English Teaching in Japan

Wise Words Wednesday-Experience it Yourself

2008-07-30T00:13:00.002+09:00

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

-Mark Twain

With all the new teachers coming over on the JET and other programs, I hope they and their students will learn and grow much from their experiences.

English Teahing in Japan 61-Welcome New JETs

2008-07-25T17:13:00.000+09:00

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Teaching in Japan Now and Then

2008-07-24T15:13:00.003+09:00

I have been teaching for three hours in the Middle School,
and teaching Japanese boys turns out to be a much more agreeable task than I had imagined. Each class has been so well prepared for me beforehand by Nishida that my utter ignorance of Japanese makes no difficulty in regard to teaching: moreover, although the lads cannot understand my words always when I speak, they can understand whatever I write upon the blackboard with chalk. Most of them have already been studying English from childhood, with Japanese teachers. All are wonderfully docile' and patient. According to old custom, when the teacher enters, the whole class rises and bows to him. He returns the bow, and calls the roll.

Nishida is only too kind. He helps me in every way he possibly can, and is constantly regretting that he cannot help me more. There are, of course, some difficulties to overcome. For instance, it will take me a very, very long time to learn the names of the boys--most of which names I cannot even pronounce, with the class-roll before me. And although the names of the different classes have been painted upon the doors of their respective rooms in English letters, for the benefit of the foreign teacher, it will take me some weeks at least to become quite familiar with them. For the time being Nishida always guides me to the rooms. He also shows me the way, through long corridors, to the Normal School, and introduces me to the teacher Nakayama who is to act there as my guide.

I have been engaged to teach only four times a week at the Normal School; but I am furnished there also with a handsome desk in the teachers' apartment, and am made to feel at home almost immediately. Nakayama shows me everything of interest in the building before introducing me to my future pupils. The introduction is pleasant and novel as a school experience. I am conducted along a corridor, and ushered into a large luminous whitewashed room full of young men in dark blue military uniform. Each sits at a very small desk, sup-ported by a single leg, with three feet. At the end of the room is a platform with a high desk and a chair for the teacher. As I take my place at the desk, a voice rings out in English: 'Stand up!' And all rise with a springy movement as if moved by machinery. 'Bow down!' the same voice again commands--the voice of a young student wearing a captain's stripes upon his sleeve; and all salute me. I bow in return; we take our seats; and the lesson begins.

This was written by Lafcadio Hearn (an ALT) in his book Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan around 1894. One hundred and fourteen years later things aren't so different for a new English teachers in Japan.

Guzen Media Japan-Tanabata 七夕

2008-07-14T01:13:00.001+09:00

Here is a video that I posted on my other show Guzen Media Japan . When you come to Japan to visit or work you will be able to enjoy many festivals throughout the year.

This is a video I shot during a Tanabata festival that took place in my neighborhood.

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English Teaching in Japan 60-Skit Video

2008-06-29T22:13:00.004+09:00

In this episode I'm back in the classroom talking about skits and I also show an example of one.

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English Teaching in Japan 59.5-Things Happen

2008-06-27T02:13:00.001+09:00

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English Teaching in Japan 59-Self Correction

2008-06-04T00:13:00.000+09:00

In this episode I talk about our bunkasai,using video in the classroom, and getting students to correct their own work and their classmates work.

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English Teaching in Japan 58-Cherish the Moments

2008-05-27T00:13:00.002+09:00

In this episode I talk about how our bunkasai movie is going and how I cherish the moments when my students learn something new.

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English Teaching in Japan 57-Exciting Nightmare

2008-05-19T23:13:00.002+09:00

In this episode I talk about mid-term exams and the upcoming bunkasai.

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English Teaching in Japan 56-New Responsibilities

2008-05-12T11:13:00.001+09:00

In this episode I talked about my new responsibilities at school and what I've been up to the last two months.

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Jim the New JET-Island Veteran

2008-05-05T11:13:00.003+09:00

Our good friend Jim is almost finished with his first year on the JET Program. He has been kind enough to share some of his stories about his new life as a teacher. He is from New York City and is living and teaching on a small island between Kagoshima on the southern end of Kyushu and Okinawa's main island. This is going to be an interesting adventure for him.

Read his first story
Read his second story
Read his third story
Read his fourth story

If you are on the JET and would like to share some of your stories please send me an Email

You can see and read more from Jim at his site Special Squirrels

Jim wrote

The new school year has started here. In the Japanese school (and bank and post office) system, workers get transferred to new locations every 2-4 years. They don't get any say regarding where or for how long. Just part of the job. Because of circumstances too tedious to explain, an inordinate amount of teachers left my high school to be replaced by an even greater number of new teachers. There were about 20 of us left behind to greet over 30 new people. I still haven't figured out how the board of education hasn't collapsed under the constant upheaval it inflicts upon itself, but whatever.

