| Name | Hikari A. Recommended |
|---|---|
| City | Vancouver, BC |
| Teaching | Japanese |
| Native Language | Japanese |
| Originally From | Thailand |
| Working With | Kids (3y+), Youth, Adults |
| Levels I Teach | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced |
| Lessons Take Place | Public Place, Online |
| Hourly Rate | C$25 |
Hi there! Please feel free to call me Karin, I am currently a 3rd-year undergraduate at UBC majoring in Psychology and Chemistry. I am of mixed heritage, of Japanese and Thai, but I have been speaking Japanese in my home environment for 20 years now, so I am a native speaker. I am open to carrying out casual conversations in Japanese, and can support with any work/studying related to Japan. Feel free to contact me so we can arrange a time and place (online or at a public place).
I grew up in a bilingual household, speaking primarily Japanese with my mother. To formalize my skills, I took IB Japanese Higher Level in high school and achieved the highest grade. Outside of school, I studied Dorazemi, a tutoring service for elementary school children, and continued with Z-kai, an advanced educational service for high school students, studying Japanese literature and sakubun (Essay-writing). Additionally, I took Kanji Kentei, a standardized Kanji proficiency test and was certified for level 3. Studying the Japanese language for 20 years extensively has allowed me to develop a deep appreciation for the language's nuance and expressive potential. While Japanese courses in UBC often focus on grammar and vocabulary in isolation, my lived experience enables me to contextualize lessons and help students apply what they learn to real-life communication. I am confident that my experience allows me to support students seeking help in their journey to learning Japanese.
Beyond my academic background, I volunteered for three years to support Japanese children aged 3-4 on their journey to learning English in high school. In other words, I worked closely with language development in a naturalistic classroom setting. In addition, I communicated with parents and teachers to update the children’s improvement in understanding English both orally and through a report that tracked the children’s progress towards learning English and what terms they have newly learnt. Through this experience, I developed a strong sense of commitment to my work, ensuring I followed through on the children’s progress. My self-motivation allowed me to engage actively in every session and take ownership of my responsibilities, which are qualities I can bring as a tutor and apply my skills of measuring educational achievement to understand students’ improvement. Additionally, in the Operation SMILE club, as an event coordinator, I managed large Excel datasets and coordinated logistics for fundraising events, developing the ability to multitask and stay organized in busy environments.
My teaching approach is very flexible — whether you'd like to cover content related to Japanese culture or language for work or study, or simply want to practice your Japanese in a casual setting, I'm happy to accommodate. I personally value the provision of a safe space to make mistakes and improve upon that, so I would love to do the same thing here.
I am flexible, so as long as it is outside of my class times - I am completely free on the weekends.
Can meet online via Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft Teams. If other platforms are preferred, please let me know and we can arrange an online meeting. If it is in-person, ideally, we can meet at UBC and work together at the AMS Student Nest or the IKB library.
