Private one-to-one tuition · 日本語
Private Japanese lessons, taught by someone who knows why it is hard.
Three writing systems, several levels of politeness and a grammar built on entirely different foundations. One specialist chosen for you from our selected network, and a programme that sequences all of it properly.
Who it is for
Who books private Japanese with us
Japanese is chosen deliberately and rarely casually. These are the briefs we are given most often.
The professional posted to, or working with, Japan
A transfer to Tokyo, a Japanese parent company, or clients whose English is excellent and whose meetings still happen in Japanese.
Business Japanese with the politeness levels handled correctly — self-introduction, meetings, email, and the etiquette that decides how you are read.
The committed cultural learner
Literature, film, games, manga, martial arts or design brought you here, and subtitles have stopped being enough.
Real literacy: kana quickly, then a kanji strategy that compounds, alongside the speaking that keeps it enjoyable.
The JLPT candidate
N5 to N1, usually for a visa, a university application, an employer or the satisfaction of a level that is publicly recognised.
Level-specific preparation: the vocabulary and kanji lists, the reading speed the paper demands, and the listening section that decides most results.
The family with Japanese at home
A Japanese partner, in-laws you would like to talk to properly, or children growing up between two languages.
Everyday, family-register Japanese — the language of the kitchen and the phone call rather than the textbook dialogue.
The Learn&Co method
A selected network first. Your match, second.
We do not go looking for a Japanese tutor once you enquire. The selection has already happened — our network is built slowly, from specialists we have interviewed, observed and chosen to work with.
What happens after your enquiry is the second layer, and it is personal. Maria hears the brief, chooses the specialist inside that network who fits it, and introduces you on a chemistry call before anything is committed.
“Amazing at understanding what people need and matching students with the perfect tutor…”
A network selected before you arrive
Japanese specialists we have already interviewed, referenced and chosen — for teaching skill and subject depth, not simply for a passport.
A conversation before a tutor
Twenty minutes with Maria: what you need Japanese for, by when, and how you learn well.
Matched from the network
The specialist who suits your goal, level and temperament is identified inside the existing network and named to you, with Maria overseeing the match. No rota, no directory, no algorithm.
A chemistry call, then oversight
You meet them before anything is booked. Monthly reports, a founder check-in at week six, and rematching if the fit ever stops working.
The tutors
What a Japanese specialist brings that a generalist cannot
Japanese is where self-study most often stalls, and almost always for the same four reasons. Every tutor in our network teaches Japanese to English speakers professionally.
They sequence the writing systems
Hiragana and katakana first and fast, then kanji taught through components and readings rather than brute memorisation. The order matters enormously, and getting it wrong is why most learners quit in year one.
They teach keigo as a social tool
Plain, polite and honorific speech are not difficulty levels — they are choices about relationship. A specialist teaches when each is used, which is what makes you employable rather than merely comprehensible.
They rebuild your sense of a sentence
Particles, topic against subject, verb-final order and everything Japanese leaves unsaid. Taught as a different logic rather than as English rearranged.
They fix pitch accent and rhythm early
Japanese pronunciation is easy to approximate and easy to get subtly wrong. Pitch, mora timing and natural rhythm are taught deliberately, from the first weeks.
Life in the language
Japanese changes what you notice.
It is a language with words for the light through leaves, the first wind of autumn and the particular awkwardness of accepting a favour. Learning it is not only learning to speak — it is being handed a much finer set of distinctions and finding you now see them.
That is what the programme is built towards. Not tourist phrases, but the point at which the politeness levels, the seasons in the greetings and the things left deliberately unsaid start making sense to you from the inside.
Politeness as meaning
Every sentence in Japanese chooses a relationship. Learning which one to choose is the real skill, and it is taught explicitly.
Reading as the door
Kanji is the barrier that keeps most learners outside. A structured plan turns it into steady, visible progress.
Culture as material
Film, literature, food, games or business practice — the practice material comes from whatever brought you to Japanese in the first place.
In practice
What the lessons actually look like
The most common question after price. Here is the shape of the thing you are buying.
- An hour a week, or considerably more
- One hour a week is the standard rhythm and the basis of our guide prices. Japanese rewards frequency, so many clients run two shorter sessions a week, or intensify before a posting or a JLPT date.
- Online, in person in London, or both
- Most clients learn online with the same tutor throughout. Face-to-face tuition at home or at your office is available across London and is quoted individually.
