Online one-to-one tutoring for returnee and international-school students
Learn whyyour score isn't improving.
Then fix it — with rules, not grind. From SAT, TOEFL and AP to essays and applications — we teach the whole process, right through to an offer.
Book a free 1-hour trial8+
Years teaching
18
Years in the US
6
Subject areas
¥0
Trial lesson (1 hr)
What we teach
Everything between here and an offer.
SAT
Both sections — Reading & Writing and Math. The work is organizing grammar into rules and building a repeatable procedure for each question type. We cover everything from analyzing your current score to planning what to study next.
See how we solve onehydeSolution preparation for the TOEFL® test
Full mock exams in the real format and timing, scored section by section. You get the breakdown, where the marks are going, and then the method and habits for each part of the test.
See a score reportAP
No AP classes at your school? We take you all the way to exam day on a self-study plan: subject content and exam format, moving between understanding in Japanese and thinking in English.
See how AP prep worksEssays
The Common App personal essay and school supplementals — from brainstorming a topic through structure and revision. The writing stays in the student's own voice.
See a real revisionApplications
Planning that keeps both US applications and Japanese returnee admissions open — course selection and extracurriculars included. We set targets that are realistic given where you actually stand.
Living abroad? Start hereEnglish itself
Before test prep, the foundations: grammar, reading and writing. We take the parts you handle on instinct and turn them into something you can explain.
Our approach
Understanding how to solve questions beats grinding through more of them.
How most prep works
Drill a set, check it against the answer key, read the explanation, move to the next mock. Do that for months and you get slightly better at questions you have seen before — then freeze the moment one arrives in an unfamiliar shape.
How we teach
As rules and procedures. Where to look in the prompt, what conditions the right answer has to meet, and how to decide. The goal is being able to say why the other three options are wrong.
Start from the rule
Students who read English by feel are the ones who stall on questions they cannot explain. We rebuild grammar and method as a system.
Build a procedure per question type
For each type of question, fix what to look at and in what order. That alone removes most of the time lost to hesitation.
Say the reasoning out loud
Why the right answer is right, and why the others are not. If you can explain both, you can repeat it under exam conditions.
See a real lesson
Try one question
before you read on.
We picked an SAT question for this example. It is a Rhetorical Synthesis question, a type that arrived with the digital SAT, and reading everything in order costs a lot of time on it.
This is a question we actually use in lessons. Before reading any explanation, solve it the way you normally would.
In the second question, you'll try the first thing we teach in lessons.
SAT Reading & Writing · Rhetorical Synthesis
Solve this the way you normally would.
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold.
- The practice was already in use by the 15th century.
- Repaired pieces retain visible golden seams along the breaks.
- Some collectors deliberately broke pottery so that it could be repaired with kintsugi.
- The technique treats damage as part of an object's history rather than as something to conceal.
The student wants to emphasize the philosophy underlying kintsugi.
The same thinking, applied elsewhere.
Work out what the examiner is asking for, then answer in a form that satisfies it. The steps change from subject to subject; the order of operations does not.
Work backwards from the rubric
College Board publishes scoring guidelines for every subject. We establish what actually earns points, build the shape of an answer that meets those criteria, and only then start practicing. Far quicker than writing first and fixing later.
Cut before you add
The most common way marks are lost is padding — sentences that restate a point in different words to reach the word count. List what the prompt asks for, delete anything that does not answer it, and spend your words on what survives.
Replace instinct with rules
If you process English by feel, you can be right without knowing why — and that is exactly what collapses on test day. We give you a stated reason for each decision, so an unfamiliar question is still the same procedure.
Free materials
The same method, as a study tool.
63 Reading & Writing practice questions, plus twelve modules (36 practice problems) on the English you need for SAT Math. Every wrong answer comes with a written reason. The explanations are written for Japanese-speaking students and move from all-Japanese to all-English in four steps; the questions and answer choices stay in English at every step. No sign-up, no email.
Open the free SAT materials →TOEFL® test
A mock exam is only useful
if something happens after it.
We run full mocks in the real format and score them section by section.You get the score, and then where the marks went, why, and what to change before the next lesson starts.
To try the format on your own first, there is a free practice test for the TOEFL® test (2026 format, four sections; page in Japanese). You can take it one section at a time.
