The following are some of my favorite travel-inspired video clips. I’m sorry they’re so small! I have no idea how to make them bigger… Enjoy. : ) The English Teachers Series This is the first episode in a series that centers around English teachers in Japan. I love the Neville character. He reminds me a… Read More Travel Videos from Around the Web
I spent all of last week shuttling back and forth between my old job teaching (mostly North American) pre-schoolers at an International school, and my new job, teaching ESL at a Japanese after school preschool program. The whole experience was exhausting (imagine working for nine hours straight, all of your students under the age of… Read More Are Japanese and American Children Really all that Different?
512. That’s the number of people who responded to an ad for an ESL teaching position on the job-hunting site gaijinpot.com (the craigslist of Japan). I know this because minutes after I optimistically forwarded the company my newly updated resume, gaijinpot (very considerately) sent me an email to inform me of this little fact. 63.… Read More Must Love Kids: What It’s Like to Teach English in Japan
Every unmarried female ESL teacher who’s under 50 and teachers adults has been asked out by a student at least once. It’s inevitable. It’s always awkward when this happens because due to the cultural and language barriers you’re never entirely sure how to interpret it. Does “Do you want to go out for a drink… Read More Would You Date One of Your Students?
Teaching English in Japan is a challenge. I think that one of the greatest hurdles to overcome as a new teacher here, is coming to terms with the fact that English class isn’t about learning English. If it were, teaching would be lot easier. English class is first and foremost about having fun. It’s… Read More ESL Teaching Tips: How to Discipline Problem Students
Two months ago, a mentally-unstable man that I met on the train in Saitama, took one look at me and announced in a loud, prophetic voice: “You are too young to be in Japan.” Once I got over the shock of being addressed in this manner (in English!) I laughed it off, saying “Buddy, I’m… Read More She’s a Super Freak
I tend to treat my private lessons with my Japanese teacher like therapy sessions. I’ll tell her about how one of my students is abusing me. I’ll show her the bite marks and the bruises and share horror stories involving chalk dust thrown in my eyes and markers hurled at my head. And then I’ll… Read More Teacher Barbie
The mother’s of my students aren’t very friendly towards me. I don’t mean that in a negative “they hate me” way. It’s just a fact. Except for ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ they don’t talk to me and I don’t blame them. Like most language schools in Japan, the company I work for has an ‘English Only’… Read More No Japanese! English Only Please…
Some of my students don’t talk. At all. At first I thought they were just extremely shy and I tried to be patient with them. I figured they only needed a little time to warm up to me. So each week, I’d spend the 50-minute class having a conversation with myself as my five junior… Read More Are Japanese Children "Just Shy" Or Is It Something Else?
Photo: Sad Clown Doll Sometimes I feel like I don’t understand my role my as an English teacher in Japan. What exactly do parents expect from me? I thought my job was to depart knowledge. I speak English. I will therefore teach your children to do the same. But now I’m beginning to think that… Read More Teaching English Is No Joke