Hey there!
I commend you for taking this step to find a suitable teacher or native speaker that will help you practice for the JLPT. I know self-study seems convenient for most language learners, but sometimes, it is not enough to help you learn everything you need to know about Japanese, and that is why I always recommend Japanese students to get a Japanese teacher or speaker to put them through.
Learning Japanese requires a specific approach to tackle each aspect of the language and because the Japanese language is one of the most studied languages in the world today, getting someone to teach you won’t be a difficult task as there are many Japanese teachers as well as tutors both online and on the ground. In order to learn Japanese in a more effective way, moving to Japan will allow you to learn better and faster than learning from your home country.
How to choose a Japanese teacher or speaker
Before you decide to hire any Japanese teacher or tutor, you should have goals and expectations that will lead you to choose the right tutor. What do you want from your Japanese teacher? What do you intend to achieve at the end of your learning session with him/her? These should be the questions that you ask yourself before choosing a teacher. If you are not in Japan, there are several Japanese teachers/tutors online, and just like students have profiles, they do too. Go through the profiles of the professional teachers you come across online and select the one that meets up with the requirements of what you want. Contact them and find out if they are available to tutor you and whether their teaching schedule matches your learning schedule.
Whether you are a beginner or an advanced student, ensure to search for an experienced or a native speaker that can teach you about the general Japanese language and all you need to know in order to pass the JLPT. He/ she should be able to teach you about Japanese culture as well as society. Lessons like this that go beyond learning just vocabulary, grammar, and kanji can be interesting and rewarding at the same time.
How much will it cost to hire a Japanese teacher?
Now that you have decided to hire a teacher, the next thing is to find out the financial commitment involved in the process. The prices for hiring a teacher vary with the teacher’s profile as well as experience. You can’t expect to pay a teacher/tutor with 10 years’ experience the same amount as you would someone with lesser experience.
If you hire an online tutor, the price will be lesser than when he/she has to travel over to teach you. Also, the price a teacher in big cities will charge may slightly vary with what others in small towns or municipality will charge. Opting for physical training centers that offer group training is also a perfect way to learn from experienced teachers.
The qualities of a good Japanese teacher/tutor should possess
- Experience- there’s this saying that goes like this “you can’t give what you don’t have.” It is important that you put this into consideration when searching for a teacher/ tutor to hire. Experience should be the first criteria you look out for. Whoever you decide to hire should have some teaching experience because this way, they will know how to tweak their teaching methodology to suit your level of knowledge of the Japanese language.
- Enthusiasm- Japanese language isn’t an easy one to learn, and all seriousness through the learning and study period may not be really helpful. The teacher/tutor should be able to balance both seriousness and fun to help you learn better. No matter how difficult it may seem, adding some zeal and enthusiasm will definitely lift your spirits and put both of you in the right position to benefit from the teaching-learning process.
- Accessibility- imagine having a teacher or tutor that you can’t easily access when you want to, how will you feel about it? A good Japanese teacher should be easily accessible at all times and have a flexible schedule to accommodate your study schedule.
- Good communication skills- what good is a teacher who can’t pass the required information/ lessons in the way his/her student will easily understand? There are a lot of Japanese tutors out there, but you have to be sure to get one who can easily communicate with you without any barrier. Most Japanese tutors are bilingual, and so, the language may not be a barrier between them and their students, but some may find it hard to explain some aspects of the Japanese language in a way that their students can easily grasp.
- Patience- just as they say, “patience is a virtue.” A good teacher/tutor needs to exercise patience at all times with their students. The fact remains that not all students are fast learners. So, a good teacher will have will follow each student according to the pace he or she learns while encouraging them to be themselves.
Tips to help you benefit from your Japanese tutoring and practice sessions
As a student discovering the best possible way you can learn effectively, memorize, and still remember what you have learned is a very important aspect of learning. It is not just enough to have a tutor teach you (whether online, at your place or in a class with other students), you should also have learning strategies that will help you remember what you have been taught. Here are a few tips to help you achieve this.
- Revise your note after every lesson or class. You don’t have to do this for an hour or more. 30minutes can be more than enough to get some information stuck to your memory.
- Practice whatever you learn as often as you can. For every kanji, vocabulary, or grammar you learn, you can try to make your own sentence out of it, in order to help you remember easily.
- Ask questions when you don’t understand anything
- Don’t be rude or mean to your teacher or tutor. Even though you are paying for the services rendered, you want to get the best from them. However, a wrong attitude will not help you achieve this.