t work that way.
You Need to Commit to Your Japanese Learning
If you aren’t sure if you really want to learn Japanese, then you will hesitate to make a commitment.
Sometimes it just seems overwhelming, after all, learning Japanese can take years. A lifetime, even, to fully master the language.
Whoa, there! You don’t need to offer up your firstborn.
You do need, however, to be sure that you can commit to a minimum of one 90 minute lesson, on a regular weekly basis for several months (yes of course, you can take holidays, just let your tutor know in advance).
The Way Past Overwhelm is to Set Clear Goals
Do you really need to ‘master’ the language?
What Japanese do you actually need to learn? How will it help you in life or at work? Break it down.
Do you need to learn ‘survival’ phrases for your holiday? Brush up your super-polite
keigo for work? Pass the JLPT level N2 in order to apply for a visa? Pass your ‘A’ levels?
You need to be crystal clear in your mind about your goals, no matter how short or long your journey into learning Japanese may be.
What’s the next step, or the one thing that would move you along?
Your Japanese Tutor Needs to Plan Your Lessons
We match our students really carefully with a tutor. In order for our experienced and professional Japanese tutors to make time in their own busy schedules to take you on as a student, it needs to be a booking that will continue for a minimum length of time.
Otherwise, how could your tutor plan the content of your lessons? It would be a scattergun approach to tuition, not a personalised learning plan.
If You Can’t Commit, Get Ready First
As with anything in life, much comes down to mindset: the question ‘
how can I make this work?’ can be helpful to a determined Japanese learner.
But realistically, it may well be the case that now is not the right time to invest in private Japanese lessons.
If you are not ready to commit to Japanese lessons with a tutor, why not explore the many Japanese things London has to offer?
For example, why not go along to one of the Japanese language meetups in London? Or explore one of the many Japanese restaurants?
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