Frequently Asked Questions for French Tutors

No, it is 100% free. There is zero registration fee, zero monthly listing fee, and zero commission deducted from your lesson earnings. You keep 100% of the lesson fee paid to you by your students (¥3,000 per 60 minutes for 1-on-1 lessons, or ¥4,000 per 60 minutes for 2-on-1 pair lessons).

No, fluent Japanese is not required. Many intermediate and advanced students specifically look for 100% immersion lessons in French, while beginners appreciate slow, clear French combined with simple gestures, written notes, or translation apps. For scheduling your first lesson,

you can copy and paste our ready-made email templates on the Tips & Email Templates page.

You must currently reside in Japan (or teach online with verifiable residency/identity) and hold a valid status of residence that allows remunerative activities—such as Permanent Resident, Spouse or Child of Japanese National, Working Holiday Visa, Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services,

Instructor, or a Student / Dependent Visa with an official Permission to Engage in Activity Other Than That Permitted under the Status of Residence Previously Granted (Shikakugai Katsudo Kyoka) stamp on your Residence Card. Short-term tourist/temporary visitor visas are not eligible.

Our search algorithm prioritizes active, responsive tutors who provide a great student experience. Specifically, your profile ranks higher when you:

• Upload a clear, bright, smiling profile photo.
• Write a warm, detailed self-introduction mentioning the levels and exams you support (DELF / DALF / Futsuken).
• Select all train stations and online options you can comfortably cover.
• Log in to your Tutor MyPage at least once every month (tutors who do not log in for an extended period are automatically moved down or hidden from search results).

Your full legal surname, street address, phone number, and email address are never displayed publicly on the website. Only your chosen tutor display name (first name or nickname), nationality, gender, teaching stations, self-introduction, and profile photo are visible to students browsing the site.

Japanese students value personal compatibility and psychological safety before committing to ongoing 1-on-1 study. By offering a risk-free 60-minute trial lesson (where no lesson fee or transportation fee is charged), students feel safe applying to meet you.

Once they experience your supportive teaching style during the trial, the vast majority enroll for regular paid lessons. Read Chapter 1: About the Free Trial Lesson and Chapter 2: How to Succeed in Trial Lessons for the exact 60-minute blueprint.

During both the Free Trial Lesson and Regular Paid Lessons, the tutor and the student each pay for their own drink at the café. Never ask or expect a student to pay for your coffee, tea, or food. Keeping expenses strictly separate ensures a clean, professional relationship.

Only after our office sends you the official Enrollment Confirmation Email. After the free trial lesson, our office contacts the student to confirm whether they wish to continue. If they decide to continue, they pay the school admission/membership fee to Dot-Com Business,

and we immediately notify you that paid lessons are authorized. Never schedule or conduct a second lesson before receiving this official confirmation from our office.

All lesson fees are strictly fixed nationwide:

• 1-on-1 Lesson: ¥3,000 for 60 minutes / ¥4,500 for 90 minutes / ¥6,000 for 120 minutes (¥1,500 per 30-minute unit).
• 2-on-1 Pair Lesson (2 students together): ¥4,000 total for 60 minutes (¥2,000 per student) / ¥6,000 total for 90 minutes (¥3,000 per student).

Tutors are strictly prohibited from negotiating higher or lower rates, charging prep fees, or demanding advance bulk payments (ticket/package payments). Always collect the fee at the end of each individual lesson.

Within your registered teaching stations/areas: NO. You must cover your own transportation to any station listed on your tutor profile. Please only register stations where you are happy to travel at your own expense.

Exception (Outside Registered Stations): If a student specifically requests a Paid Lesson at a location outside your registered stations,

the student covers only the round-trip fare difference between your nearest registered station and the requested station (explained in detail with a calculation example in Chapter 4: About Paid Lessons).

For Paid Lessons, if a student cancels on the day of the scheduled lesson (same-day cancellation), the student is required to pay 50% of the scheduled 1-hour lesson fee (¥1,500) plus any actual out-of-pocket transportation expense you already incurred if you had already traveled to the meeting spot.

Rescheduling requests made by the day before (at least 24 hours in advance) are free of charge. See Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Student Issues for how to handle cancellations gracefully.

Please follow our 1-Month Advance Notice Policy outlined in Chapter 5: When Stopping Teaching and our Cancellation Policy:

1. Notify your current students at least 1 month in advance.
2. Guide your students to request a free replacement tutor at https://faq.atoc.biz/sup/#teacher.
3. Submit your withdrawal or pause request via your Tutor MyPage or email info@atoc.biz.

Online lessons follow the exact same fixed fee schedule as in-person café lessons: the first 60-minute trial lesson is free (¥0), and ongoing Paid Lessons are ¥3,000 per 60 minutes (1-on-1) or ¥4,000 per 60 minutes (2-on-1 pair). For online lessons,

students settle the fee per lesson via mutually agreed electronic payment (such as PayPay, LINE Pay, or domestic bank transfer) on the day of each session. Never demand bulk upfront payments for multiple online lessons.

Yes! If you speak multiple languages at a native or fluent teaching level, you can register on our English portal (S1 English), French portal (GITSL French), and/or Spanish portal (7match Spanish), and mention your multilingual capabilities in your self-introduction.

Yes, absolutely! Many parents look for a friendly tutor to help their children prepare for DELF (A1–B2), DALF (C1–C2), DAPF / Futsuken (Grade 5 to Grade 1), and TCF or practice conversation. When two siblings or a parent and child take a lesson together (2-on-1 Pair Lesson),

your compensation increases to ¥4,000 per 60 minutes (¥2,000 per student). For minor students, we recommend meeting at a bright family restaurant, station café, or online via Zoom with parental consent.

You can reset or check your login credentials on the Tutor Login Page, or email our Support Desk at info@atoc.biz with your registered full name and email address. If you have trouble resizing or uploading your profile photo,

simply attach your photo to an email to info@atoc.biz and our staff will upload it to your profile for you free of charge.

Because you contract directly with each student as an independent tutor and receive 100% of the lesson fee directly from the student without intermediary withholding by Dot-Com Business Co., Ltd.,

you are responsible for declaring your annual income in accordance with Japanese tax laws (municipal tax office / national tax agency guidelines) based on your total annual earnings and residency status.

For the safety and comfort of both tutors and students, all in-person lessons should be conducted in bright, public locations such as station cafés, hotel lounges, family restaurants, or public community study spaces.

Conducting lessons inside a private apartment or closed room is not permitted for trial lessons and strongly discouraged for regular lessons.