Spoken by more than 127 million people, Japanese is today the 9th most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.
Thanks to its impressive cultural growth, Japan is attracting more and more 'Western' visitors, who flock to Tokyo and Osaka to discover and experience the country's latest technological innovations.
The Japanese language has been taught in Australia for over 100 years. Currently, it is in the top three most popular languages at the compulsory education level, with large numbers of students undertaking the language in primary school and electing to continue their studies in secondary school. Many young people choose to extend their language studies, or begin them, with a bachelor level Japanese course at university.
So, why not get started with Japanese tutoring?
Whether Japanese is your native tongue or not, you can easily find a wide range of students interested in your classes, particularly if you offer lessons for a range of levels.
Here are our tips for how to become a Japanese teacher in Australia and to help you grow a great tuition business as a private Japanese tutor with five-star reviews.
How to Become a Japanese Tutor
Depending on the type of teaching you are interested in, teaching Japanese will fluctuate in difficulty.
If you are interested in becoming a traditional teacher, where you can work in a primary or secondary school teaching classes in Japanese reading, writing, speaking and culture, you will need a 4-year Bachelor of Education, with a major in Japanese or languages methodology.
Tutoring is also the ideal job for retired teachers, qualified teachers who want to make extra money on the side or Bachelor of Education students who want to supplement their income while they complete their training.
Ideally, the education department in each state in Australia prefers its teachers have a degree or a major in their chosen language, particularly if they are going to be employed to teach at the secondary school and college level.
If you are looking to be a professor or researcher in Japanese, you will need to catch a recruiter's eye with a PhD.
On the other hand, if you want to become a Japanese tutor, no diploma is needed!
In fact, private Japanese tutoring jobs are the perfect job if you are not interested in training to become a qualified teacher or if you are a university student undertaking studies of any subject and, again, would like to supplement your income with part time work.
Anybody, of almost any age, can offer private tutoring and it is accessed by students of all ages, from primary school, through secondary school, into university and years after graduation.
Depending on their goals, students may prefer a tutor who is a native speaker. However, if you have been a learner of Japanese yourself, then you may be more attractive as a choice because of your ability to explain the language acquisition process from the non-native point of view as you share your tips and tricks.
Some elements of professional training may be particularly appreciated by potential students, including their tutor having:
- in-country experience — lived in Japan, studied in Japan at university or through a language study trip or worked in Japan
- at least Year 12 level Japanese
- a bachelor degree or higher in Japanese,
- a Japanese language proficiency level rating.
Out of these, in-country experience for an extended period of time is highly recommended — almost mandatory — in conjunction with any studies you have undertaken.
Why is in-country experience so important?
During Japanese language classes, many students are interested to discover the cultural aspects of the language they are studying. Indeed, language and culture go hand-in-hand.
The best way to truly know the Japanese culture is to be immersed in it and communicate directly with native inhabitants.
It goes without saying that the more personal experience you have, the more engaging your Japanese language lessons will be and the more your students will progress.
Do You Need to have a Japanese Language Qualification to Teach Japanese?
There are a number of qualifications you could earn in Australia, which are linked to Japanese:
- university study (Bachelor level) — Bachelor of International Studies, Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies, Bachelor of Education (secondary Japanese)
- university study (Master level and beyond) — Master of Arts in Japanese Interpreting and Translation, Master of Education, Master of Arts (research)
- the JLPT or Japanese Language Proficiency Test
- online short courses (specific skills, e.g. translation)
However, do you in fact need one of these to get started as a Japanese tutor? Surprisingly, no!
Yes, you might need some or all of these to become a qualified primary or secondary school teacher, or a university teacher but it's not necessarily the case for becoming a languages tutor. Becoming a tutor is a much more hassle-free way to get involved in teaching and tutors can earn good money if they can show years of experience and positive reviews.
So, as standard, a JLPT ranking would be very advantageous to prove your fluency in the language — in the same way as people who want to start teaching English need an IELTS ranking or proficiency test score.
However, you must still have the same passion for teaching as a qualified teacher because, if you don't, you'll see your tuition business going nowhere. Teachers and private tutors have to be motivated and be committed to getting their students the results they want to achieve or to reach their personal goal.
Are you ready to get started as a language tutor? Join Superprof and start work now!
How to Become a Japanese Teacher in Australia: What Skills Do You Need?
As we've just discovered, to teach Japanese, there are no requirements to have a Bachelor or Master degree.
You do, however, obviously need to 'master' beyond the basics of the language.
- Basic greetings and levels of politeness
- How to count in Japanese
- The writing system (kanji, katakana and hiragana)
- Accurate pronunciation and accent
- Ability to have a conversation (speaking and listening) with native speakers
- Master basic grammar and sentence structure
This is the bare minimum!
