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illflip
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 16
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 Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 1:17 am Post subject: Private tutoring in Japan |
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| Can anyone please give tips on how one can go about finding clients who are interested in being privately tutored English, once arriving in Japan? |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 1:54 am Post subject: Re: Private tutoring in Japan |
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| illflip wrote: |
| Can anyone please give tips on how one can go about finding clients who are interested in being privately tutored English, once arriving in Japan? |
There are a number of places you can look for students (apart from pirating them from your employer)
1. classified advertisements in newpapers or magazines
2. flyers
3. personal connections, friends friends etc
4. notice at the local community
5. online job sites e.g http://www.findateacher.net
Glenski will give you more advice on teaching students, but bear in mind you wont have a secretary to take your phone calls, you will need somewhere to teach them, books to teach them with and you will have to know what level they are so you can choose an appropriate text.
You will charge whatever students are willing to pay and what you think students can afford. Charge too little and you devalue your services. Charge too much and you will scare students away, or you may appear greedy in relation to your skill and expertise.
You will need a phone so students can contact you. Dont expect everyone to have email or be able to write emails in English. Where will you have your demo lesson and who will pay for coffee in a coffee shop or commuting expenses?
Will you teach them in your apartment? Is your apartment suitable for teaching lessons?
I would avoid language exchange as it simply becomes a way for a "student" to have a free English lesson in exchange for you speaking Japanese. there will be more English spoken than japanese and a student is usually not trained to teach Japanese to foreigners. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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illflip
Joined: 29 Aug 2005
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:55 am Post subject: |
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I just sent you an e-mail Glenski. It would be much appreciated if you could send me that file. I have actually not decided where in Japan I want to base myself as of yet. I am still planning this all out. =)
Do you guys know if there has been cases where an individual has started teaching privately, before finding a formal teaching job, or even as their main source of income in Japan altogether? I have heard stories from friends of people who have quit their teaching jobs so that they could tutor privately full time since the money is so much better. Can anyone verify this? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| Do you guys know if there has been cases where an individual has started teaching privately, before finding a formal teaching job, or even as their main source of income in Japan altogether? |
Oh, I'm sure there are people who try to pick up the spare yen by teaching privately before they get a proper visa, but even that is illegal. Supporting yourself on private lessons is almost impossible. I know of one guy who did it (330,000 yen/month), but he'd been here a few years and had made the contacts to get himself started. That's probably what those other people you heard about did, too.
I don't recommend it as a sole source of income. Privates are notoriously unstable, and you don't have any health insurance or pension copayments made by anyone else, plus you don't have paid vacations. It's better to try stringing together a bunch of PT jobs, but you will need a proper visa first, and that usually means having one of your emｐloyers (not a private lesson situation) sponsor you for it. |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:22 am Post subject: |
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| illflip wrote: |
I just sent you an e-mail Glenski. It would be much appreciated if you could send me that file. I have actually not decided where in Japan I want to base myself as of yet. I am still planning this all out. =)
Do you guys know if there has been cases where an individual has started teaching privately, before finding a formal teaching job, or even as their main source of income in Japan altogether? I have heard stories from friends of people who have quit their teaching jobs so that they could tutor privately full time since the money is so much better. Can anyone verify this? |
As Glenski noted, you already need to be resident here on a legal work visa, spouse visa or PR. Even if you dont have a job or are between jobs you still need a visa and when it comes to visa renewal time you will need a visa sponsor anyway. Only a person on a PR or spouse visa could get away with full time privates as he doesnt need a visa sponsor.
Privates are what people do in addition to your full time job. I have cobbled together two or three, nice people but they are incredibly flakey and sometimes there are one or two weeks between lessons as they have part time jobs, business trips etc, or Im busy and cant teach them. Often its hard to schedule a convenient time for both of you, unless some one cancels or you drop things from your schedule or punch a hole in your schedule for them. Count on continuous hustling for privates as they come and go and if you dont replace them you lose money. With a big school the school has their money so they tend to keep coming back to use up their lessons. With paying by the lesson or the month they tend to be a little more slack about commiitment to keeping up lessons. |
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saloc
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 102
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| I only teach privately, but I had been here for over three years when I made the leap. I also have a Japanese wife who deals with all my advertising and takes phone calls etc. Without her to do all that, I doubt I would have half as many students as I do. The money is much better than I would get in any other English teaching job, but it is a lot of work and I think the only way to earn a decent income solely from privates is to run it as a fully fledged business. That means having decent premises (I teach from home, but moved out of an apartment into a house to do so. That way I could have a classroom that looks professional and am not teaching out of my living room). I didn't teach any privates while working elsewhere, so I didn't start with a student base, but what I did gain in that time was a better understanding of how English schools work and, just as importantly, improved teaching skills. It is possible to make a good living from private teaching, but I would echo what Paul and Genski said about it not being particularly easy without PR or a spouse visa. I think it would be very hard for somebody who has just arrived in the country. Personally, I think the biggest asset to have is a Japanese national who understands the English teaching business extremely well and who can do much of the "business" side of things, leaving you to concentrate on the teaching. |
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canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| I would look at either having an anchor job and teaching private students is the bonus money or gravy. |
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earthmonkey
Joined: 18 Feb 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Meguro-Ku Tokyo
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 6:42 am Post subject: |
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| I agree with all of the above. I'm currently earning about 50% of my income through my privates (students). However, it took me over three years to get to that level. I definitely wouldn't count on getting any signifigant income from private lessons right away. Most of my students have come by word of mouth and/or just plain luck. I've gotten a few from sensei sagasu and similar websites, but not the majority. Get a job, then work on cultivating private students. Even when I just had a few, the extra cash was often the difference between a pint of Guiness at the pub or a can of hopposhu (low malt beer) on the street. Good luck! |
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