- Your material, and a proper writing plan
- Your workplace Japanese, the manga or novel you want to read, the JLPT list you are working through — with kanji and review structured between lessons rather than left to willpower.
- Written up every month
- Your tutor writes a monthly progress report against the objectives agreed at the start, and Maria checks in with you at week six.
Corporate clients
Trusted by global businesses
Language programmes delivered inside law firms, hedge funds, publishing houses and global property groups.
Partner schools
Working with leading schools in the UK and Europe
Exam preparation, tutor placement and curated exchanges with demanding independent schools here and with partner schools across Europe.
Investment
One rate, four ways to commit to it.
Every client receives the identical service — the matching, the chemistry call, the bespoke programme, the reporting and the founder oversight. The only thing that changes is how many hours you commit to, and the hourly rate falls as you do.
Guide prices are based on one hour of private online tuition a week and include VAT. Face-to-face lessons in London, additional weekly hours and intensive programmes are quoted individually.
Flexi
4 hours
Month to month
£75/hr£300 in total
Discovery
12 hours
Up to 3 months
£71/hr£855 in total
Momentum
24 hours
Up to 6 months
£68/hr£1,620 in total
Mastery
48 hours
Up to 12 months
£64/hr£3,060 in total
Every private plan, whichever you choose, includes
Bespoke programmes — not lesson bundles.
- A discovery call with Maria, our founder
- Personal matching from our selected network
- A chemistry call before you commit
- A programme written from your objective
- Specialist tutors, vetted and selected
- Monthly written progress reports
- Week-six founder check-in
- Rematching at any point, at no cost
Not sure which plan? Maria will recommend one on the call.
Before you book
Private Japanese lessons — your questions, answered.
- How much do private Japanese lessons cost?
- Private Japanese tuition is bought in hours. Flexi is 4 hours at £75/hr (£300 in total); Discovery 12 hours used within up to 3 months at £71/hr (£855); Momentum 24 hours within up to 6 months at £68/hr (£1,620); Mastery 48 hours within up to 12 months at £64/hr (£3,060). All prices include VAT. Face-to-face lessons in London and intensive programmes are quoted individually.
- How is my Japanese tutor chosen?
- The selection happens before you enquire: every tutor in our network has already been interviewed, referenced and chosen by us. When you come to us, Maria listens to your objective, level, temperament and timetable, then names the specialist inside that network who fits the brief. You meet them on a chemistry call before anything is committed.
- Do I have to learn kanji?
- To read, yes — but not all at once and not in the order the internet suggests. We begin with hiragana and katakana, which take a few weeks, then build kanji through components and high-frequency readings tied to what you actually want to read. Clients who only need speaking can defer it, and we will tell you honestly what that costs you later.
- How long until I can hold a conversation?
- With one hour a week and consistent review, simple everyday conversation typically arrives within six to nine months. Japanese is not harder to speak than European languages — the grammar is regular and pronunciation is straightforward. What takes time is reading and the politeness system.
- What if my tutor is not right for me?
- We rematch you, at no cost and without any argument. Fit is our responsibility rather than yours, and rematching is a normal part of the service rather than a complaint.
- Do you teach in person in London, or only online?
- Both. Online lessons are available anywhere in the world and are what our guide prices are based on. Face-to-face Japanese lessons are available across London and some surrounding areas, subject to tutor availability. Many clients run a hybrid of the two.
- Can you prepare me for the JLPT?
- Yes, from N5 through to the higher levels, subject to specialist availability at the top end. Preparation is built around the specific level's vocabulary and kanji, the reading speed the paper demands and the listening section, which is where most candidates lose the marks.
- Do you run Japanese group classes?
- Not at present. Our ten-week group terms currently run in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Japanese is taught one to one, which is also the format that suits it best at the early stages. If a cohort ever becomes viable you will hear about it first.
- How quickly can I start?
- Most clients have a proposed tutor within a few days of the discovery call and a first lesson in the week that follows. A highly specific professional or dialect brief can take a little longer, because we would rather match well than match quickly.
Ready to start Japanese?
Twenty minutes with Maria.
Tell her what you need Japanese for, where you are now and how much time you honestly have. She will tell you how we would approach it — and who, from our network, she would match you with.
Maria Toubbe
- 20 minutes
- A conversation, not a sales call.
- With Maria
- Our founder, every time — not a call centre.
- No obligation
- Advice you can use even if you never book.
20 min · video call · free
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