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**** The Solo Sensei Newsletter - Volume #20 ****
August 5th, 2006
Over 10,000 readers Japan-wide.
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You are receiving this newsletter as part of your membership in
findateacher.Net. If needed, remove instructions are below.
IN THIS ISSUE
1. FindaTeacher.Net / SenseiSagasu.com News
2. How to Get Chosen by Students
3. How *NOT* to Get Chosen by Students
4. Turn Offs for Students
5. Free MP3 Nihongo Phrases for Speaking with New Students
6. Tips/Miscellany
7. Teacher Survey Question
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1. FindaTeacher.Net / SenseiSagasu.com News
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Currently, 7960 teachers are actively accepting students while 2077 are on "Break". On average, since our last newsletter, 1400 teachers' contact information has been sent out weekly to students all over Japan. We hope you are getting your share of students. If not, read section 2 (below).
In addition to the regular flow of students we have coming to the SenseiSagasu.com site, there has been a steady flow of new students over the past couple of months due to the nationwide re-release in pocket-book form of Japanese author Saori Oguri's best selling "I Want to Speak English". In it, Oguri recommends SenseiSagasu.com as one of the best ways to learn English. She's smart! The smaller, less expensive pocket-book version has an even wider appeal than the original, so...please keep your findateacher.net record fresh, accurate and looking good so that new students to SenseiSagasu.com can contact you easily.
The new combined restaurant & bar location for the monthly findateacher.net / SenseiSagasu.com party at Sonoma & Ruby Room in Shibuya seems more popular than the previous venue. The next party will be Saturday, August 5th from 6:30 - 9 pm and are held the 1st Saturday of each month. As always, you are invited and we look forward to seeing you. For more details and map: http://www.findateacher.net/iparty.html
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2. How To Get Chosen
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It has been over 2 years (whew!) since the last newsletter so let's review what seem to be the most important things about your findateacher.net / SenseiSagasu.com profile that attract students:
Records viewed & chosen most frequently are those with:
- a recent last "refresh" date
- a clear, tasteful photo
- an average or close to average price
- credibility marks
Teachers in busy areas should refresh often (daily or more) to stay at the top of their chosen area and station lists.
Students are able to see the last date and time the record was refreshed by the teacher. This is an indicator to them of how willing & interested the teacher is in teaching. Additionally, in popular areas there are hundreds of teachers registered. So...if you haven't recently refreshed your record, students may have to scroll through twenty or thirty pages of other teacher's records before getting to see yours.
Only with SenseiSagasu.com can students can feel confident that a teacher's listed education, training, previous teaching experience, and residence status in Japan are legit. Credibility marks on each profile show them these things. To find out in more detail how to add/update optional creditability marks to your findateacher.net/SenseiSagasu.com profile please see:
http://findateacher.net/links.html#credibility
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3. How To *NOT* Get Chosen by Students
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Another, slightly humorous (very slightly), way to put it is - If you *do not* want to get any (or very few) students:
- DO NOT include a photo
- Sign up once and NEVER refresh your record
- Make LOTS of spelling & grammatical errors
- Set your fee TOO HIGH because you think that Japanese are used to paying more for "quality"
- DO NOT respond to students who have made their initial contact with you by email because you think they'll call too if they really want to study with you.
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4. Turn Offs for Students
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Many students have offered feedback to our survey regarding what would turn them off about a teacher they were meeting for the first time. Some of the comments are common sense and others provide an interesting perspective. Here is what they said would make them *not* return to a teacher for a second lesson:
If the teacher:
- is not on time to the first meeting place
- looks unorganized during the first class
- has bad or non-existent teaching style
- does not give the student his/her full attention during the lesson
- couldn't make them feel less nervous during the first class
- makes disparaging comments about Japan
- can't teach what they claimed they could teach in their SenseiSagasu.com profile (for example, can't teach children, or TOEIC)
- tries to sell them something or push them to join a multi-level marketing scheme
- turns the class into their own Japanese lesson by asking many times how to say such-and-such in Japanese
- asks too many personal questions the first meeting
- starts/ends the lesson too late/early
- is too "touchy feely" or sits too close
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5. Free MP3 Nihongo Phrases for Speaking with New Students
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The generous didactic folks at nihongo.fm ( http://www.nihongo.fm ) have helped us produce - for YOU - *free* downloadable (MP3) Japanese study audio to help you communicate better with your students. These free "study segments", as they are called, can be listened to on your iPod, MP3 Player, or computer and consist of:
A. 44 useful Japanese sentences for receiving phone calls from potential students
B. 20 Japanese sentences you can use during the first lesson or meeting with new students.
Download these FREE English to Japanese repeatable study segments (4-6 minutes each) at the nihongo.fm download store:
http://store.eikaiwa.fm/nihongo/index.php
(click "findateacher.net" under "Sponsored Content")
The text for these study segments is on the findateacher.net site at:
http://findateacher.net/handlingcalls.html
http://findateacher.net/firstlesson.html
In addition, there are many other Japanese study segments of differetn topics currently in the store and under development. Also, check out the free 24/7 nihongo.fm Japanese streaming study radio station ( http://www.nihongo.fm )
AND...If your eikaiwa students are interested, the eikaiwa versions of the free radio station and downloadable content are available at:
http://www.eikaiwa.fm (free 24 hour eikaiwa study radio)
http://store.eikaiwa.fm (eikaiwa MP3 download store)
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6. Tips / Miscellany
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A. The two year gap between this and the previous newsletter was primarily due to a stroke had by me (Jake). Ouch!...don't want to do that again EVER for sure. Sorry for the long wait.
B. Frustrated with Japanese banks 0% interest return on your hard earned money? How about 14-16% a year returns on your money with a 100%
principle guarantee? Investment/savings programs starting at JPY
40,000/month. Your in Japan working hard. Get your money working as hard as you do. Ask Meyer Asset Management about their Teachers Savings Plans at (email address with no spaces and using @) sensei2 AT meyerjapan.com
C. The One Dollar Bookstore features books on Japan for just a buck. Download full length books by well-known authors on Japan including guidebooks, Japanese language learning, bilingual books, cartoons, business Japanese, children's books and ESL teaching materials and games. All at the One Dollar Bookstore http://dollarbooks.tripod.com
D. Find out why the findateacher.net / SenseiSagasu.com friends websites are among the most popular "Friends" websites in Japan:
http://friends.findateacher.net
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7. Teacher Survey Question
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How do you make your first time students relax, feel comfortable, ease up, or feel "at home" during the fist lesson? For example, Yokohama teacher, Wesley, gives students a free cup of hot or cold (depending on the season) Oolong tea. What do you do?
Answers will be compiled and featured in the Solo Sensei #21.
Until next time,
Jake Rollins
Teacher Helper
jake AT findateacher.net
Copyright 2006 FindaNet, Ltd.