Gaijin teachers quote of the day
“It was called a “university” but its proper name was a school of languages. The Japanese had very primitive ideas concerning the fitness of men to teach… Anyone who could speak English could evidently teach it. The idea of a trained professional foreign teacher was never entertained by them… The “Professors” at first obtained were often ex-bartenders, soldiers, sailors, clerks, etc. When teaching, with pipe in mouth, and punctuating their instructions with oaths, or appearing in the classroom top-heavy, the Japanese concluded that such eccentricities were merely national peculiarities.”
After guessing when and where this quote is from, have a look at my Quote Japan blog for the source and comments.
January 5th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Aah, it’s so very reassuring to know that EFL teachers can be relied upon to be uttterly consistent – even across the centuries!
January 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
I know, it was highlight of my year so far finding that in a serious book about Japan- put in with no attempt at humour, as far as I could see!