Number one: cosplay
Only joking- I mean of course that the status of English teachers is not so obviously low that when I met the love of my life and asked her to marry me she actually agreed!
You won’t hear a lot about it on the TEFL forums, but there are actually a lot of other advantages to choosing Japan to teach in: (more…)
Why are the Japanese so into ”kawaii” (cute)?
As long as it is socially acceptable, there is no reason why having a picture of a kitten should not make you feel warm inside. Being around cute stuff makes you feel good. And anything that makes you feel good can be addictive. It should also be noted that “kawaii” is also used by some people with such a wide range of meanings it could even be translated just as ‘good’ rather than ‘cute’.
Why do the Japanese sometimes answer yes/no questions in English with the answer ‘maybe’? One reason could be being asked a question that is not standard in Japanese. For example, “genki desu ka” is often given as the translation of “how are you” but is in fact very rarely asked, perhaps because it could be seen as intrusive. Another is that there are many ways of being vague in Japanese but they are not taught ways to be vague in English. For example, “so desu ne” (That’s so) and “so desu ka” (Is that so) can be given many fine shades of meaning including doubt by changes in intonation etc. These are probably the phrases in their head when they say ‘maybe’.
Why do Japanese streets have no names?
All Japanese communities, including parts of cities, have always been like little villages where everyone knows everyone else and so there is no need to have street names or even house numbers in order. This was even more so in Tokugawa times, when blocks of Tokyo streets would be surrounded by walls and watch towers dividing them from other parts of the city.
Thanks to Laurent for the top two questions. Keep them comng, everyone.
This series of posts also sprouted their own blog- Japan Explained. Give it a click and give it a go!
Have just been reading about Daniel Liebskind, yet another celebrity architect. Let me write that again- celebrity… architect. Celebrity architect???? Might not be as bad as celebrity driving instructors or celebrity hotel staff (we’ve had both of them in the UK), but come on! Is there any profession which doesn’t have celebrities? Oh, yes, TEFL teachers like me. Well, tonight’s task is to sort that injustice out once and for all.
And if the problem is lack of celebrity, the solution must be a variation on Big Brother- the greatest producer of hapless celebrities of all time. To show the requisite lack of imagination to make a modern TV programme, we are going to even steal the name and call it “Big Teacher”. Add in a bit of The Weakest Link quiz programme, stir, and there you have it- TEFL fame!
Here’s how it will work. 15 teachers and 15 students locked in a boarding school. The teachers are chosen for very different teaching styles and are a mix of native and non-native speakers. If we can get Scott Thornbury and other TEFL heartthrobs in all the better, plus maybe some D list celebrities who have been chucked through various TEFL teaching courses. The students will all be selected to have the same starting level of English, but will be all different nationalities- which will likely mean a mix of feckless Italians, Turks and Spanish who really shouldn’t be beginners still and Chinese students from the sticks who have never heard of George W Bush and learnt from a textbook from 1932.
Said teachers take turns teaching said students in group and one-to-one classes. At the end of each week all the students take a test, the results of which will be kept secret from all those locked in the school. The total money at the end of the series will be based on all the test results over the whole period, but one student and one teacher will be voted off each week before the test until only one teacher and one student survive to take home the whole prize. They could also vote off textbooks in the same way. Just like Weakest Link, the voting will therefore be based partly on getting rid of dead weight to get the test scores and therefore the prize money up, and partly on tactically trying to get rid of people who are a risk to you winning the final prize.
I think you will agree that it will be not only entertaining and good English practice for all the viewers all over the world, but will also be a realistic representation of TEFL teaching- for one thing, it’s likely to have exactly the same level of cooperation and back biting bitchiness as a typical British Council teachers’ room.
So students and teachers interested in taking part, please sign up below:
It seems not just the population but also the chimps in Japan are suffering from rapid ageing, something else in which we also lead the world:
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707250108.html
(First time I’ve said ‘we’ meaning people in Japan there!)
As the baby boomers and their pet apes reach retirement time with time and money on their hands, it makes for a growing market for English lessons too. Will take some special content and methodology though. My oldest student in Japan was in her 80s and I’ve had 10 or so students over 60 here and in the UK, so here are my ‘expert’ tips for the greying braincells segment of the Eikaiwa* student population:
* Eikaiwa means “English conversation”, and is the normal Japanese expression for the language school industry- maybe another reason why they have false hopes on how easy it will be to learn at your school and don’t apply themselves (often not even bringing a pen!)