Discuss the state of the teaching industry in Japan with your fellow teachers! Use this thread to discuss salary trends, companies, minor questions that don’t warrant a whole post, and build a rapport with other members of the community.
Please keep discussions civilized. Mods will remove any offending posts.
13 comments
A request:
If anyone is using one of the following textbooks with Moodle or a Moodle-like LMS, please consider collaborating with me in creating online exercises and projects for classes. (I already have most of the publishers’ quizzes on line in Moodle format, but I’m interested in getting practice exercises input as well.)
* *Reading Explorer 2* (National Geographic/Cengage)
* *Pathways Foundations: Listening, Speaking, and Critical Thinking, 2nd edition* (National Geographic/Cengage)
* *Pathways 1: Listening, Speaking, and Critical Thinking, 2nd edition* (National Geographic/Cengage)
* *Business Result Intermetiate, Second edition* (Oxford University Press)
* *Longman Academic Writing Series 3: Paragraphs to Essays, Fourth edition* (Pearson)
* *Inside Writing 2: The Academic Word List in Context* [2014 edition] (Oxford University Press)
I prefer to have students do work they can do themselves or that involves reading or writing online and at their own paces so that class time can be devoted to collaborative activities or revision. If you’re interested, please send a personal message.
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Now that grades are in and the semester is well and truly over, I can confess that for one of my on-demand classes, I totally forgot to distribute the final week’s lecture video and quiz. Whoopsy daisy!
I love having my schedule changed, last minute. I love having MAYBE 2 online classes with 3rd and 4th graders for the entire day 3 days out of the week. Online classes for 3r and 4th graders suck. Especially when half of them don’t really sit still since they’re at home or have a younger brother/sister on them the whole time because they are home. Its so frustrating. Not tomention the technical difficulties my school seems to have with poor internet and 90% of the staff being unfamiliar with things like google meet and zoom.
I kind of wanna get a better understanding of statistical models used in SLA more.
People always say textbooks haven’t changed to be more communicative but as someone who is currently using a western textbook, compared to Japanese textbook the difference is night and day. Especially with grammar.
The Japanese is all about learning all prescriptions grammar rules, which are handed down by gods never to be broken and plug in the vocab you copied down 10 times each out of context. Sprinkled with some communicative activities, because progress.
The western ones are slower with the grammar presentation. Normally brought up in context and in a way that is applicable to use such as rules of thumbs or regulation. They are also normally presented in context and also not controlling the content.
I previously worked for Interac and wasn’t given a new contract. I moved back to the US afterward to take a job that ended up being cancelled because of covid.
I am trying to move back to Yokohama to work at an eikaiwa. I really miss living in Yokohama and I am being encouraged by a few teachers at my former schools to teach again.
I am wondering if my chances of finding work will be impacted by my previous history with Interac.
Not sure if here’s the place to express my frustrations but I’m baffled but the lack of English capabilities of some of the Japanese teachers. One in particular doesn’t even speak English conversationally. He only does direct translations of reading text and can only get through 2-3 sentences per 50 min class. I understand that English is difficult and not his first language, but if you can speak it why the hell are you teaching it?
It’s also killing me that I offer time and time again to help make the grammar work sheets or look over them before they use them, yet they never do. Without fail there are typos and spelling/grammar mistakes on every single worksheet. Any advice or similar experiences?
I’ve got an interview for a PT teaching position at a Keio HS next week and was wondering if anyone knows what the pay is like? There were no details given
I’ve seen a lot of discussions about how the ALT dispatch companies are able to constantly reel back salary because there are so many people willing to work in Japan, regardless of the conditions. At the same time, it seems as if there are increasing numbers of ALTs from developing countries working in schools here.
There has always been a heavy bias towards native speakers in Japan, and let’s be honest, we are talking about white,Western countries like America and the UK.
As far as I can tell, this bias is still going strong, so I was just wondering if there are in fact less westerners willing to put up with the shitty pay and conditions of the dispatch companies?
It baffles me that there are two separate people that exchanged as social media with students at my company this years, especially after they made a big deal about firing the person the first time
Do you ever see Ss drawing original characters? I know most people just copy cack when their young but not ALL THE TIME. 🧐
Latest trends… Its hard because the past two years+ we have been dealing with COVID. However, I think that once it settles down, there is going to be an insane flux of foreigners moving to Japan to live out there dreams. I can see salaries for English Teachers being pushed down a bit (in most places, think dispatch companies, eikawas). However, I can also see that direct hire BOE / private school jobs will become more picky and demand more experience and or certs.
My recommendation would be if you are looking to change jobs, this would be the time. Before COVID settles and the hoards are allowed to enter Japan.