How much do online English lessons for kids cost in Japan?

How much do CurioKids lessons cost in Japan?

There are three plans, and the only difference between them is how many lessons your child has each week: 1 on Starter, 2 on Growth and 3 on Accelerator. Every lesson is the same: live, 1-to-1 and 25 minutes long, with a real teacher in the CurioKids online classroom.

A plan with more lessons a week costs less per lesson, while Starter costs the least overall. There is no separate fee for the classroom or for progress reports.

Which currency do families in Japan pay in?

Families in Japan see and pay CurioKids prices in Japanese yen. The country you choose when you create your parent account sets your currency, so the amount on your card statement is the amount you saw when you chose your plan. With a card issued in Japan, there is no currency conversion and no foreign exchange step between the price and the payment.

Payments are handled by Stripe, and CurioKids never sees your full card number. With a card issued outside Japan, your bank may convert the yen amount at its own rate.

What does a CurioKids plan include?

Every plan includes the same: live, 1-to-1, 25-minute lessons with a real teacher for children aged 4 to 12, in the CurioKids online classroom with video, an interactive whiteboard, lesson slides and games. Most children start with Phonics Starter, our 52-lesson reading course, then move through CEFR-based levels Pre-A1, A1 and A2. Teachers give feedback after lessons, you follow progress in your parent dashboard, and there is no charge for materials. See our curriculum and safety pages.

For a child in Japan, that means speaking practice to go with the English activities and lessons at school, and a reading course that teaches the sounds of English letters, which kana doesn't prepare children for. CurioKids follows its own CEFR-based curriculum and is not linked to Eiken, though the skills carry over to any test your child takes.

How does billing every 4 weeks fit the Japanese school year?

The school year in Japan starts in April and runs in terms, with a long summer break and shorter breaks at New Year and in spring. Billing every 4 weeks, rather than by calendar month, means every billing period holds the same number of lessons, whichever month it falls in.

Plans bill every 4 weeks, not by calendar month, so every billing period has the same number of lessons: 13 payments a year. Every plan can be paid weekly instead, and paying every 4 weeks costs less than four weekly payments. You're charged when you subscribe and then at the start of each billing period. Your price is locked on your subscription, so future price changes don't affect you. You can change plan or cancel anytime, and cancel a single lesson up to 2 hours before it starts.

If you travel in the summer holidays or at New Year, cancel the lessons you'll miss and keep the plan running. If a busy club term or exams make the week tight, move to Starter for a while and back again later.

When would lessons happen in Japan time?

When you book, every lesson time is shown in Japan time, and Japan doesn't change its clocks, so a slot you choose in April is at the same time in December. For school-age children, the after-school window, roughly 4pm to 8pm on a school day, suits most families, and a 25-minute lesson fits between school, juku, sports or music and dinner. Saturday and Sunday mornings work well too, when children are fresh.

Younger children usually focus best earlier in the afternoon; older children often prefer a slot after dinner. Our guide to online lessons across time zones explains how to choose one.

Which plan suits a child in Japan?

Most families decide by how much English their child hears and how busy the week is:

• Starter, 1 lesson a week: a steady habit for a child who mainly needs more time to speak, or a busy week of juku and clubs.
• Growth, 2 lessons a week: regular practice for a child learning to read in English with phonics, or working towards a first Eiken grade, with less time to forget between lessons.
• Accelerator, 3 lessons a week: a child who hears little English at home and wants to catch up, or a child returning to Japan who wants to keep the English they have, as long as they aren't too tired.

You can start with one plan and change it as you see how your child responds. Our guide how many English lessons a week does my child need? goes through the choice step by step, and online English lessons for children in Japan explains how English fits school here.

How does the cost compare with eikaiwa schools, juku and private tutors?

Families in Japan have many ways to add English: group lessons at an English conversation school, English classes at a juku, a private tutor at home, or lessons online. Each is priced differently, by the month, by the term or by the lesson, so compare what a lesson actually gives your child rather than the headline price:

• The price per lesson, and how many minutes each lesson lasts.
• How many children share the teacher, and how long your child actually speaks.
• How you're billed (monthly, per term or every 4 weeks), and how you cancel.
• Enrolment, materials or textbook fees on top of the lesson price.
• For lessons in person, the time and cost of getting there each week.

A group class often costs less per hour, because several families share one teacher; in a 1-to-1 lesson, every minute is your child's. Our guide 1-to-1 or group English classes: which suits my child? compares them.

Is the first lesson free, and when can families in Japan start?

Yes, the first lesson is free. You create a parent account, add your child and book it without a card. In that 25-minute lesson the teacher gets to know your child, checks their English and records a starting level, so lessons begin in the right place for your child, whatever their level, for children aged 4 to 12. You decide afterwards whether to continue, and if you don't, there is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay.

CurioKids opens lessons country by country. If lessons for families in Japan haven't opened yet, this guide shows a waitlist where the prices will be. Our guide on what to look for in a free first lesson explains how to judge that first lesson.

Where can I see the prices and join the waitlist?

Visit our Japan page to see how lessons work and, once lessons for families in Japan open, to book your child's free first lesson; until then it has a waitlist, and we'll let you know when you can book. Once they open, the prices for Japan also show any current offer and its terms. Our Japan page is also in 日本語. For school, English at home and lesson times in Japan, read our guide to online English lessons for children in Japan.