Alex

I started studying Japanese independently in 2019 whilst working full-time, and through hours of independent studying every day, I was able to pass the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N2 in the 95th percentile after only 3 years, and soon after moved to Japan to progress my studies even further.
After another year of studying, I was able to pass the N1 Exam, the highest qualification offered by the Japan Foundation.

I previously enjoyed Japanese from a purely academic perspective, but being able to communicate freely and build deep relationships with so many native Japanese speakers has opened my eyes to the true beauty of language learning; it is something I wish for all of my students to experience as well.

Tutoring Experience

I've been teaching Japanese since I began studying for the JLPT N2 in 2022; at the time all of my students were adult learners at the beginner level, but since passing the JLPT N1, my current students range from High School pupils to adult learners and beginner level to advanced, with one of my students preparing for the N1 themselves.

I also gave 1-to-1 English lessons at a local café during my stay in Japan, teaching grammar and providing conversational practice in person.

Tutoring Approach

I look to ensure that my students are consistently improving in each of the four primary aspects of language learning (reading, writing, listening and speaking), and aren’t simply learning new grammar structures or vocabulary without actually putting them to use.

Each lesson is tailored to my student’s needs, but my primary focus in all of them is ensuring that my student is able to use the language as soon as possible. This isn’t just limited to speaking and writing tasks, but reading and listening resources also, all of which I will provide and give constructive feedback on.

Japanese is such a complex language; it has many nuanced grammar points, an intricate writing system, thousands upon thousands of Kanji, etc.
However, I believe the true beauty of learning Japanese comes from this complexity. Seeing my student finally be able to read a challenging sentence, use a difficult grammar point and recognize a complex Kanji character is something truly special to me, and continues to motivate me as a teacher.

It can be daunting at first, but with the proper guidance, anything is possible, and I will do everything in my power to ensure your path to Japanese fluency is both fun and rewarding, as it can be, and as it should be.