Upon birth in Japan, I soon moved to the United States (California, Los Angeles), and also lived in European countries, such as Holland (Amsterdam) and Belgium (Antwerp) for a total of approximately 17 years. Having mainly attended American public schools and international schools, I returned to Japan to enter Keio Univeristy upon graduation from high school overseas. I consider both English and Japanese as my mother tongue.
Currently, I work as professional tutor teaching English, and preparing elementary/junior high school students for junior high school/high school entrance examinations. I have also taught students preparing for college entrance exams as well as adults.
I also work for a translation company translating documents concerning finance (e.g. consolidated financial statements and notice for an investor's meeting etc. ), law (e.g. contracts, lease agreements etc.), press releases and company information in general, and essays and reports for scientific and medical research.
I assume that most people are wanting to take part in a conversational class, but I can also teach grammar and correct papers for grammatical/spelling errors and give general advice in constructing arguments. Tutoring for Eiken, TOEIC, TOEFL is also possible, but I would like to discuss fees and class hours (90 minutes is ideal rather than 60 min.).
My full-time occupation is actually a fashion designer (!), thus I enjoy conversations regarding fashion of course, but also ones concerning films, art works, architecture, music and literature. I have great interest in the arts and culture in general! It would be a pleasure for me to discuss these topics in a conversation :)
From a bilingual person's point of view, I reckon that it is better to study English in English. It becomes difficult to acquire a language naturally if you go through the process of translating what it is that you want to say in Japanese first and then translate it into English. In addition, I feel that understanding the culture and its people's aesthetics is also important in learning a foreign language.
If you face any difficulties, I can assist you in Japanese, thus don't feel hesitant even if you are at a beginner's level! I am a very gentle and patient person. I have a great sense of responsibility for my students, so I hope to hear from you.