Score report by section
Sample4.5
/ 6.0
CEFR B2Overall band — the average of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest 0.5
Since January 2026 the TOEFL® test reports scores as bands from 1.0 to 6.0.
Speaking · Feedback
Building the opening
The content is there. You are deciding the shape of the answer while already speaking, so the opening fills with restarts and the end gets rushed. We give you one structure to put in place before you start speaking.
We don't hand back a number and stop. We work out where the marks went and why, and only then decide what the next lesson does.
The real format
Same timing, same order, same length — including how tired you are by the end.
Scored by section
A score for each of the four skills, and where the losses are concentrated.
Method, not just marks
Scoring is the start. The procedure for each part becomes the next lesson.
AP
No AP classes at your school?
You can still take the exams.
What you need is the content a class would give you, and a way to work through it.We teach the content, design the self-study plan, and build the answer templates: the parts of studying alone that are hardest to do alone.
Content first
Even for subjects your school does not offer, we start from understanding — moving between Japanese and English until the ideas hold.
A plan that assumes no classes
Materials, weekly pace, when to practice and when to review — designed together, built for studying without a course.
Backwards from the rubric
College Board publishes the scoring guidelines. We establish what earns points, build the answer shape, then practice.
We also help with exam registration and finding a test center.
Essays
Cutting makes it
stronger.
The biggest cost in non-native essays is not grammar. It is word count spent restating the same point in different words.
The sample below reproduces what a typical revision looks like. Read it first and decide what you would cut — then open the revision.
Only the repetition is cut. The writer's own words stay.
Common App Personal Essay · sample revision
91 words
Ever since I was a small child, I have always been interested in science for a long time. The reason why I am interested in science is because my grandfather, who was an engineer, showed me the inside of a radio when I was ten years old. This experience was a very unforgettable experience for me, and I will never forget it. Through this experience, I learned that I love to understand how things work, and this is why I want to continue to study science in the future at university.
For Japanese families abroad
New country, new school system —
and no one to ask.
You moved for work or for school, and your child started at a local school.Course selection, GPA, extracurriculars, university applications — the information is scattered and half of it contradicts the other half. Coming to us at that stage is fine. We start by laying out how the system actually works.
Guide: what Japanese returnee admissions and US colleges look at (GPA, SAT, AP, TOEFL, essays)Course selection
Which Honors, AP or IB courses to take, and when. We work from your school's actual curriculum and how each year's choices affect grades and applications.
Backwards from the deadlines
Applications abroad and Japan's returnee admissions, both kept open. Tests, essays, recommendations — we decide when each starts by counting back from the deadlines.
Extracurriculars that hold up
First, how activities are actually read in admissions. Then we choose things your child can sustain where they are now. We don't chase titles just to fill a list.
Free consultation — email or Google Meet
Tell us the situation and we'll sort out what matters first. It is not a sales call: we won't push lessons, and it is fine if the consultation is all you need.
Teaching English is not where this ends. We build a study plan the student can actually keep to.
Instructor
Atsuto Deguchi
Founder and Head of Teaching
- Years in the US
- 18
- Years teaching
- 8+
University of Tsukuba, School of Medicine — via returnee admissions
Taught in both Japan and the United States
I spent eighteen years in California and grew up speaking English as my first language, then returned to Japan and entered the University of Tsukuba School of Medicine through returnee admissions. Having been through both education systems, I understand from experience where students get caught between them.
I have been teaching for more than eight years, in Japan and in the US, and for three of those years I have taught Japanese students at American schools. I focus on the specific places returnee and international-school students tend to get stuck, and on finding the way forward that suits each student.
The aim is to move between understanding in Japanese and thinking in English until a student can explain why an answer is what it is.
About our tutors
Every tutor has been educated overseas. Before taking students, they complete our own training and we confirm they can teach using the same procedures I do.
Pricing
Pricing
Per hour, tax included. For lessons you pay the lesson fee and nothing else: no enrollment fee, no monthly charge, no "administration fee". A cancellation less than 24 hours before a lesson, or a no-show, is charged as one lesson. SAT, TOEFL, AP, essays and application advice are all covered at these rates (instructor scoring of the Writing and Speaking answers on the free online TOEFL® practice test, requested outside lessons, is priced separately).
