Has it been easy or difficult for you to get private students?

10 comments

1. Ya I haven’t had any luck really. …it’s why I decided to stop teaching full time and work part time at a Japanese company doing physical work.

   Teaching full time is definitely not for me 😆

2. Most of the teachers I encounter are based in the Philippines and charge 500-600yen per lesson.

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   I cant compete with that.

3. I’m not in the business of teaching online Eikawa lessons, but I do have a few clients, and work with other teachers. As others have stated, it’s definitely the case that there any number of offers for systemic instruction at bargain rates with domestic or international providers. For my colleagues who are in the business of making their incomes from remote language instruction, 1) they’re not new at it 2) generally they’re teaching existing students 3) more often than not, they’re content creators whose students want a more direct audience with someone whose message and content they already like. For my own self, I only work on referrals for a specific sort of professional client that’s not really an option without having had a lot of experience with the field.

   That doesn’t mean I suggest you start pursuing content creation or travel back in time to get students; just pointing out that your exasperation is natural.

4. I used hello sensei. I got one class with a 6 year old for 4500 every Saturday that went on for years. Had a few lessons for ppl preparing for interviews or that needed translation help.
   It’s hard in the big cities and Outside of Osaka or tokyo I think it’s almost impossible

5. Just stand outside a busy station and hand out fliers with your own contact number etc on it!

6. Charge what you believe you are worth. I was told by two of my private students that the reason they chose me was because I was the most expensive. They felt that someone who charges that amount must be a better teacher than someone who only charges 1,000/hr. Keep in mind that someone willing to pay 3,000 or 4,000 a lesson is someone who is serious about study and is looking for value and expertise – not someone who is just going to talk at them in English.

   It also helps if you specialize in something, for example TOEIC, IELTS, business English, and so on.

   Emphasize your experience and qualifications. Put examples of the materials on your website, and make sure you have a good translation of everything in Japanese.

   I hired a professional web designer for my website, and it has paid off.

7. I got all the students I taught privately through word of mouth. I never had many students though, don’t have enough time to teach after work these days.

   Usual fee was 3000 yen per lesson.

8. Hard at first, easier as you get more students and word of mouth, etc. kicks off.

   But this was before the pandemic, which has changed things a lot.

9. I used to work in an Eikaiwa online and now that I’m here in Japan the students availed my lessons on weekend too, I’m from the Philippines and I charge 2,500/hour — 4,000/hour. Depending on the needs of the students, I have students who just want to improve their conversational skills and some who wanted a curriculum made just for them, thus the higher hourly rate. I gained more students from word of mouth so I have couple of students from the same company. 🙂 So I think working in an eikaiwa and building regular students there really helped me in transitioning to private lessons.

10. I have had private students in person about three years ago. I charged about 3000 yen per student. I gave them discounts for additional time and for additional students at each lesson. I don’t know where you are located, but I live in a a major city. I think with online teaching, there are many places and options now. Why don’t you get vaccinated first and think about teaching in person? I was thinking about this myself but for now will teach online until I feel safe to teach in person. Teaching in person will pay more because it is more interactive and personal while online teaching is rather impersonal. This is my two cents.