(Not sure if this was more appropriate here or on the “Resources” section, in case feel free to move it.)
I recently moved to a different workplace in Japan and, since I am working during weekday, I am looking for a private teacher to continue my japanese study. Last year I followed a Japanese course where we finished the two みんなの日本語 books (it was quite good mainly because none of teachers spoke english), so I have a basic understanding of the language.
I live in a low populated area, but not far from Fukuoka (around 30 mins by train), and I was a bit surprised by how difficult it is. I started by asking to a local organization that does some classes for foreigners, but they are very basics and told me they don’t do private lessons. Then I googled for some school, but I was surprised by the prices (20k entrance fee + around 5-7k per hour). I could even afford it, but it seems expensive to me when I can find cheaper teachers in my country.
Lastly, there are many that offers lesson through skype, but I would prefer doing it on person (call me old-fashion xd ).
Has anyone had any experience with a private teacher? How did you find it? Was it helpful?
Hmm only once? But it was more of a voluntary kind of thing which is a whole lot different from structured stuff. I liked it for as long as it lasted but I personally preferred going to a class with other people. I live in a ‘city’ and there was only 1 structured class (I attended that didn’t require taking anything to another city (according to google and the prefecture foreign language guide)
I also was kinda irritated that all the good schools/ classes required some traveling via train. I signed up for Kumon trial lessons. I’ll keep praying.
I hope you find something beneficial and not too costly.
I too live in a smaller city and although the city’s international association has a number of volunteer Jp teachers who try to fit various schedules, many of them lack experience in teaching intermediate or higher levels. So to supplement these lessons, I have used online teachers. I was unsure if I’d like online lessons at first but I was happily surprised at the quality of teachers I found. The site I used was italki. This particular site has professional and community teachers and prices vary accordingly. A number offer reduced price trial lessons to see if you like the teacher. There are a number of other online teaching sites. At least give it a try before writing the idea off completely. In the inaka, sometimes you have to make do with what’s available.
Have you tried looking for online teachers from your area and ask if theyre willing to do in person lessons or a combination of online/in-person? (Likely that they will charge a higher fee for in person)
I take -real life- Japanese classes once a week. It’s a bit slow due to the fact that it’s only an hour and a half per week but definitely helping.
A friend of mine has used italki a lot to get online tuition and it seemed pretty nice too although you really have to pick someone who’s a teacher (or has been) cause some people only offer conversational Japanese and it has its limits.
I’d recommend self teaching too with intermediate/advance material. Can’t (really) hurt if you’re following the books.
頑張ってね
I have never had the chance to take in person lessons but I am very happy with my iTalki lessons via Skype. I pay 14€ per hour and my grammar teacher is just amazing. She is well prepared, knows how to explain the grammar, seems to know and have screenshots of all the books. I own 4 different N3 grammar books (because I’m an idiot? ) and she knows all of them and always tells me where to look for the best explanation for a current grammar point.
I also enjoy not losing any time to commute to wherever I would have to go to take lessons and being able to schedule lessons whenever it works best for me.
I usually take 1-2 lessons per week but for months now I have been in a bit of a JLPT bootcamp mode and it is 4-5 lessons at the moment. These lessons are the most important part of my grammar studies, I can’t imagine doing it on my own.
I hope you find an in person teacher that works for you but all I’m saying is: the Skype fallback solution is not the worst thing in the world
Seconded. I’m also doing lessons via iTalki, though mine are more aimed towards reading books together and my tutors explaining what’s going on re:grammar, word choice, and idioms. It’s really convenient, especially as there’s no commuting taking place (which saves a lot of time).
) and she knows all of them and always tells me where to look for the best explanation for a current grammar point.
