Specialist tuition combining real language skills with technical vocabulary, workplace culture, and practical life knowledge — from someone who has lived it.
Tailored programmes for engineers and technical professionals preparing for careers in Japan — from absolute beginner to business fluency.
Private sessions tailored to your industry, level, and pace. Flexible scheduling across time zones. Focus on the vocabulary and contexts you'll actually encounter.
Structured programmes covering engineering, manufacturing, IT, and energy sector terminology in Japanese — the language your colleagues will actually use.
Emails, meetings, phone calls, and the unspoken rules of Japanese professional communication. Understanding hierarchy, formality, and how decisions really get made.
Practical Japanese for daily life — housing, banking, healthcare, transport. Arrive ready to function independently from day one.
Technical and business translation between Japanese and English, with specialist expertise in engineering and renewables sectors.
Coaching for Japanese-language job interviews — understanding what employers expect, how to present yourself, and the questions that are really being asked.
I bring something rare to Japanese language teaching: genuine technical expertise combined with two decades of professional experience in Japan and the global renewables industry.
Based in Edinburgh, I have worked as a professional Japanese-English translator specialising in technical and business content, and spent years working in the renewable energy sector in Japan. I understand the language from the inside — not just as a linguist, but as an engineer who has navigated Japanese workplaces, bureaucracy, and daily life.
Japanese is genuinely challenging — but for engineers, the logical structure of the language and the precision of technical Japanese are actually advantages.
Japanese uses three scripts: Hiragana and Katakana (phonetic, learnable in weeks) and Kanji (Chinese-derived characters). Technical Japanese uses a high proportion of Katakana — borrowed foreign words — which engineers often pick up quickly.
Much modern technical terminology is borrowed from English and written in Katakana. If you work in IT, engineering, or energy, you already know more Japanese than you think. We build systematically from that foundation.
Japanese has distinct formal registers used in professional settings. Understanding when and how to use polite forms is essential for workplace credibility — and surprisingly logical once explained properly.
For most engineers relocating to Japan, spoken fluency and reading workplace documents are the priority. We focus on practical communication skills first, building the written skills you need without getting lost in academic Japanese.
Moving to Japan as a professional is enormously rewarding — and full of surprises. Practical language knowledge makes the difference between struggling and thriving.
Renting in Japan involves guarantors, key money, and agency fees. We cover the vocabulary and process so you can navigate contracts and communicate with landlords confidently.
Japan has excellent healthcare but navigating clinics and hospitals requires specific vocabulary. We prepare you for medical appointments and understanding prescriptions.
Japan's train network is extraordinary — and complex. Station signage, IC cards, platform announcements. Essential practical Japanese from week one.
Opening bank accounts, registering at the ward office, dealing with utilities. The administrative side of Japanese life requires specific language — we cover it all.
Supermarkets, restaurants, convenience stores, post offices. The language of everyday Japan that textbooks often miss but you'll use every single day.
Gift-giving, after-work drinks, neighbourhood relations. Japanese social life has its own grammar — understanding it makes daily life vastly more enjoyable.
Japanese workplace culture has its own logic. Understanding it — not just the language but the unwritten rules — is what separates professionals who thrive from those who struggle.
Decision-making in Japanese companies is consensus-based. Understanding nemawashi (groundwork) and ringi (approval processes) means you know how things actually get done.
Senpai-kohai relationships, correct forms of address, when to speak and when to listen. Getting hierarchy right builds trust with colleagues faster than any technical skill.
Japanese business email has highly formalised opening and closing expressions. We teach the templates professionals actually use — so your written communication reads as natural from day one.
The business card exchange is a ritual with real significance. How you give, receive, and handle meishi signals your understanding of Japanese professional culture immediately.
Factory floor language, safety briefings, technical meetings, drawing reviews. We cover the specific vocabulary of engineering environments — the Japanese your textbook never taught.
After-work drinks are part of Japanese professional life. The informal setting where real relationships are built — and where knowing what to say matters enormously.
Book a free 30-minute introductory call. We'll discuss your goals, your timeline, and how to build the right programme for your move to Japan.
Book a Free Consultation