Teaching English In Japan Is Total BS

by

…Well, it is if you work at this fictional English Language School, “Be Yes.”

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0E0emU85w']

[divider]

I know a lot of you out there are thinking of becoming an English teach in Japan, so I thought this might be interesting for you. The show is about Tom Kellerman (actually the guy who plays Jon Sherr from “My Darling Is A Foreigner”), a foreigner teaching English in Japan. The show is in short segments, has good production quality, and is pretty entertaining all around. The part I liked, though, was how it satarizes teaching English in Japan. I’m pretty curious to see how far they go with this, since, to be completely honest, the English system in Japan kind of is one big satire in itself (no offense to anyone teaching, I’m talking about the education system here).

So, who of you out there is thinking about teaching English in Japan? Personally, I love teaching, but the idea of teaching English in Japan sounds horrible to me. I have a feeling that most places are a bureaucratic cesspool, and not the kind of thing I’d enjoy too much. There’s often very little freedom, and you have to teach the things that they want you to teach (depending on who “they” is, it can be pretty terrible or not too terrible at all). Anyways, that’s just my quick thoughts on this, even though the article is supposed to be about the fun video above. Gotta have some balance, I think.

You can see the rest of the series, here: http://www.youtube.com/user/englishseries

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Gregory-Young/1621606731 Gregory Young

    I taught English in Japan for 2 years, back in the mid-90s. I worked for NOVA. When I first started, I worked at the Ginza School, which was huge. I absolutely hated it. Fortunately, they transferred me to a small school in Chiba only a couple of months in. While my direct supervisor was a bit of a jerk, working at a smaller school was much, much better. It’s a more relaxed setting and you really get to know the students and your fellow teachers. I’d do it again, if I ever decided to move back, but I’d never work in a large school again.

  • http://karrupa.com/ Paul

    Interestingly I worked in the same Ginza school as you, but only 3 years back, just as the whole school collapsed. While the whole ordeal at the end might be a bit of a colouring of my memory, working there was a bit hectic and didn’t seem to serve the students very well. I’d like to say it was only that particular school, but it felt that way in all of the other branches I taught at, too. If I was to do it again, like you I’d never work at a large school. About the only good thing I can say about these schools is that they all teach English in *English* …

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Laplante/567381952 David Laplante

    Did she say “if we did not care, we would teach them french”?. That B*!”*/! Sry… I had to say it.

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  • http://radicalturtle.com/ Leslie

    What’s the link to this video? I can’t get on it in youtube. Thanks!

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    whoops – added a link at the end of the post now. thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/WelcomeGhosts WelcomeGhosts

    I am actually working on my application for JET right now! I graduated with a degree in Anthropology with my focus specifically on modern Japanese culture, so just being able to spend time in Japan would be amazing and help me with getting into a good graduate school program to start on my M.A. and Ph.D

  • http://twitter.com/sozuri Sozuichi Norizuri

    LOL, French-bashing is “in” this decade

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Robson/543560150 Michael Robson

    “At Be Yes, we believe it’s important to learn the English language”

    Ah? Welcome to the 1960′s? What year was this made?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Robson/543560150 Michael Robson

    If you’re Americans, it is.. cuz you know, American’s are afraid of the ‘Communists’ be they Chinese or Swedish. Either way, the paranoia is about 40 years out of date.

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  • Will

    hmm worrys me a bit, planning on teaching English over there in about 5 months.. hoping to enjoy myself, I love Japan, how else am I going to live there???

