Eigo no sensei (English teacher)

After graduating from university with a BA in English and zero job prospects, I decided to head overseas to teach English. Moving to Japan provided the opportunity to both travel and teach, while attempting to put a dent in my rather significant student loan. From what I had seen, Japanese students were well disciplined and would be eager to learn. I was in for a surprise, not only in the behaviour of my students, but also what my teaching job would entail.

See how cute they are? Plus they could figure out the train
system all on their own...much to my chagrin.

The company I worked for was an after school program for children that wanted to learn English by a gaijin sensei, a foreign teacher. Or rather their parents wanted them to be taught by a foreigner. Our classroom had no desks or chairs; we sat on cushions on the floor. Class times were one hour a week, generally from 3-6p.m. My students were aged 2-12 and for the younger ages, the mothers would join in the lesson. In Japan, English is taught in public school, but similar to the way I learned French in elementary school, it did little to improve language skills.

I only taught 1-3 hours per day so the rest of my time was
spent doing office hours. I would make posters like the ones
 in the background, or flashcards. 

After being at school all day, the last thing these kids wanted to do was learn more. They could barely understand a word that came out of my mouth and their lack of concern was evident. I had a bilingual Japanese teacher with me in the classroom to help translate and discipline.

Repetition was paramount and we would repeat the same sentences over and over: Hello, my name is Aya. I'm six years old. I like bananas. That was pretty much the extent of Aya's English. The goal of the school was to perform at happyokai, a presentation for the parents. The kids would say the few sentences they memorized, sing a couple of songs (usually Disney) and the parents would be happy their money was well spent.

We sang a lot of songs and played a lot of games. Uno anyone?

After my first year, I switched companies and took on a managerial role. This took me more out of the classroom and I focused on training and evaluating new teachers. In my spare time, I took on a number of private lessons. Any foreigner will tell you that this is easiest way to make money and people are willing to pay a lot to spend an hour a week with a foreigner.

Teaching adults was not much easier but somewhat more entertaining. Whether I was teaching "business" English to employees at Mitsubishi, or meeting bored housewives at Staba once a week to gossip, the money was good and I couldn't complain. Staba is a short-form for Starbucks. Many names are shortened in Japan. Brad Pitt is referred to as Brapi. It seems the phenomenon of nicknames has caught on in North America as well. I've heard couples such as Ben and Jennifer being referred to as Bennifer. Cute or just lazy?

Teaching English was not an easy job, mostly because the English language is so hard to learn. The Japanese have great difficulty understanding grammar, pronunciation (the R and L are particularly tough) and word order.  The word phonics should be spelled fonix. Try explaining why certain words are spelled the same but have different pronunciation, or why some words sound the same but are spelled differently (to, two, too). I grew to appreciate being born in Canada. Plus, I had Schoolhouse Rock! to guide me.

Hooking up words and phrases and clauses.
I got "and", "but", and "or", they'll go pretty far.

How, where, or when, condition or reason, these questions
are answered when you use an adverb. 

Since Japan is relatively isolated being an island, there is minimal need for English in daily life. When Japanese people travel, they often join tours consisting of other Japanese tourists, complete with a translator. If they want to see a western movie, they can do so with Japanese subtitles. When I watched Goodwill Hunting, Matt Damon had a line in the movie, "How do you like them apples?" which was translated to "Do you like apples?" This explains why only a few of us were laughing in the theatre. The English language contains too much slang, idioms and phrases simply beyond comprehension for the Japanese.

There are a number of English words adopted by the Japanese, which have become a part of their vernacular. Sandwich is referred to as sandoitchi, a salad is a sarada. A love hotel (more on those later) is called a rabuhoteru. Pronunciation is difficult; love becomes rub. Fresh is pronounced as flesh which could be especially awkward when discussing food. Signs often have English phrases on them which usually create more confusion for an English speaking person.

Huh?

Note the spelling at the top of the sign.

I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to teach overseas. I didn't possess any skills before going, and although my job title was "teacher", in reality, most lessons involved me simply entertaining a group. I grew to appreciate my native tongue, while sympathizing with my students who struggled to learn. I doubt I had the impact that Robin Williams had on his loyal scholars in Dead Poet's Society, but I hope I made a bit of a difference, even if for a few of my seito (students).

~MT