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Mark M Lessons

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English Native
Japanese Proficient

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2
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2
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about 1 year ago
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This tutor usually accepts requests up to 48 hours before the desired lesson time
Mon 09:00 –   11:00
Schedule visible to 1 month(s)
Actual availability may differ. Please check when you make a request.
Shown in Asia/Tokyo time.
日本語
This tutor is currently on leave.
Hi, my name is Mark, it's nice to meet you! I am a native English speaker from California who teaches English and at the moment I focus on Japanese speakers who want to learn English. 
 
About my video: If you are asking "Why did he make a video all in Japanese?," the reason I did that is because I felt that if I am going to ask my students who are scared of speaking English to try to speak, I should challenge myself to do that. 
 
Here are 3 important points about my lessons:
 
1. Speaking in another language is fun. This is a main focus while I teach.
 
2. I listen and empathize with my students, and as much as possible teach in a way that responds to their personality and interests. Like if I see that they are not interested in something that we are talking about, I change the subject to something that they are interested in.
 
3. My focus is on teaching simply. Of course, sometimes more complex explanations might be needed, and at those times I still try (as much as I can while teaching effectively) to keep the explanations simple.
 
I have worked for 10 years as a piano teacher and these 3 points I learned from that experience. If I were to sum it up: Fun is a main point, empathize and respond to students' interests and personality, and teach simply,
 
Until now I have studied Japanese for about 10 years. But actually, 2 1/2 years ago I was really frustrated with my Japanese ability. At that time, I felt that I really couldn't speak well. After I had that thought, I really tried hard to study Japanese in order to get better and, as a result, I talked for 600 hours in Japanese and English language exchanges and after that I felt like I could speak better and felt more confident in Japanese. Also, even though there are mistakes in my video, I am so happy that I am able to make a video like the one on this page and additionally while not reading a direct script. Just in case you want to know, it was scary and hard, but I did it! 
 
From that experience I talked with 75 Japanese people, so please don't worry at all if you are shy.
 
About my lessons, I mainly focus on more of a casual conversation style of lessons, but I will also answer your questions about grammar, vocabulary, or phrases, etc. 
 
For your information here are some of my hobbies/interests, who knows, maybe we can talk about one of these! - 

Movies, music (jazz, funk, hip hop, video game music, pop, rock), piano, anime, gardening and growing vegetables, nutrition, beach, surfing, biking, video games and computer games, plant based diets, health 
 
Some of my favorites from different categories:
Japanese music: Hisaishi Joe, Yamashita Tatsuro, Uverworld, L'arc en Ciel, Crazy Ken Band, Uehara Hiromi, Bird
Music other than Japanese music (there are too many to list but here are a few): Earth Wind and Fire, The Eagles, Oscar Peterson, Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai, Bill Evans, Luther Vandross, The Beegees
Food: Japanese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Korean, American
Anime: Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ghibli (like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) 
Games: Final Fantasy (big fan of many of the games), Chrono Trigger, Skyrim, Biohazard
Movies: Star Wars, Harry Potter 7, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Gladiator, The Godfather
 
That is a little about the lessons and myself, if you would like to schedule a lesson please do so by clicking "Request Lesson." I'm really looking forward to talking with you in the lessons, and thank you for reading!
 
Mark

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  • Less than 24hours before lesson start time.→ 50% of price charged.
  • No-Show→ 50% of price charged.

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