Ideally, you should have a good level of fluency in all language skills — reading, writing, speaking and listening. And, you should know the intricacies of life in Japan — courtesies, cuisine, formal and informal conversation and so on.
Basic training in the Japanese language can easily be mastered through Japanese language intensives courses — either online or in person.
Do not feel you have to be an expert in the language, as many students will use your services for a simple introductory course. Of course, should you wish to work with more advanced students, you will obviously need the skills yourself.
Whatever your level, though, you can offer Japanese language classes to all willing students.
We can distinguish between four types of teachers:
- the students who teach beginners in order to finance their studies
- the bilingual teachers who have already travelled to Japan and is fluent in the language
- The teachers who are native speakers of Japanese
- The qualified teachers who have a Bachelor of Education.
Of course, your proficiency level will have a direct impact on the price of your private lesson, as will your level of experience and your education qualifications. The more qualified or experienced you are, the more expensive your class will be.
It's important to remember, too, that different students have different learning styles. It may well be that your preferred teaching style does not work for every student. If so, make sure you are flexible. Find out what the student wants and work your lessons around this. Make sure you know the level of students you work the best with too.
How Do You Find the Students for Your Japanese Classes?
Learning Japanese in Australia continues to be popular.
Attracted by its very original culture, many young Australian people still want to travel to Japan and live with a host family in order to immerse themselves in the cultural aspects and language of Japan.
If you look hard enough, you can take advantage of the slew of students interested in Japanese classes.
What if you are having difficulty finding Japanese tutoring jobs?
Here are a few techniques you could try.
- Talk to your family, friends and work colleagues about your teaching approach — word of mouth is powerful.
- Get the word out in your local area to promote your classes.
- Post ads in primary and secondary schools, colleges and university campuses to reach students directly.
- Post ads at your local library, community centre and shops to reach families.
- Create a tutor profile on platforms such as Superprof.
If 'physical' ads do not work, try posting your tutoring ad on the internet on social media or another platform. Remember to indicate your contact information (email address, phone number) on your ads to facilitate communication with the students.
Thanks to Superprof, you can give Japanese lessons remotely. With only your webcam, microphone and internet connection, you are no longer limited to your local location; you can now reach students from all over the world! There is no longer any need to travel to and from your Japanese tutoring jobs; you go directly to your students via the internet, ready to help them progress and meet their goals.
Do not hesitate to surf the chat forums dedicated to the land of the rising sun. There are multiple active ones where students are often asking for tutors. You may be able to contact a student who is interested in private tutoring lessons.
How Do Tutors Organise Their Japanese Tuition Sessions?
Having a student is only the beginning.
For each student, you need to figure out how best to teach them Japanese and work out the most effective way to teach them to get the results they want.
Your first class is ideal to use as an introduction to your future teaching.
It's important to determine the student's expectations, which may fall anywhere between easing into discovering the basics of the language to expressing themselves fluently in everyday life. There is a difference!
You also have to know where your student intends to head.
If your students want, for example, to prepare for a Japanese proficiency exam or apply to study at a university in Japan, your lessons should be more academic.
It's also good practice to be mindful of the differences between the learning styles of adults and children.
Young people often pick up languages more quickly. If your students are adults, however, you may find you need to take your time and use different pedagogical methods to help in their learning.
Start with the basics of teaching:
- revise previous lessons
- limit textbook exercises
- try online activities
- develop an individualised schedule
- define short and long term goals
- be consistent
- introduce new concepts and characters gradually but regularly
- assess understanding at the end of each session.
Remember, you are tutoring, so you don't want your Japanese tuition to be like a classic school lesson.
Tutoring's greatest asset is originality!
If you would like to differ from a basic language class, it's essential for you to really take a look at Japanese culture.
Don't hesitate to introduce a range of Japanese cultural aspects to your students.
Consider:
- manga and animated cartoons
- video games
- robots
- calligraphy
- Japanese cuisine
- origami
- ikebana
- literature
- tea ceremony
- festivals.
Your class will become much more educational and you will awaken your student's deep interest in the subject.
Resources to Help You Teach Japanese
You should tailor your course to the Australian Curriculum, at the appropriate level if relevant, in order to teach the right things. If you don't have access to official school curriculum resources, there are many resources to help you stay on track with your teaching content.