Anyway, the good news is a large percentage of my grumpy untalkative apartment neighbors have been shipped out, and some friendly young teachers have moved in. Since I'm now a relative veteran of the island, I took a handful of them for a day-trip around the isle to show them all the hot spots. We went to all sorts of different beaches, Some with jagged coral; some with calm inlets for snorkeling; some with special monuments erected; some with great steep cliffs; some with enormous boulders the size of buses. At each spot I was sure to take my camera out of the car, in case I saw something special.

Our last stop is popular for snorkeling, but in my opinion, not the most scenic of what the island has to offer. The entire day had been dark and cloudy, but a small hole opened in the cloud cover - allowing a beam of sunshine to come down and illuminate a relatively small circle in an otherwise gray and gloomy ocean. Moments later, a dolphin began jumping over the surface of the water right in the center of that 100m wide solar spotlight spotlight. It was like a scene out of a movie. So naturally... this was the one time during our 6 hour excursion that I chose to leave my camera in the car. Live and learn.

In other news, I'm a bit less emaciated than my former self you might have seen during my winter vacation back home. Having food shipped from America certainly helped. Also, I'm inhaling protein shakes as if my life depended on it - because, apparently... it does. I finally joined the "gym" here. The owners can't get over the amazing fact that gym (jimu) and Jim (Jimu) are kind of the same word. They find it absolutely hysterical. They're also so amused that an actual foreigner patronizes their business that they often seize the opportunity to introduce anyone who walks through the door to "New York Jimu". Even if I'm in the middle of an exercise and straining to keep the heavy weights from crashing down on my skull. It makes handshakes difficult.

At least stuffing my face and getting off the couch is apparently having an effect, though. I just went back to one of my junior high schools after not having visited for a month or two. While having tea with the teachers during break time, one of them inquired, "Jim, did you get fat?" I'm going to chalk that up to an unintentional lack of grace in translation (despite the fact that she is a teacher of English). At least I'm happy there's a visible difference now.

This week is Golden Week. A week in which there's like 4 different holidays grouped together. It's a big deal in a country where free time is almost taboo. Unfortunately, two of the holidays fall on Saturday and Sunday, so it's actually more of a Golden Weekend than a Golden Week. I won't be doing anything, though. I just took a trip off the island recently, and this week is notorious for the crowds and expenses you'll encounter if traveling - so I'm content to vegetate at home.

I guess that's it. Hope all is well. Talk to you next time.

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Teaching Thoughts Tuesday-Discovery

2008-04-22T23:13:00.003+09:00

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

-Mark Van Doren

I see myself as tour guide and I take my students on many adventures. I tell them a little bit about the places we are going and give them some ideas of things to do and look for. When we arrive at our destination I answer any last minute questions, give them a time and place to meet, and send them off to explore. I follow them for a while, but soon I fall back and let them go their own way. Of course I worry about them, but I'm confident they will be able find their way back if they get lost.

I wait excitedly for their return. When they get back they are usually very tired, but also very surprised and proud of what they were able to accomplish. When we sit around and share stories about the adventure I'm able to see things again through fresh eyes, rediscover things I had forgotten, and I always learn something new. I can't image doing anything more exciting or more rewarding. I'm looking forward to my and my students next discovery.

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English Teaching in Japan 55-Homeroom

2008-04-14T15:13:00.003+09:00

This is short video of what a typical homeroom looks and sounds like here in Japan.

I've been extremely busy and haven't been able to do much with the show and site. New episodes ARE on the way so please stay tuned.

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Graduation Day

2008-03-10T00:13:00.008+09:00

This is a slideshow of some pictures I took of my students during graduation on March 1st. They were my students for the past 3 years. Now they are all headed off to University and their new lives. I will miss them greatly. They are a fine group of young men and women and I was very fortunate to have had them as my students.

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English Teaching in Japan 54

2008-02-29T14:13:00.004+09:00

In this episode John and I talk about the last few weeks at school, entrance exams, graduation, the JET Program, and lots of other good stuff.

Please check out and join the Forum.

2006-2007 JET Program Stats

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Jim the New JET-On and Off the Island

2008-02-18T08:13:00.001+09:00

Our good friend Jim is half way through his first year on the JET Program. He has been kind enough to share some of his stories about his new life as a teacher. He is from New York City and is living and teaching on a small island between Kagoshima on the southern end of Kyushu and Okinawa's main island. This is going to be an interesting adventure for him.

