Why You Should NEVER Teach English in Japan

Why should you never teach English in Japan? After teaching for 5 years, this is my advice on why Japan is far from your best choice for an English teaching job.

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[frizlaw]

I spent 16 years teaching English in Japan and rather than discouraging me to go back, this video makes me wanna get on a plane right now and go back there immediately.

[herefunyadig]

My cousin used to teach English in Japan, now he teaches Japanese to English speakers at a college in the US 😅

[ianmontgomery]

I am not a teacher but occasionally I helped a Chinese friend teach English at his school in China. I found two things that I found to be important that are likely overlooked by people. the first is to teach them how to position the tongue when pronouncing letters that are pronounced differently in their native language. the classic is Chinese saying "Sank you" rather than "thank you". I taught our house keeper how to position her tongue and she pronounced it perfectly straight away. The other is acknowledge that in reading we use a different part of the brain to read words than they use to read symbols. Even just saying the first letter of a word can often jog your memory of what the word is as they treat the whole word as a symbol. Once it is explained to them they improve remarkably. I like the fun in your classes.

[walpoleandworcester]

Fascinating. I hear all these stories of people going overseas to teach English in these countries but seldom have I heard as much about all the downsides. Thanks for sharing, Pearl!

[DaveLopez]

The best insight into teaching English in Japan along with Abroad in Japan. Kudos! and ありがとうでございます！

[chcc]

OH Lord, being a foreign teacher...
another thing that you did not mention is that on top of feeling often like a clown in class, you also have A LOT of pressure from the school management to get results...

it is VERY difficult to make lessons entertaining and fun but also make sure that the kids are really learning and that at some point they will be able to speak the language and have good results in whatever official exam they will be taking (IGCSE...). And management and parents want results, no matter what.
Also the struggle is even worse for MFL teachers because at least the students know that English will eventually be useful... but most of the time they have no idea why they are learning MFL... and Spanish and French can be way more difficult to learn than English in Asia...
oh well.

[fallacyguy]

I went to Akita Inaka school, based on Oriental Pearl's recommendation a few years ago, and it was really amazing. Shout out to Sayaka-san! If you're a Japanophile and want to experience the "real" Japan, go to this school. They are located in a tiny town (Kosaka) where you will get to know all the locals who are super friendly. If you want to just learn Japanese as quickly as possible to pass the N2 or N1 exam or something like that, then maybe consider a city-based traditional language school instead.

[gabriellejackson]

I love your videos and approach to them. You also have a very likable personality. Thanks for sharing!

[BleuRose-ku]

Oriental Pearl, this video was a shocking revelation for me. Thank you for sharing it. People usually hide the harsh sides of a given situation to present an illusory picture of reality and not to be seen that they made some wrong decisions or for other reasons. It's good that you show both sides of the different countries of Japan.

[cappybenton]

I taught English in Japan for two years. On the whole, it was a good experience, but yeah, it definitely wasn’t all smooth sailing. Congratulations on lasting out five years. I subscribed.

[Eleanor-ecqp]

I taught English as a foreign language on Okinawa I had a wonderful time I especially loved the little children at the daycare centre it was so much more fun and they didn’t misbehave I couldn’t understand why those preparing for college were not interested in learning they always slept during the class I’m very happy to have had the experience then that was in the 90tees and probably not so competitive thanks for sharing your video

[akainikki]

I used to train English teachers in the school I worked at. The number 1 mistake/trap I saw EVERYtime from new teachers is they'd start off as the "friend" or "cool teacher". Goofy, giving candy etc and lose the respect of students from day 1.

Despite that clown expectation being there, you don't really need to follow it. It's much better go in as an asshole/strict, and provide games, fun, and silliness as a reward. If anyone acts up, the fun is stripped away. It's basic reward/punishment bias. They learn what keeps class fun and what makes it boring.

"Ok since Jonny is being a little shit, no games for anyone today. Writing books out!"

I know punishing a group due to the behavior of one is frowned upon, but it works. The risk of ostracism is a powerful psychological trigger. And, the blame for the boring class is redirected from you to the student who caused it.

If you feel bad about being strict, then also know that children, while they may look like they’re laughing and having fun disrespecting you, actually feel higher levels of stress when they don’t feel boundaries from an authority figure.

If you nail it, you can have both a fun class and respect. Going in as "I'm the fun teacher and I'm your friend" always got disrespect and those teachers fought an uphill battle since. I remember taking over classes after they'd left and it was always a process akin to domesticating wild animals.

Infact, your English teaching experience will largely depend on who the teacher of your classes was before you. Hopefully, you had someone who knew what they were doing, so you inherit a well-behaved class. If the kids are assholes, you know the teacher before you was trash.

[senku]

6:29 In my country it was because if students finds out you speak their language they won't try to speak english again so foreign teachers didn't allowed to speak local language even some local teachers had to act like foreigner too.