Websites
The following websites are specifically aimed, or have dedication sections for those teaching Japanese across a number of levels and different courses:
- The Japan Foundation
- The Australia Japan Society (local state branches)
- The Embassy of Japan
- Asia Education Foundation
- Teach Starter
- Scootle
- Teachers Pay Teachers
- Twinkl
Textbooks
Choosing the right textbook is key to succeeding as a tutor.If you are looking for some extra resources to use alongside your teaching, perhaps if you are teaching an older student who is not as fussed about keeping to a curriculum, then you may like to consider one of the following textbooks:
- Contemporary Japanese (Tuttle) — for beginning students, 61 short lessons designed to be completed in a single session
- Tobira series (Kuroshio Publishing) — for intermediate students. Develops the four skills through a variety of cultural topics
- Japanese for Busy People (AJALT) — for beginners through to intermediate learners, it has a practical 'survival in Japan' focus
To supplement your own teaching, it's also wise to keep your language skills strong, so why not dip in and out of a good Japanese novella, a series of short stories or a Japanese movie every so often?
How to Engage Your Students to Get the Best Results
Engagement is probably the single most defining factor when it comes to teaching. Engaged students perform better and are easier to teach because they want to learn. Therefore, student engagement gets results.
But how do you do this?
Ask questions
The first thing to do is to make sure you really listen to what your student wants. In your first session, ask them some of the following questions:
- Tell me about your previous experiences learning Japanese? (Or learning another language.)
- What do you want to do with your Japanese?
- Why did you choose Japanese instead of (French, Italian, Chinese)?
- What do you already know about Japanese culture?
- What would you like to know?
- What cultural aspects are you interested in?
- At school (or when you were at school), what activities did you enjoy the most? The least?
Basically, one of your first jobs as a tutor is to find out as much as you can about your student so you can tailor your lessons to suit their interests, needs and learning style. And, don't just limit the questions to your first lesson. Schedule time during each session to just chat.
Play to your student's interests
Once you know your student, you'll know what they are interested in. Tailor your lessons, as much as possible, around this.
If your student loves food and cooking, have a lesson every now and then in a Japanese restaurant. Ask questions to the wait staff about the food, and then order it in Japanese. If your lessons are online, create a 'virtual restaurant', do a cooking lesson or conduct a taste test.
For students who are music or movie buffs, spend some of your time talking about old and current movies or music; go and watch a movie together (in person or online); look at the lyrics of popular songs and so on.
Perhaps your student is saving up for a backpacking trip to Japan. Get them ready for this. Take them on a virtual tour of great places in Japan, including some that are off the tourist track. Roleplay different scenarios — navigating the subway in Tokyo, asking for directions, buying tickets, ordering meals.
The directions you can take your student with a little imagination are limitless. Even if the student is with you for academic reasons — to catch up with their university studies, study for an exam or reach the next level of proficiency in the JLPT — a little bit of fun and the occasional focus on passion topics goes a long way to keeping your student (and you) engaged and motivated.
Be enthusiastic yourself
There is nothing less engaging than a teacher or tutor who clearly isn't enjoying their work. Yes, you have to keep your students motivated but you also have to keep yourself motivated. Even the most dry, dull grammar lessons can be livened up by turning them into a game or competition.
As long as what you're doing meets the student's needs and fits their preferred learning style, if you're having fun and feeling enthusiastic about your upcoming lessons, your students will be too.
How to Set the Right Price for Japanese Classes?
By now, you have a fair idea about how to become a Japanese teacher in Australia but you're not sure how to price your Japanese tutoring jobs?
Do not panic. We have a few solutions for you.
First of all, keep in mind that the average hourly rate of Japanese tutoring on Superprof is $26. This price can obviously vary according to your teaching experience, level and so on.
Here are some conditions to consider:
- If you go through a private tutoring organisation, the company will set the price of your course.
- If you go through an online platform (Superprof, for example), it's up to you to choose your rate.
- The price evolves according to your education and tutoring experience.
- The price changes according to your student's level.
- Provision of materials can either increase or decrease your rates. For example, if you are teaching your student calligraphy and providing all the equipment, your rates will be more.
- Your location and your student's location can lead to important transportation costs; adapt your rate to the student's distance from your home.
- You can offer attractive packages to get more students (for example, for ten hours of classes purchased, one hour is given free).
- On Superprof, 91% of our tutors provide the first lesson for free. This introductory session allows tutors to better define their rates, according to the expectations of the student.
So, go out there and start collecting students. You can make money and enjoy your work with Japanese tutoring jobs.
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Hi there, thanks for your information. wondering how to become a private tutor in superprof. I got a Japanese qualification. I worked as Japanese translator and interpreter for 5 years and worked for Japanese international company for more than 5 years. being insightful of Japanese culture and language. I read a lot of classic novels in Japanese language.
Dear Team, I would like to start teaching Japanese language online. I have around 10+ years of working experience in Japan and also have done interpretation and translation. Request you to guide me
Hi! Great to hear you’re interested in offering Japanese lessons. I’d recommend that you sign up to the Superprof site (https://www.superprof.com.au/) and create a free listing. Alternatively, reach out to the support team at gday@superprof.com to find out more!