Are you a TEFL otaku?
Answer the simple yes/ no questions below and find out (one point for every “yes”, half a point for every “maybe” and zero points for every “no”)
1. Are you unable to read a newspaper or magazine without wondering if something in it might be suitable for class?
2. Do you sometimes know what unit or page number certain exercises are on?
3. Do you write all your texts (SMS) in full sentences with correct punctuation?
4. Do you notice every non-standard language use of your friends and family?
5. Are you unable to regain your pre-TEFL pronunciation or speaking speed in the first week back home?
6. Have you ever finished one MA and then thought about doing another?
7. Have you ever used a popular book on language or psychology like Mother Tongue or an Oliver Sacks as a bit of relaxation between books on teaching?
8. Can you recognize over 50% of the participants on any randomly picked TEFL forum thread?
9. Have you ever had to quit reading something because the careless spelling mistakes etc annoyed you too much?
10. Have you ever corrected the English in an article, or on a notice or sign in pen?
11. Have you got angry about a TEFL forum discussion more than once?
12. Have you ever got excited about collocations?
13. Are you able to recognise which book a random photocopy comes from 70% of the time?
14. Do you ever pay attention to news of movements of people in the industry that don’t affect you (”Have you heard that the head of IH has been sacked”, “Nooooooo!?”)?
15. Have you ever got excited about a new TEFL book before you’ve even seen a copy?
16. Do you laugh more than 10% of these Langwich Scool cartoons (have a click if you’ve never seen them before)?
17. Do you laugh more than ten percent of these Alternative ELT Jargon Dictionary definitions?
18. Do you ever make judgements about someone’s personality based on their spelling?
19. Have you ever tried to use correcting someone’s grammar as a way of winning an argument about something else?
20. Is more than 50% of your internet time every week TEFL related?
See below for what your scores mean:
I consider myself borderline TEFL otaku and my score was 10, so if you are under you are safe and if you are over you should really think about changing jobs now before it’s too late! Run, save yourself!
June 16th, 2008 at 5:19 am
1. yes - actually the only reason I read news is to look for class material
2. yes
3. usually
4. who doesn’t
5. go home? why would I do that?
6. yes
7. that’s exactly what I read on the subway.
8. no
9. Have you ever had to quit reading something the careless spelling mistakes etc annoyed you too much?
You mean like this question missing the word “because” between something and the? - no I don’t let other peoples faults bother me as I have enough of my own.
10. no
11. no
12. who hasn’t?
13. used to be able to, but now 90% of my supplemental material is created by me.
14. I don’t understand this question.
15. all the time
16. ?? - never saw them before.
17. only once.
18. no
19. No and it annoys me to no end when others do it.
20. until recently it has been.
June 16th, 2008 at 6:16 am
I quit reading around the twelfth question because I had already scored a perfect twelve. Are there varying degrees of otaku-ness?
June 16th, 2008 at 9:48 am
EFL Geek- I lost count, but you seem to be about a 10 and therefore my otaku equal. Congratulations! I wish I could say that mistake in question 9 was meant to be there, but I think I’ll leave it in anyway as a lucky find
Chris- I guess it would be named after whatever the Super Godzilla was called, Mega-Otaku? Not that up to date with Godzilla trivia- wrong kind of otaku!
June 16th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Now polished up and made a bit clearer. Also, couldn’t resist putting in the missing “because”, even though it being absent was quite funny, which might be another sign of TEFL otakudom