First day as an ALT going in blind

21 comments

1. Go to 職員室 and arrive very early so you can ask the vice principal where your seat is.

2. Just remember that most of the teachers won’t care more than the country you’re from. Keep it short: name, country, I look forward to working with you. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

3. Good luck xD

4. Go to the secretary’s office near the entrance if there is one, the staff room if there’s not, and just give a short introduction once you’ve talked to one of the English teachers. Enjoy a day of nothing.

5. Are you working for a dispatch? If so, shouldn’t a rep from the company escort you to the school and act as a bridge to connect each other?
   Did they change their way of doing that since Covid?
   That’s how it was for me a couple of years ago.

6. Find out who the Eigo tanto or head English teacher is at said school. Get the lesson schedule they have in mind from them if they have it ready.

   Share a means of communicating with one another that you’re comfortable with.

   Formal attire. Short and simple is best. ”

   “My name is ______, I’m from _____. I look forward to working with you all. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.”

   Beyond that, keep an eye around the teachers office. See what their rules are. Some schools like to run a tight ship and others keep it relaxed.

   Do you need indoor shoes? Will you be eating school lunch? Where is the changing room? Where is your desk? Is the desk shared? Where is the supplies room? Where are the textbooks stored? What stores or restaurants are in the area?

   These are just a few things you will want to figure out during the first week while things are slow.

   Since things will be uneventful for now, bring something to do once you are all set getting things in order for any lessons you will teach once classes begin. Book to read, something to study.

7. take a second pair of pants

8. – Dress up nicely (formal. Suit is best if you have one)
   – head for the teacher’s room. It’s usually the room closest to the entrance and has many desk/work spaces.
   – if nobody is in the teacher’s room, head for the gymnasium (that’s where the entrance ceremony is held)
   – enter through the side doors not the back. If you enter from the stage, it will be awkward…..
   – usually the inside of the gymnasium is covered in tarps so you can come in using your shoes
   * bring slippers for later when you walk around the school
   – you’ll mostly just sit during the ceremony and watch them go through the motions. Not much happens.
   – after that there will probably be some sort of homeroom. You’ll most likely be desk warming until work is over. Home room just gives the kids important paperwork to give their parents for the new academic year.

9. Good luck! Just be yourself and when talking to other teachers, make sure to smile. For sure, they’d love it hahaha.

10. Good comments all, you might want to bring a simple lunch and a thermos / water bottle just in case.
    Ask to see the textbooks for your classes and spend time going through the lessons.
    It’s always good to say goodbye to the Principal first in her/his room then to the teacher’s room in general especially since you will be leaving much earlier then the Japanese staff.

    Basically “Excuse me for leaving first” > お先に失礼します (osaki ni shitsurei shimasu)

    Relax…you will be fine !

11. What company are you with and what general area are you in? East / West / …

    Also this is true for all ALTs. We’re all thrown in blind and completely disconnected from one another. It’s a terrible system the benefits no one.

12. First impressions matter. Keep it simple. Anything that you say or happens could follow you for the rest of your stay.

13. Arrive early and head to the staff room. The introduction might be for the staff or in front of the whole school, keep it short and sweet like others have suggested. It’s a formal day, so wear a suit/equivalent.

    Try your best to find out where you’re seated and who you will be working with. Don’t be offended if none of those teachers have time to sit down with you at length, many will have duties related to whatever class they are assigned to lead for the year or large meetings that will be commonplace for the first few weeks. The best information you can get from them right now is your timetable and anything on what year level/material you might be working with.

    Other than that I’d recommend talking to the secretary at school (usually seated to the left of the vice principle). They can give you information like a seating plan for the staff room with everyone’s names on it and give you advice on how things in general operate at that school. Just try and take things in and follow the ques of everyone else about where to be etc.

14. Do they mean just introduce yourself to the staff or to the kids?

    Most of the schools I worked at would have me do a short introduction to the staff in the staff room which was mostly just where I was from and how long I’ve been in japan etc….

    When it comes to getting to know the kids usually in would get the whole class hour and i would usually play a game where I would ask questions and the kids would try to guess the answers. Kids always have fun with this kind of thing.

15. > Any advice?

    Literally just show up and be natural… don’t try to prep anything or be different.

    Two tips…
    – Speak 100% English (some people fluff around and try to mix-in some Japanese quite poorly/awkwardly). That or they make words up, thinking it’ll be easier!
    – Speak fluently but using short, sharp sentences (e.g. ‘I am from Canada… I like pizza…etc). Some people either speak so slowly it sounds like they’ve got a speech disorder, or use looong sentences with multiple twists and turns.

    If it provides some colour, my mum’s probably the best example of how to confuse a Japanese person who knows a bit of English. Not a school example but she employs all the above techniques when trying to order toast and coffee. Any Japanese person will understand ‘Hi… can I please have a toast and a black coffee?’ Instead, she goes off the rails and freestyles. IMO most people do better if they just talk naturally rather than trying to adjust everything.

16. Dont go there and try to get a Job in Japan with value

17. There’s the teacher introduction. Short and sweet is good, especially if you don’t know Japanese.

    “My name is (John Smith). I’m from (London in the UK). I like (sports, music and cooking). I want to know more about (Shizuoka). I look forward to working with you all.”

    For the student introductions, you might have 5-10 minutes to fill, or more.

    You can make a worksheet for the kids (level appropriate; circling a picture for elementary school, circling or writing a word JHS). You can make a PowerPoint, but also print the slides if you don’t have a computer and screen/tv on class.

18. Which company are you working for? I was an ALT for a year and it was simultaneously lovely and the worst job I ever had. Make sure you don’t take on too much work. They will try to get you to plan and deliver every lesson despite you being an assistant. Keep a tab on how much they demand.

19. Which company are you working for? I was an ALT for a year and it was simultaneously lovely and the worst job I ever had. Make sure you don’t take on too much work. They will try to get you to plan and deliver every lesson despite you being an assistant. Keep a tab on how much they demand.

20. Wear a suit

    All the teachers will be in black suits, if you don’t want to look like the clueless gaijin, wear a suit (and tie).

21. ___ desu (name)

    ___ kara kimashita (where you’re from)

    yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

    Literally don’t say anything other than this for ‘introductions’ to other staff. This is the holy formula.