Tutoring Advice

[Miyenne]

Hi guys,

I'm lacking in the money department but not desperate. I have an old an ill cat at home that does not do well with being left alone. (He doesn't eat and hides the whole time, and he's on thyroid medication and needs to eat regularly.) It's also nice that I'm able to keep the house clean and functioning for my sister whom I live with as she comes home from work exhausted and burnt out every day.

So I'm going to try putting up some ads for tutoring.

I need suggestions and advice on how to best advertise myself.

I am stating I graduated high school on the honour roll and finished my Bachelor of Arts (majored in Asian Studies, minored in Anthropology)and have the transcripts if anyone wants to see.

I am aiming to tutor English as that's my strong suit, and as I went through years of language courses and learned Japanese, I can turn what I learned around and teach the same way I learned.

I am also stating that I'm willing to teach basic Japanese, hoping I'll catch some anime fans in that net so I can help them better understand subtitled anime and such.

I'm stating that I have all levels of reading materials (I have children's books through to classic novels and even Shakespeare) available for my students. I also have dictionaries and many text books on a whole plethora of subjects.

I'm also saying I'm willing to do it over Skype.

Anything else I should add, or not state?

Has anyone had success in doing this? My sister did, kinda. She had a student she tutored for a year and made a bit of money at, but time constraints and living on either end of the city caused them to end their contract. I'm hoping to have better success.

 

[Chromatic Aberration]

Hmmmm....I have some experience in teaching assistance/tutoring at university and did some small private tutoring back at school that didn't work out too well. I cannot advise you on advertising or how to set this up as this is something I never had to deal with in any sort of professional way.

However, what I can do is point out that there is a considerable difference between teaching and simple learning.

First you have to conceptualize your tutoring depending on who you have to tutor - you have to engage uni-students who presumably already have a basic interest in the topic much differently than children who don't really care unless prompted to and just need to have better grades because their parents want it. Your aim should be to get both parties equally interested in listening to what you have to say and absorb the knowledge you want to convey. Given that your subject is (at least where I'm at) not part of the usual curricula should help in that people will usually be interested in it - still keep the possibility in mind.

That said, there are multiple ways to engage people in it and I think the most important is to take whatever interest they already have and use them to your advantage. Like music? Get them to read lyrics from Maximum The Hormone for the metallers, Tsushimarime for the alternatives or stuff from akiko shikata for the more classically interested for instance. Like tv-series? Go watch an anime. Something short yet considerably awesome like Madoka should do the trick, you can also always do some single episodes of Cowboy Bebop or the like even for people who aren't that interested in it. A history buff or sci-fi enthusiast? Get him something from Japanese history or, say, some novels by Yoshiki Tanaka. This meaning: you can use these things to your advantage to improve what you want to convey.

Then, you should take care of two things: 1) Keep your teaching focused and 2) get them a semblance of achievement. For the first you should conceptualize the subjects you want to tackle clearly as building it from scratch obviously requires different attention than someone who just needs some refreshing. Plan them in advance and offer them a sort of curriculum, for instance by sticking to a textbook, and not something completely free-form. You can even do some regular examinations to check on their progress with regards to memorizing words and so on. As for the second, comment on their progress and identify also short to mid-term aims these people might have and make them real. Want to watch a single episode of some series without subs? Go on. Want to talk to some with japanese people without embarassing themselves? Call up some people at uni and set a date. That's the kind of stuff that helps immensely to improve what you want to achieve.

Also generally get them to repeat the stuff over and over again because I think that's really the most important part in learning a language - but you probably know that better than me. Meanwhile keep your tutoring varied and do different stuff with your students to keep the experiences fresh and exciting. Don't just go and read the book or talk to them all the time with only the book as context.

But...I guess you already knew most of this stuff but I think it's very important to keep these things in mind. Teaching is a whole other beast than learning it for yourself and requires more attention than perhaps apparent.

 

[Batou667]

I'm also considering doing private tuition. From what I gather, you can either be employed by an agency (who will find clients for you, and often provide training and materials) or go freelance.

If you want to go freelance I'd advise you to get a really firm grasp on who your target audience is. Young kids who need help spelling and reading? Schoolkids studying for entrance exams? Adult learners with English as a second language? Adults who want to learn conversational Japanese or read the Kanji in their manga books? Whichever group(s) you decide on, tailor yourself to them. Identify what they want and how you can provide it.

In my limited opinion, I think the teaching of English is something that requires quite a rigorous knowledge of exam requirements and the vocabulary and grammar appropriate to each age/developmental group and may be best approached through a language school or agency (and this may require you to get extra training or qualifications). As a freelancer you might have more success targeting the otaku market with a "Learn to read Japanese manga! Write your own Kanji in 12 weeks!" style of tuition.