  • sendaiben

    Teaching in Japan very much depends on where you end up:

    big chain school – not massively professional
    small private school – extremely varied
    JET – pay good, conditions variable
    non-JET ALT – pay not very good, conditions variable
    university – variable

    There are some amazing jobs and situations out there, and some pretty rough ones. Do your homework, have a plan B, and make the best of your actual situation, and you might have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience ;)

  • Guy Zenke

    I have a feeling that most places are a bureaucratic cesspool
    (あなたの記事から引用)
    bureaucratic cesspool? your a douchebag! なんであなたがそう思うのかは知らないが、日本で働いたことない奴が偉そうな口をきくのはやめなさい。
    前から言いたかったのだが今ここで指摘しておく。あなたの記事は出鱈目、事実誤認、日本や日本人への固定観念や偏見にとらわれたものが多すぎる。今コメントを入力している欄のちょうど隣にあるthe curse of colonel sandersの記事だって例外じゃない。KFCをケンチキなどと略す日本人を私は見たことがない。商売根性剥き出しにしてブログを更新するのはいいが、嘘をつくのはやめなさい。
    日本をバカにしたり笑い物にするような記事を投稿するのはやめなさい。

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  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    ちょっと落ち着いてよ。リサーチちゃんとしたよ。このリサーチから「bureaucratic cesspool」は私の意見だけよ。Guyさんは外国人で日本で英語を教えたことありますか？

    私の源泉は：

    日本で英語を教えている友達１０人ぐらいいます。彼らとよく話します。
    日本で英語を教えているの５人ぐらいインタビューしたことある。
    日本で英語を教えているブログをたくさん読んでいます。

    どこでも見ると良い所と悪い所があるけど、日本で英語を教えているなら、bureaucracyについて結構大変ですよ。Bureaucracy以外たくさん話せますが、それは後でしましょう。。。

    「ケンチキ」は日本人の友達からよく聞いたよ。Guyさんは日本の皆さんじゃないよ。Guyさん以外ほかの日本人が存在していますよ。「ケンチキ」をGoogleImageでサーチしてみたら「ケンチキ」ちゃんとあるよ。

    http://www.google.com/images?q=%E3%82%B1%E3%83%B3%E3%83%81%E3%82%AD&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1509&bih=1221

    いつもちゃんとリサーチしているよ、Guyさん。このブログはそんなに嫌いなら読まない方がいいかもしれない。

  • http://luckyhill.wordpress.com/ elisabel

    I think teaching English in Japan can be BS if you’re unfortunate and end up in a school that doesn’t utilize you very well AND you choose not to be proactive about changing the situation. There’s a huge difference between saying “The way you teach English is idiotic!” and “I think we can reinforce students’ learning with this technique, shall we try it?” Some people may get the *suck air in through teeth* response either way, but there’s little changes that can be made, or new ideas to introduce, without rocking the boat too much. If the students learn thanks to these, what Japanese Teacher of English would oppose them?

    I’m very fortunate to have ended up in a school that gives me complete freedom over how Oral Communication classes are run, as well as one whose English department actually speaks English (half of the Japanese Teachers of English currently at my school studied abroad for at least a year). But I know some fellow JET ALTs who are having a tough time at their schools, either for lack of freedom in lesson planning, or lack of support from the JTEs. I hate to use JET’s “let’s cover our assets” phrase, but every situation really is different.

  • http://twitter.com/SykoRyoko SykoRyoko

    Well, there’s always bad with the good, I guess. It just depends on what you want and how bad you want it.

  • Ryan McCarthy

    :( Kind of ruined it for me but.. you have a point :/
    I’ll do what Greg did :)
    or if all else fails I will be a Graphic designer xD

  • karla(:

    Ahaha Lol That was good!

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  • Timmy

    I’m pursuing an ALT teaching position in Japan! This article/comments makes me a bit discouraged/worried… I mean, I know it won’t be all rainbows and sunshine, but it seems like a lot of people here *haaated* the experience…

    I am/was really excited about this! Anyone have any words of encouragement or positive notes on becoming an ALT? I mean, it is an excellent way to get to live in Japan, no? And in a valid professional capacity no less, right? and it will undoubtedly help me improve my Japanese, right? Help me restore my positive energy please (*´Д`)

  • http://www.tofugu.com koichi

    I think it’ll be a good experience if you want it to be, and you’ll learn
    lots of Japanese if you make yourself learn. I know a lot of people who go
    teach English and seem to learn almost no Japanese (no idea how that
    happens). So, if you make it happen, it’ll be great, I’m sure. You can
    always choose whether or not you suffer :)

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  • http://twitter.com/fembassist Jenny

    When I first got to Japan about 3 years ago, I worked as an ALT in Yokohama. The JTEs were varied as very good to pitiful and couldn’t chat their way out of a bag in English. The pitiful ones only taught English grammar and not conversation. The better ones actively pursued English related stuff in their own lives in addition to school.