[breezeh]

Whew..that must have been extremely hard. You are super entertaining and up beat but I'm sure it took a toll after awhile. I'm glad you had some really good moments too❤

[robertalynch]

I am going to Japan for the first time in April of this year. I love your videos.

[gatolibero]

A relative of mine was an English teacher in South Korea. Exact opposite behavior from you. They were strict and did not let the kids get away with fooling around. They were as strict or more strict than the native teachers. It's all about how YOU present yourself to the students. You choose to present yourself as an entertainer, not a teacher. It seems maybe you did not have a background in education from the start.

[sbs]

Super good examples of pro and cons! Your videos are fun and informative. Though I am a high school science teacher and really enjoy teaching, I am very glad to know of this school for learning Japanese without having to go the teacher route. Keep doing what you do and thank you for introducing Nomad-San.

[elizawalker]

As someone who qualified as a secondary school teacher in the UK decades ago, and later switched to teaching English to non-native speaker adults from around the world, I find a lot of points need clarifying. When I started in language teaching, although I had qualified as a "normal" teacher and was educated, I knew very litttle about teaching my own language. Language schools in the UK were then staffed by a motley group of "teachers": some were retired army officers; some ex-vicars or lawyers; some young graduates of various subjects, but none had been professionally trained as language teachers to non-native speakers, as there were no specific courses at the time. From the 1970s, onwards, many people fought really hard to get English language teaching established as a proper profession with qualifications specific to language teaching. Universities; colleges, and examination boards developed this provision and some teachers started to become specifically qualified to teach English to foreigners. However, the idea that, if you could speak English, and it was your mother tongue, you could naturally teach it, continued. Many young people who wanted to travel the world got jobs, often in privately-run institutions, where they taught English. They knew nothing about language or about how to teach it. Sadly, decades on, this idea still persists in many places. It happened, and presumably, still happens, in Japan, and around the world, with systems like the JET scheme, that people who teach may be university graduates but have no training in teaching a language to non-native speakers. You mention English teachers in Japan being viewed as "entertainers". This is obviously because previous "teachers" have done this; however, even if expected by the pupils, there is no need for subsequent teachers to copy it. Teachers would be much more respected if they were profesiional and did not act as clowns. It is possible to teach in a professiional way and still give lessons that are enjoyable and interesting, without it being like a loud circus performance. It also seems that such "teachers" have not shown respect for Japanese cultural traditions of maintaining personal space; not touching, and not being loud. I would like to hope that, in Japan, there are some English language teachers who have specifically been trained in the teaching of English as a foreign language; who know something about language itself (and by that I mean more than just knowing grammar and vocabulary, ) and who can make their lessons interesting and enjoyable without it being like slapstick comedy. Japanese students deserve better. I should also point out that, by teacher training, I mean substantial training that leads to internationally recognised qualifications, not just a week's introduction to language teaching, as sometimes happens. You can't learn how to teach a language in a week!

[BunnyWatson-kw]

Naughty kids at 3:15. Japan is also known for having the worst bullying in high schools. It is even more severe than bullying in America. Some students have even died from as a direct or indirect result of the bullying from fellow students.

[moni_monaka]

That school looks really well-funded and clean and even as a middle school class, they get to have fun! When I was a JET, I taught 4 elementary schools and 1 middle school. It was in a pretty small town and only one of the schools was really “nice” and clean and the others were old and basically for the elementary school classes, I was on my own. I had to make my own stuff for class, and basically just had a chalk board to work with. I “got” to do whatever I wanted so I did games and activities and the kids liked it a lot for the most part, but it was exhausting. Sometimes I had all 6 classes and other times I only had 2 and then nothing to do the rest of the day 😅 and at the middle school, the JTEs only used me to say things from the textbook and then the rest of their entire lesson was in Japanese and it was boring. The kids hated it. And I asked so many times to do activities or games that I prepared, but they never let me.

Except for once when a teacher didn’t show up to school and they asked me to just go in his class and improvise. I ended up doing a really fun game and everyone was loving it, but then when it was over, the other JTE told me, “Oh, the kids like you better than me…” and instead of letting me do that game again, she just kept doing her regular boring lectures in Japanese. New teachers would come in and try to do fun things, too, but always ended up copying the senior teachers. It got so frustrating. I was fluent in Japanese and had already lived in Japan before and knew the culture, etc. but they kept shutting me out. I wasn’t invited to the lesson planning meetings the English teachers had. It was so upsetting.

Once, I visited a different middle school in our town and had a much nicer experience. I feel like I wasn’t treated well at my placement, and I had friends on JET who had amazing schools and co-teachers. I left after 2 years even though I had planned on staying until my 5th year. Now I live in Korea and it’s very different because most people speak English decently and their kids are expected to learn it, too. In Japan, most of my students could barely answer simple questions. They just have this mentality that English is “too hard” so they will never learn it.

Some of my students, I still remember fondly and they were so sweet and talked to me a lot and I really wish them the best! I have great memories as an ALT but also really awful ones. It was a mixed bag, for sure. I’m glad I did it but it totally depends on your personality and placement!