Read his first story
Read his second story
Read his third story

If you are on the JET and would like to share some of your stories please send me an Email

Jim wrote

Hello everyone. How's things on your side of the planet? Everything'sok here. It's been cloudy, rainy, and "cold" for the past 3 weeks -so I'm thrilled. "Cold" here is somewhere in the mid to low 50's. But actually, it DOES start to feel cold after a while. People here are too used to the heat. Also, there's no such thing as central heating in these homes and schools. In fact, there's not even decent insulation. The temperature of one's office, classroom, or bedroom will invariably be the same temperature as it is outside (possibly colder, since there's no sunlight indoors). Spending a day sitting still in such conditions actually starts to feel a bit chilly after a while. But while everyone here is shivering and whining, I'm enjoying every moment of the discomfort. I know how short lived this is, and the pending summer will be far more difficult to endure.

In other news, I escaped to the mainland again for a long weekend. We went to a little town called Ibuski that is famous for its sand baths. There are natural underground hot springs that heat the beaches from beneath. We went to a sauna where you line up and lay yourself down in a ditch. The workers then cover you from chin to toe with shoveled sand. It's pretty heavy, and really warm - and it looks absolutely ridiculous. It's a field of heads.

Later that evening we barely caught the last ferry to the (live) volcano Sakurajima. We also just barely caught the last bus to the volcano's famous onsen (hot spring bath). You're given a long, thin robe to wear (with nothing else) to enter this big pool of hot spring water along the coast. It was night time, and a bit chilly, so it was nice lounging around there for a while. I attached another internet photo.

Today is Valentine's Day, but I'm off the hook (for now), because only women are obligated to buy anything here. There's another Valentine's Day in March called "White Day". THAT'S the day men are expected to give gifts, so at least I've got some time. It's a little trickier, though, because you might also be expected to give chocolates to certain friends or coworkers, too. Hopefully I'll figure out how to cover all the bases without forgetting too many people or breaking the bank.

Well, that's about it from here, I suppose. Hope all is well. See ya.

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English Teaching in Japan 53-Chris

2008-02-12T00:13:00.000+09:00

In this episode Chris joins me to talk about running, recent news, wine, living in Japan, teaching, and many other topics.

Please go over to Guzen Media Japan for the links that we talked about in this episode.

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English Teaching in Japan 52

2008-02-03T22:13:00.000+09:00

In this episode John and I talk about teaching kikokushijo and the 2008 US JET Program Interview Candidates announcement.

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Learn Teach Wisdom Love

2008-01-30T09:13:00.000+09:00

To learn and never be filled, is wisdom; To teach and never be weary is love.

-Anonymous

Not sure how much wisdom I have, but the more I teach the more I learn and I never feel tired when I'm with my students.

The JET Program's Success and Influence

2008-01-25T12:13:00.002+09:00

I ran across an interesting article from the Nichi Bei Times about how the JET Program is considered the most successful and important exchange, education, and grassroots diplomacy programs in Japan.

The article also interviews former JETs who talked about their experiences on the program and how it influenced what they did and are doing since they left the program.

The JET Program definitely had a big influence on me and what I'm doing now. It gave me an the opportunity to make my dream of living in Japan possible and it also helped me realize my calling to become a teacher.

If you are a former JET or former teacher in Japan let us know if your experiences on the program and in Japan influenced what you are doing now.

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Something to Think About

2008-01-16T09:13:00.000+09:00

If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job.

-Donald D. Quinn

I wish more people (especially parents) could realize this.

English Teaching in Japan 51-JET Interview

2008-01-15T00:13:00.000+09:00

My friend Sean from New Zealand joins me to talk about the JET Program interview process.

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English Teaching in Japan 50-Back to School

2008-01-11T01:13:00.000+09:00

The winter break is over and it's back to school. This is the third and final term (がっき gakki) of the Japanese school year.

Opening ceremony 始業式 (shigyoushiki).

Live Learn Share

Guzen Media Japan Website

An Unlikely Supporter by Chris

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New Year New Episodes

2008-01-01T21:13:00.000+09:00

I want to thank everyone again for your support over the past year and wish everyone a Healthy and Happy New Year! あけおめことよろ！

New episodes of English Teaching in Japan are on the way so please stay tuned.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-25T02:13:00.000+09:00

Thank you very much for all of your support over the past year. I hope everyone will have a safe and happy time celebrating the final days of 2007 and be ready for all the things that 2008 will bring us.