Lessons with the founder
¥9,900/ hour
Taught directly by Atsuto Deguchi. Availability is limited.
- SAT, TOEFL, AP and essays
- Study planning and progress tracking
- Applications and course advice
Lessons with a tutor
¥8,000/ hour
Taught by a hydeSolution tutor.
- Tutors educated overseas
- Only tutors who completed our training
- Teaching reviewed by the founder
The first lesson — a full hour — is free. We run it exactly like a real lesson, then tell you what you would need and roughly how many sessions.
FAQ
Before you
get in touch.
Anything not covered here, just ask during the trial lesson.
Book a free trialA full hour, run exactly like a real lesson. We ask where you stand and what is giving you trouble, then work through actual questions. You can judge teaching far faster by sitting in one than by reading about it. It is not a sales pitch, so there is no pressure at the end.
Yes. Everything is online and we teach students both inside and outside Japan. Teaching across time zones is normal here, so tell us the hours that work for you.
That is the most common way a conversation with us begins. In a free consultation — email or Google Meet — we ask about your child's grade and school, then sort out what actually matters right now across course selection, extracurriculars and application prep. We won't push lessons; it's fine if the consultation is all you need.
A computer or tablet that can run a video-meeting tool, and a stable internet connection. No special software to buy, and no extra hardware like a pen tablet.
Yes. Nothing has to be bundled with SAT prep. Essays only, a single TOEFL® mock, or just over the summer are all fine. Start with the part you need and decide about continuing later.
What is worth doing depends on how long is left. Rather than building an unrealistic plan and calling it achievable, we will tell you plainly what is realistic from here. If it is tight, we prioritize and decide where the marks are actually winnable.
Either Atsuto Deguchi directly, or a hydeSolution tutor. Our tutors were educated overseas and complete our training before taking students. The procedures and approach are the same as the founder's, and he reviews the teaching. Rates differ, so tell us what you need and we'll advise.
You can change tutors, free of charge — just tell us. Because every tutor teaches with the same procedures, a change of tutor does not mean a change of method.
There is no enrollment fee and no monthly charge. For lessons, you pay the lesson fee, and that is the whole price — no annual fee, and no recurring monthly "administration" or "maintenance" charges. If an off-the-shelf textbook is ever worth buying, we'll tell you before you spend anything. Apart from lessons, the only paid service is instructor scoring of your Writing and Speaking answers on the free online TOEFL® practice test (the page is in Japanese; requests are not open yet), charged only if you request it outside lessons (scoring and correction done in a lesson are part of the lesson). Per section (the Writing or the Speaking of one practice test), tax included: score only, ¥1,000, returns the instructor's estimated score on the 1.0-6.0 band scale by email within 3 days of payment; scoring and feedback, ¥3,000, returns the estimated score plus the corrected sentences and the reasons within 7 days of payment. The score is hydeSolution's estimate, not an ETS score. hydeSolution students have a student price, and their first one (one section, Writing or Speaking; either option) is free. Details are on the TOEFL® practice test page and in the legal documents linked in the footer (Japanese only).
Yes. After every lesson you receive a written report covering what we did, where the current weaknesses are, and what comes next — parents can follow progress directly from it. And if you want homework, we set it, in any subject. You shouldn't have to guess what to do between lessons.
Yes — free of charge up to 24 hours before the booked time. Later cancellations and no-shows are charged as one lesson. Sudden illness, connection failures and the like are handled case by case, so get in touch first.
It depends on the universities and the application route. Once we see the breakdown of your current score and how long is left, we'll tell you what is realistically within reach and what it would take. Target scores are worth setting after you know where you stand, not before.
Yes. It runs as a lesson, at the hourly rate: we score it by section in the lesson, and you get more than a number — we show you where the marks are being lost. It works fine as a one-off if you just want to see where you stand. It is separate from the paid instructor scoring offered with the online TOEFL® practice test.
No. Most of our students are, but if you are working toward the SAT or TOEFL or applying to universities abroad, the school you attend does not matter. Start with a trial lesson and tell us your situation.
Start with one free hour
We run it exactly like a real lesson. Tell us what is giving you trouble and see how the teaching works. Not ready for lessons yet? Start with a free consultation instead — email or Google Meet.