    The 2nd year I taught at a school in Tokyo. JTEs spoke better English but still were narrow minded in their way of thinking and how could I help them with the students. I finally let them do all the planning while I went outside to where the students were and chatted with them in a mixture of English and Japanese. Students didn’t know they were getting an English lesson by chatting. :)

    Now I’m teaching at an eikaiwa which is actually better since I have full control over the class. :)

  • http://twitter.com/fembassist Jenny

    Most get a girlfriend that does everything for them so they never bother to study. Others make friends with English speaking people and never Japanese speaking people.

    I actually had to join a Japanese conversation school because all the Japanese people want to practice their English with me. My friends are Chinese, Korean, and Napal. :)

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  • Melissa

    I teach at an Elementary school and, luckily, it means I have a lot of freedom to teach my students. There’s a curriculum, but it was made by a senior English Teacher (a native speaker, NOT a JTE), and there’s no textbook so I can structure the class as I please.
    You run into bureaucracy elsewhere, for sure, but at least at my schools, it’s nice.

  • Anonymous

    You totally showed that jerk, Koichi! :D

    If he doesn’t like what you blog about, why doesn’t he go somewhere else?

  • Anonymous

    What are you talking about? How is teaching English in “English” a good thing? Unless you are advanced, how can you learn any English at all in “English”. If every language was always taught using itself, no one would ever learn a language – especially English speakers. That is why English speakers are arrogant. If they want to learn a language, they expect it to be taught in English, but if they want to teach English they expect it to be taught in English. 

    Teaching a language using itself is only good when you are very close to fluency and want to take the next step.

  • Anonymous

    There definitely are benefits in teaching English in English. But at a lot of stages – especially the one’s the kid’s are at in the video – it would do more harm than good…

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  • Phantomeye

    I think it’s necessary to teach a language in the language you’re teaching. Yes, of course you also need to know the language of your students, so you are able to explain them if they’re having problems.

    When I was in elementary, we began fairly quickly with  communicating in English.

  • Brandy

    I’m teaching English in Japan right now, at this very minute. And I love it. Well, technically I’m on my break right now, but Ill be teaching English in an hour. Ive only been here for a month, but I’ve met so many wonderful people and am always out doing things with the students and workers here. We’re a small Eikaiwa, not a branch, and so I think that’s what makes the difference. Here, everyone knows eachother and most of the new students are coming from family memebers and friends of our current students. Most of the adult students here are advanced students and are very foreign friendly. Everyone here loves to give me and my boss food and flowers because so many of our students have gardens at home and have plenty to share. Not to mention all the omiyage we get when someone goes to visit another prefecture or another country. I just got some Italian chocolates the other day. I also have some takenoko because I was invited a few days ago to go bamboo picking with a student and some cub scouts. My student is a cub scout leader apparently. It’s like being a part of one big happy family. So honestly, I love my job and I don’t think I’ll ever have a better job in the future! My students are rapidly progressing in their English studies and we are having fun together while we learn English and about eachother. Teaching English is the greatest.

  • Julie R Grey

    Many Americans support Communism.  Don’t stereotype, it just makes you look like a jerk.  

  • Coffeexxx

     JFYI, There are quite a few English teaching jobs in Tokyo now since the tsunami in March last year & mass exodus of foreigners including teachers. I normally get email alerts for ALT jobs on alttokyo.com & now getting several  a day. Many employment opportunities.

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