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**** The Solo Sensei Newsletter - Volume #16 ****
October 16th, 2003
Over 5000 readers Japan-wide.
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You are receiving this newsletter as part of your membership in findateacher.Net. If needed, see remove instructions below.
IN THIS ISSUE
1. FindaTeacher.Net / SenseiSagasu.com News
2. Party in Shibuya! - You're invited
3. Stations & Places Separated
4. Who Pays for Coffee?
5. Alternatives to Coffee Shops
6. Tips/Miscellany
7. Ask Us
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1. FindaTeacher.Net / SenseiSagasu.com News
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We love sending out lots of teacher data to students all over Japan (currently over 4200 times each month). Thanks for keeping your record in good shape. If you feel you are not getting your share of students, try logging in at:
http://www.findateacher.net
and clicking "Refresh" more often or updating your photo. Both of these really do help.
Nippon Television (NTV) recently selected 15 findateacher.net / SenseiSagasu.com teachers (all with photos) to interview for an on-air teaching role for the well-known (among Japanese people) comedy show, "99size". The show is scheduled to air Saturday night October 25th.
We offer our thanks to the 130 teachers who have sent in their gaijin cards and signed contracts to become certified with findateacher.net. Several newly certified teachers have reported increased access to their records after adding the certified mark. We will continue monitoring the effects of having the certified mark and let you know more when conclusive data is available.
Eleven teachers received 5000 yen each for letting us know a school or introduction service contacted them. Thanks for helping out. For more about how this "Tattle and Win" contest works see:
http://findateacher.Net/solosensei/volume15.html
Hope to see you at the......
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2. Party in Shibuya! - You are invited
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The first fun and fabulous findateacher.net / SenseiSagasu.com International Party is set for Saturday November 1st at Club Pure in Shibuya from 6:30 - 9:00 PM. Come meet some of the familiar faces in the findateacher.net database, those behind the scenes at findateacher.net and many of the students who spend hours gazing at teacher records on SenseiSagasu.com
Over 150 people are expected. We hope you are one of them!
DATE: Saturday November 1st
LOCATION: Club Pure Shibuya ( http://www.clubpure.com )
MAP URL: http://www.clubpure.com/images/kmap.gif
TIME: 6:30 - 9:00 pm
HOW MUCH?: 3000 yen for full open bar (beer/wine/cocktails) and snacks
We look forward to meeting you in person.
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3. Stations & Places Separated
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To make the process of selecting teaching locations easier and to better accommodate those teachers not living near a station, "Places You Teach" (Prefectures, Cities and Wards) and "Stations" are now separated. If you do not live near a station, you can opt out of choosing stations.
When you get a moment, please log in and make sure that both your Stations and Places are up to date in your findateacher.net record. After enough teachers add their station data, we will make this information searchable for students on SenseiSagasu.com. You'll see the new link: "Edit Places/Stations" at the bottom of the Teacher Control Center page.
If you teach outside of your home, please select only those places that you are willing to travel to for teaching. You can add up to 10 places, 3 train lines, and up to 25 stations. However, if you only teach at your home (or private classroom) and *do not* go outside for teaching, please only select that one area where your classroom is located.
On hub stations (ones that many train lines run trough) like Shibuya OR Shinjuku, choose the hub station only one time and it will cover you for all train lines that have that hub station. In other words, you do not have to select Shibuya 3 times - one for each line that comes into Shibuya. Once is enough.
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4. Who Pays for Coffee?
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A question we often get is: "If I meet my student at a cafe and teach there, who is to pay for my cup of coffee. Is it wrong for me to expect the student to pay?"
As with everything else...teachers all have different ideas about how to handle this. Randy from Tokyo writes, "When working with a student who wants to study outside of my classroom, I always mention during the first contact that if we study outside of my classroom that travel fees and other expenses (including coffee or food) will have to be paid for by the student." This can also easily be written in your "Comments" section of your findateacher.Net record if desired.
One teacher who regularly uses the same cafe mentioned that she worked out a deal with her local cafe owner for a reduced price cup of coffee for herself because she frequently teaches there. The coffee shop owner is glad to have customers and happy that the teacher is introducing new people to the cafe.
Another findateacher.net teacher who *only* uses cafes for teaching mentioned that he includes the drink price for both cups of coffee right into his regular lesson fee.
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5. Alternatives to Coffee Shops
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Many teachers who want to avoid the whole who's-gonna-pay-for-coffee fiasco study outside of coffee shops. But where? Some use a culture center, the lobby of a sports club, a library or even a park.
Many mansion (condominium) complexes have reasonably priced but underutilized recreation or meeting rooms available to those who reside there. If you or your students have access to such a place, it is often worth checking into.
Most towns have a Chou Nai Kaikan (Town Meeting Hall) with several rooms. Each of these places has different rules for who can use them and how. They vary widely in age and quality of facilities. Check with the leader of your local Chou Nai Kaikan to see whether and how you can use their place with your private students or classes. There are sometimes rules against for-profit usage but some places don't seem to mind or don't ask. There is usually a slight fee for use of the place and you may be forced into taking more hours than you need (like 12 noon to 4 pm). Check yours for rules.
In my local YMCA there is a place called a "free space" that is available to the general public. There may also be similar spots in your area however, they probably won't use the name "free space" (as this seems to be YMCA's name for that spot). The trick is finding them. Try asking your local city hall or koban (police box) if they know such a place.
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6. Tips / Miscellany
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A. The Few. The Proud. The Certified.
What looks like an Olympic medal and makes your record stand out from the crowd? A certified symbol - that's what. By sending in a *clear* copy of the front and back of your gaijin card together with a signed copy of the downloadable Contract you can show students you are certified with findateacher.net. Japanese nationals can get certified using a passport OR juminhyou instead of the gaijin card. Full info at:
http://findateacher.Net/links.html#credibility
B. Looking for a Halloween party you definitely won't forget? If you'd like to be one of the 1500 people attending Metropolis Magazine's 500th issue "Glitterball Halloween Party" (Wednesday October 29 7pm - midnight at Velfarre, Roppongi) you can reserve your tickets and get more info here:
http://affiliate.japantoday.com/aw.asp?B=9&A=13&Task=Click
C. Tired of getting your wallet drained every time you just want to make a short trip in Japan? A new service called Club Tocoo! Travel ( http://www.coo.ne.jp/english ) offers discount hotels nationwide (up to 77% off / from 1050yen) and discount car rentals (up to 72 % off / from 2010yen). Quick confirmation and prompt English customer support available.
D. Cambridge University Press of Japan asked us to let you know that while they do not have a dedicated Japanese website, teachers can visit their UK website where there lots of downloadable sample material:
http://uk.cambridge.org/elt/vip/
http://uk.cambridge.org/elt/ccc/
Copyright 2003 FindaNet, Ltd.