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Japanese-to-English Translation Professional
Sarah L.

5.0 (93 ratings)

556 hours tutoring

Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee
Hourly Rate: $40
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About Sarah

Bio

I've been a professional Japanese-to-English translator specializing in media (movies, anime, video games, etc.) for over 20 years now, but I also enjoy tutoring students in Japanese. I love the language and the chance to help others discover all the cool things it can do!

As for whether I'm the right tutor for you, that depends on what you're looking for. A combination of formal study and immersion/conversation practice is the gold standard that I would recommend to anyone learning a...

I've been a professional Japanese-to-English translator specializing in media (movies, anime, video games, etc.) for over 20 years now, but I also enjoy tutoring students in Japanese. I love the language and the chance to help others discover all the cool things it can do!

As for whether I'm the right tutor for you, that depends on what you're looking for. A combination of formal study and immersion/conversation practice is the gold standard that I would recommend to anyone learning a language. Having all of those components as part of your experience covers all the gaps that cause problems for people who've learned only via formal study or only via immersion. So where do I fit into that equation?

Pure conversation practice is best done with a native Japanese speaker, so if that's what you're looking for, I am not the tutor for you. However, if you're looking for someone to dig into the heart of grammar, vocabulary, or cultural problems you're struggling with and stick with you until you understand them, that's where I shine. My educational background is in linguistics, which allows me to approach Japanese language teaching in a more nuanced and structured way than I could otherwise: I can explain not only which grammatical construction to use, but how it works and why.

I accept students from high school age through adulthood. If you are already taking a class and using a textbook for that class, I am happy to teach you based on that textbook, supplementing anything missing from it with my own materials as needed. If you are studying on your own without a textbook or are trying to decide which textbook to start with, I can help you with that. I look forward to meeting you!

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Education

Bryn Mawr College
Linguistics

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $40
  • Rate details: If you skip without canceling, the penalty is $20. However, if the reason was a medical emergency, I will credit that amount back to you. Negotiated rates available for lessons with multiple students.
  • Lesson cancellation: 3 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 2/7/2026

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

Schedule

Sarah hasn’t set a schedule.

Approved Subjects

Japanese

Japanese

I graduated from Bryn Mawr College magna cum laude with honors in Linguistics in 2003. This linguistics background gives me understanding of language as a system, and therefore allows me to approach language learning and teaching in a nuanced and structured way. My Japanese learning began about 15 years ago, and in addition to regular visits to Japan, I have lived there twice: once as a high-school student in a summer homestay in Osaka, and once as a foreign exchange student at Tsuda Women's College in Tokyo, where I took not only Japanese language classes but also linguistics classes intended for Japanese students. I am now a professional Japanese-to-English translator with over four years of broad experience ranging from motorbike manuals for personal use to anime TV shows for professional release on DVD (titles include the show "Madlax"). At the company I work for, A.D. Vision, I have not only translated Japanese TV shows, print extras, interviews, etc.; I have also supervised the quality of other translators' projects as "Senior Translator" of those shows (examples include "Gilgamesh"). I was only the second person in the history of the company to have been credited with this title.
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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (93 ratings)
5 star
(92)
4 star
(1)
3 star
(0)
2 star
(0)
1 star
(0)

Reviews

Well-Prepared

I've been studying Japanese since eight months ago. I watched some Kurosawa movies last December, and after that I came to want to learn Japanese. Sarah Sensei is a very good teacher. I am busy, but I meet her every week. Each week we have an enjoyable lesson, and I really learn a lot!

Ryan, 105 lessons with Sarah

Prepared for any kind of question or student

I'm a very hands on learner, a lot of textbook explanations and terms dont register with me as quickly, So finding someone with a Masters in Linguistics who can still break things down for me in simpler terms, without a wall of grammatical jargon was quite a pleasant surprise! If you are an intermediate or advanced student, and find yourself at a wall or stumped, I definitely recommend Sarah

Vanessa, 2 lessons with Sarah

Excellent!

I have not sat all the way through her lessons with the children - there are 14 of them - but what I have observed has convinced me already to invite her back next year. I have found Sarah to be enthusiastic, responsible, prompt, and creative. She has come to class so far this week well-prepared and has gone above and beyond in advising me on films appropriate for the students. I do not speak Japanese but she appears to have a firm grasp on both the language and how to teach it. Her writing looks, to my not-completely-inexperienced eye, practiced and smooth. I would recommend her without hesitation to anyone interested in studying Japanese.

Roxanne, 5 lessons with Sarah
Hourly Rate: $40
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