Mika Pahalan : Japanese

Hi everyone. I live with my husband and his parents in Texas, United States. I have taught English, Japanese and other subjects as a private tutor and at a cram school in Japan for 10 years and here in Texas for 2 years.

I lived in Tokyo when I was a kid then moved to Kumamoto and lived there for 18 years. I also lived in Nagasaki for 3 years. Each prefectures have their own unique foods, cultures and dialects. I love to learn those new things and teach them to others, too.

I sometimes teach people how to cook Japanese cuisine, how to fold origami and Japanese calligraphy.

My hobby is watching Asian dramas and western movies, cooking, reading,traveling and shopping.

Bachelors Degree: Elementary School Teachers Course ( Minor subject: Japanese) – 2005

Certificate: Teaching Certificate of elementary school, Japanese teacher of junior high school and high school, Japanese calligraphy teacher of junior high school and high school. School librarian Certificate. – 2005

Graduated from The Department of Education, Kumamoto University, Japan

Taught grade 1 – 12 Math, English Reading and Grammar, Japanese calligraphy, Japanese ancient writing, Japanese Grammar and Classical Chinese. – 2001-2011

Teaching English online and Japanese privately –present

According to the level of the student, I teach Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji and the new words or sentences. I use online materials and the original word documents that I make for the need of the student. I decide the topic or situation each time and make you practice a lot so that you can get used to the same phrases and use them more smoothly eventually.

And in order to make the lesson fun and useful, I teach the Japanese culture such as polite manner at each occasions, cooking, Japanese calligraphy.

You may have a lot of curiosity why Japanese do this and that. I would like to answer those questions and sometimes think about it together.

Every year, people create new Japanese words and it will be fun for you to know that through the lesson.

When you meet Japanese or travel to Japan, I would like you to enjoy it a lot so if you are interested in anything regarding Japanese, let me help you. Please feel free to ask any questions before booking or during the lesson.