Online
Kaoru Yamamoto
Japanese
Native
English

From Japan

Living in Yokohama, Japan

Customized lesson for your ideal goal(16+ years experience for teaching Japanese) Failure is the mother of success.失敗こそ成功の母 Shippai koso Seikou no Haha This philosophy has guided my 16+ years of teaching Japanese. I help learners overcome the fear of mistakes through supportive, confidence‑building instruction. I learned English entirely in Japan (my only overseas trip was three days in Hawaii!). This experience helps me explain Japanese concepts clearly using English scaffolding. As I could learn English in Japan, you can learn Japanese wherever you are—once you’re ready to embrace mistakes and grow from them. As a Harry Potter generation teacher, I make lessons engaging with pop culture such as music, anime, and manga. At the same time, JLPT preparation and business Japanese are part of my expertise, so lessons can be customized to your goals. My teaching journey began in high school, volunteering in a language center’s newcomer class. In university, I worked at an international school, teaching pronunciation. The letters written in Japanese that I received from students are still precious to me. Customized Japanese Lessons Tailored to Your Interests In our trial lesson, we’ll assess your level and set clear goals. We’ll create a personalized plan to reach your ideal proficiency. Learning Materials (interest‑based and practical): ✨Travel Prep ✨J‑POP lyric analysis ✨Movie & anime openings/endings ✨Daily conversation practice ✨JLPT materials (if needed) ✨Business situation Training Let’s work together to speak sophisticated, natural Japanese😊
My teaching material
  • PDF file
  • Text Documents
  • Presentation slides/PPT
  • Audio files
  • Image files
  • Video files
  • Articles and news
  • Quizzes
  • Homework Assignments
My creations
QuizQuiz(1)
Read more

Interests

Travel
Music
Food
Films & TV Series
Animation & Comics
Trial Lesson
95 lessons completed
USD 25.00+
Well balanced lesson
A1-C2
Language Essentials
2,216 lessons completed
USD 30.00+
10% off
Free conversation (For Advanced learner)
C1-C2
Conversation
575 lessons completed
USD 29.00+
11% off
Netflix learning
A2-C2
Language Essentials
51 lessons completed
USD 51.00+
6% off
JLPT Intensive Course
B2-C2
Test Preparation
4 lessons completed
USD 50.00
Free Conversation (For Beginners)
A1
Conversation
15 lessons completed
USD 30.00+
Based on your timezone (UTC)
5.0
297
Reviews
100%
Attendance
100%
Respond
Structured lessons·8
Provides materials·2
Patient·1
For beginners·122
Student Jasmin
Jasmin
53 Japanese lessons
Teacher’s pick
I already had more than 50 lessons with Kaoru and I take so much out of each lesson. Kaoru is positive, optimistic, patient and motivating. Kaoru always responds to my wishes and implements them so quickly in our lesson that I am surprised every time. So I was able to prepare perfectly for my Japan trip, for an event, for concerts etc. and thanks to her I also passed my JLPT exam last year, where she continues to help me with grammar for the next exam. In class, Kaoru encourages you to speak Japanese too, and gives you enough time to think and also helps you along. I am not afraid that I might say something wrong or make mistakes. Like, you only learn from mistakes, right ;-) Learning Japanese on my own is not easy, but with her help it is much more fun and within a year I have learned so many new things that I would not have learned from a textbook or anywhere else. I can recommend Kaoru to anyone who is tired of boring textbooks and who needs some support in their self-study.
Student Julia Trenka
Julia Trenka
63 Japanese lessons
Teacher’s pick
Those lessons help me so much with self-study. They are super fun, interactive, informative and fit my needs perfectly. Every week I look forward to the lessons and they always leave me feeling like my time was well invested! I learn a lot - each lesson has enough structure to prevent me from feeling lost but enough flexibility to keep it entertaining and interactive. They are just perfect for me. Thank you so much, Kaoru-sensei! ^^
Jay
14 Japanese lessons
I reached my 10th lesson with Yamamoto-sensei! I didn’t even realize until she pointed it out, which showed how much she really cares about my Japanese goals and she loves to see others progress and continue to want to learn!! Each lesson has allowed me to gradually start speaking Japanese more due to Yamamoto-sensei’s teaching style, which is based on structured lessons teaching different concepts that allows me to gradually start speaking and learning more Japanese. I can’t wait to take more lessons! ❤️❤️❤️
Student Teva
Teva
18 Japanese lessons
Teacher’s pick
This is the 2nd lesson I've had. I've had about 9 italki teachers, both professional and community tutor, and no one has been bad but I can confidently say that Kaoru pays the most attention to detail by far of anyone I've talked to. She'll make specialized lessons based on your interests and will actually type out what you say so that you have a record of your mistakes and how to correct them, along with any new words or sentence suggestions.
Student Jeremy
Jeremy
12 Japanese lessons
Today was my 9th lesson with Kaoru-san and I have already noticed improvement in how quickly I can translate my thoughts into Japanese. Kaoru-san is patient and observant. She knows when to help you along and when to let you figure it out on your own to improve. Her lessons are an excellent variety of listening, reading and speaking and her content is both interesting and easy to follow. If you get nervous easily while speaking like me, Kaoru-san is the perfect teacher for you.
Student Ryan S.
Ryan S.
16 Japanese lessons
Kaoru-sama explains complex concepts very well and breaks them down in a way anyone can understand. She's also always willing to pause and answer questions in a nuanced manner. It's nice to be able to learn cultural concepts as well as the Japanese language