Award-Winning Japanese Tutors
serving Rochester, NY

Learning Japanese means juggling three writing systems, unfamiliar grammar structures, and a set of politeness registers that don't exist in English. Katharine brings a methodical, pattern-oriented mindset to breaking down concepts like particle usage, verb conjugation groups, and kanji radicals so that each lesson builds logically on the last.

Though her degrees are in biology and science education, Sarah lists Japanese among her interests and brings a teacher's instinct for breaking complex systems into learnable parts — useful when students are wrestling with hiragana stroke order or the logic behind particle placement. Her 5.0 rating and four years of classroom teaching mean she knows how to pace a lesson and adjust when something isn't landing.

Having taught himself Japanese alongside his formal studies in public policy and education, James knows firsthand where English speakers get tripped up — especially with particles, basic verb conjugation, and the leap from hiragana to katakana. His education background means he's trained to spot where understanding breaks down and adjust his explanations on the fly, which is exactly what beginners need when nothing about Japanese grammar maps onto what they already know.

Studying Japanese as a minor at Columbia — with plans to eventually work in Japan's renewable energy sector — Shin uses the language as a living tool, not just a classroom exercise. He teaches everything from hiragana and katakana basics to intermediate grammar patterns like ～てしまう and ～ことにする, adjusting to each student's level and building real conversational confidence alongside written accuracy.

Learning Japanese means juggling three writing systems, unfamiliar sentence structures, and layers of politeness that don't exist in English. Aki breaks down hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji recognition alongside grammar patterns like particle usage and verb conjugation, building reading and conversational skills in parallel.

Hi! It's Wataru. I am originally from Japan and have been living in New York since 2000. I had a career as an industrial newspaper pressman/editor in Tokyo so that I know newspaper level strict grammar and manner of business speech. I watch anime and I can talk about Japanese subculture with you if you like. I have been teaching Japanese language in person and online. I have taught from beginners to JLPT N3 certificate prep students. I've taught American, Canadian, English, Indian, German, Australian, Mexican, and so on. Teaching is one of my way to feel the joy of supporting people. I'll help you master the language and dive into Japanese culture and subculture. Once you start to think in Japanese, you will notice that your way of communication changes. English is good for business, law, and science while Japanese is more about sharing feelings. The waiters in Japan may be reluctant to serve your table, but my students prepare well to make them feel at ease and they have fantastic travel in Japan.

I am an experienced tutor and teacher from Okinawa, Japan who recently graduated from Brown University and now lives in Brooklyn.

I am currently finishing my thesis. For the past two years I was an adjunct instructor at The City College of New York, teaching statistics and introductory neuroscience, where I learned the importance of communicating complicated concepts clearly at an individualized level. All of my classes performed above average, and I discovered how satisfying it is to help people understand difficult ideas. I've found that by creating a good rapport with my students I am able to more effectively impart difficult concepts to them while causing them less stress. My passion is people, which first led me to study psychology, leading to my work in statistics, and later into teaching.

I'm back at school at NYU, studying for a more general liberal arts degree.

Between his East Asian Studies major at Harvard, his presidency of the Harvard College Japan Initiative, and his work in the Yenching Library's Japanese Collection, Shane lives and breathes Japanese. He reads novels and plays games in Japanese for fun, which means he teaches the language the way it's actually used — from kanji recognition and particle usage to the register shifts that textbooks barely cover.

As a dedicated language tutor with several years of experience, I bring both expertise and enthusiasm to every lesson. I specialize in Chinese, Japanese, and basic Arabic, and I have had the privilege of guiding students of diverse ages and backgrounds through their language-learning journeys.

I am motivated in addressing the disparities in educational equity here in the Twin Cities, particularly for students of color and students of differing socio-economic backgrounds. I work to build strong relationships with students to determine the strengths and knowledge they bring to the table.

During his final summer at NYU, William traveled to Japan to study the language alongside traditional music and wartime film, grounding his Japanese in real cultural context. That immersive experience means he connects vocabulary and grammar to the situations where they're actually used — from reading signs and menus to discussing historical texts. He's especially strong at bridging the gap between textbook Japanese and how the language sounds in practice.

Jacob's degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago means his Japanese instruction is rooted in deep study of the culture, history, and linguistic traditions behind the language. He connects vocabulary and grammar to their cultural logic — explaining why certain verb endings carry social weight or how kanji compounds reflect Chinese origins — giving students a richer understanding than drills alone provide. Rated 5.0 by students.

Holding a degree in Japanese Studies, Andrew brings deep familiarity with not just hiragana, katakana, and kanji but also the cultural context that shapes how the language actually works — keigo politeness levels, sentence-ending particles, and the logic behind counter words. He connects grammar patterns to real conversation so students internalize structures instead of just drilling flashcards.

A drama degree might not scream Japanese fluency, but John's literary work — he's a section editor for the Los Angeles Review of Books and literary manager for two theater companies — means he's deeply attuned to how language shapes meaning, tone, and register. That sensitivity to nuance transfers directly to navigating Japanese's layered politeness levels and context-dependent sentence endings. Rated 5.0 by students.

Crystal minored in Japanese Language and Culture at Northern Kentucky University, so she brings both formal study and genuine cultural curiosity to teaching everything from kana writing to grammar fundamentals. Her day job as a K-12 reading and ESL instructor means she's trained to break down unfamiliar language structures for learners at any level — a skill that pays off when explaining Japanese concepts like sentence-final particles or basic verb tenses that have no English equivalent. Rated 5.0 by students.

Rachel's International Relations coursework exposes her to multiple language systems and cross-cultural communication, which she channels into teaching Japanese fundamentals like hiragana recognition, basic particle usage, and everyday vocabulary. Her relaxed, adaptive style — reflected in a 5.0 rating — is especially useful for beginners who tense up when faced with an entirely new writing system and unfamiliar grammar order.

I'm currently a freshman at Brown University. I will most likely triple major in Ancient Greek & Sanskrit, Latin, and Japanese. I have had lots of experience tutoring those around me, such as friends, peers, and class mates, and I have always enjoyed seeing their progress as students. My tutoring experiences include after-school assistance to those struggling in Ancient Greek at my former high school, to helping Juniors and Sophomores help ace the SAT. My specialty is language and history, with an emphasis on Japanese, English, Latin, US history and World History, but I am also more than happy to help out those struggling with Algebra and Geometry. As someone who was once an ESL student himself, I believe that a good education rests upon the ability to comprehend, interact, and apply ideas. Besides academic matters, I am also fond of running, calisthenics, and Enka music.

Shona's semester abroad in Seville proved that immersion reshapes how you learn any language — a lesson she carries into teaching Japanese, where she emphasizes building comfort with sentence patterns and particles through active use rather than translation drills. Her AP Japanese Language and Culture tutoring draws on both her structured math-trained thinking and her own experience navigating a second language in real-world settings. Rated 4.9 by students.

Learning Japanese means juggling three writing systems, unfamiliar sentence structures, and particles that don't map neatly onto English — Rex tackles each layer separately so students can build real reading and conversational ability. His communication design background also gives him a unique perspective on how visual layout and typography work in Japanese media, which keeps lessons engaging and culturally grounded.