First of all, I want to thank all of you for sharing these first few months of Cafetalk tutoring with me! I discovered Cafetalk in November 2019 because I wanted to practice for a Spanish certification exam called the DELE, which is similar to the TOEFL. Since I already have many English as a Second Language (ESL) students here in Seattle, I was not planning to become a Cafetalk tutor myself. In the end, I decided to try the Cafetalk tutoring system in December, just for fun—and I'm so happy I did! 

It has been so wonderful to meet all of you. :) Since beginning Cafetalk in December 2019, I have seen so much growth and progress in all of you! As the weeks passed, I met more and more amazing students with such beautiful motivations to learn. Thank you for sharing with me stories from your lives, your questions, and your language-learning mistakes and triumphs. :) The number of my students increases every week and I have opened additional time slots to accommodate the growing size. To my pleasant surprise, Cafetalk tutoring has become a regular part of my routine!

However, I am pleased to let you all know that I am very excited about an upcoming NEW addition to my daily routine—I have accepted a faculty position at a private university within the Education Department for the Master's Degree program! Starting this May, I will be a course instructor for the Master of Education (M.Ed.) introductory seminar for first-year master's students, with a specialization in teaching ESL/ELL/TESOL to elementary, middle, and high school students.

This is a huge step for my career! I have held Teaching Assistant (TA) posts for undergraduate classes and study abroad programs, but this will be my first opportunity as the primary instructor instead of a TA—and for a Master's Degree program! I am still waiting to receive the results regarding my Ph.D. applications to a few universities, so this job offer was especially good news. :)

I would still like to continue Cafetalk tutoring because it is such a bright and happy part of my day. :) However, due to the demanding schedule of this new faculty position, I will feel the strain on my schedule if I choose to maintain my current Cafetalk availability. Thus, please know that there may fewer time slots available over the next few months. I will adjust my schedule each week according to my workload. :) 

Additionally, I want to let you all know now that starting March 16th, 2020 (JST), I will increase the prices of my classes. Each class price will increase by 200 points. This will allow me to continue enjoying Cafetalk with all of you while adjusting for the additional strain on my very busy schedule. :) Thank you so much for your understanding and support!

As of March 16th, 2020 (JST), the following changes (+200 points) will be made to class prices:

If you have any questions, we can answer them during our upcoming classes, or you can send me a memo. :) Thank you so much, everyone! I'm really looking forward to the months ahead and I can't wait for us to share our continued progress toward our goals!