I’m an ES alt on JET.
I was a teacher at an international school in Taiwan before this. Took the job to get my foot in the door of Japan.
I’m honestly really unfulfilled as an alt and struggle to at how anyone could like this job.
My fellow co-teachers don’t really do any best practices. Can’t explain the purpose of different activities. And either use me as a human voice box or just a warm body in the class.
No wonder Japanese people can’t speak English. They’re not being taught English.
Anyone else have similar frustrations? How did you get past them?
41 comments
Pretty much my feeling when I worked at Interac. I tried to be creative and make fun lesson plans but the teachers all recommended me to follow their lead and instructions instead, which meant being a voice box. Worst part was then Interac complained that I wasn’t doing a good job but literally I am doing exactly as the teachers asked. I didn’t get my contract renewed by Interac but o well I moved on. I do feel bad though as I really did want to do a good job and hopefully inspire the kids, but I guess I just wasn’t what they were looking for.
>Took the job to get my foot in the door of Japan.
I swear, the “foot in the door” is the biggest meme in this industry LOL
This is a common feeling for people that were trained as a teacher or just experience a bad situation in Japan as an ALT. The only answer is to get a job at an actual school and stop being an ALT. The A as you may well know means assistant and most Japanese teachers don’t even want you there. Your only recourse is to just be the main teacher, like you were before.
Easy fix is to find a new job mate it’s not that hard. Can’t really change the environment around you, but you can change the environment you’re in.
From my experience, English education in Japan is mostly a formality or a scam. The people being scammed include you the foreign teacher.
I used to really like this job. Then 2018-2020 rolled around. I was the T1. I did everything; wrote curriculums, made materials, and had a blast teaching. In my stupid, stupid naivety I thought this would last forever and bought a house, content in my job. Then English became a subject, not an activity. I now stand in the corner most of the time bored out of my mind. One thing that never happened when I was teaching at ES was kids sleeping. Now it’s the norm for one kid to doze off every second lesson or so. The teacher (she does two ESs and unfortunately, I’m stuck with her) is a shitty teacher. She’s only the “English” teacher because she can’t hold a class.
How did I get past this? While I’m not past it yet, it has forced me to pursue further education one more time, so I’m back in university again to learn something new while I’m sitting on my arse at school.
Japan itself as an institution has an incredibly disappointing curriculum that creates a social dichotomy of cram school and non-cram school kids. They don’t even teach important grammar concepts in their own language that Americans take for granted in third grade or so, until 1st year middle school.
English education is secondary language education on top of trying to exist in a flaccid system as is.
TL;DR it’s Japan’s fault it’s bad. You’ll have to fight for the space you want. You shouldn’t have to.
Japanese teachers are taught/focus far more on protocol, rules/laws, departmental procedure, prefectural standards, and secondary responsibilities (clubs, homeroom teacher duties, cleaning, security, PR, counseling, discipline, etc).
Only a small portion of their job and education is actually about teaching their subject. For “normal” subjects where assessment and standards haven’t changed significantly for the last 50 years, this works well because brute force memorization, lecturing to large class sizes, and designing your whole class off of tests yields high test scores.
For actual learning, and specifically the subject of language, this is a terrible approach and the field has completely changed in the last 30 years. If you have field experience in any Western school system, or were formally educated on ESL/EFL **in the West** (meaning you learned how to teach OUTSIDE of East Asia, especially Japan/Korea) you will not only be disappointed with the quality of instruction, but teachers may actively see you as a bad teacher if you don’t follow their outdated standards.
I’ve found places and people that are open to updating and improving, but there’s 30+ years of work to be done if Japan wants to actually educate on language, which it clearly does not.
You could go to college in Japan, get a teaching license here, and become a regular ‘Japanese’ teacher of English where you are always teh T1
I assure you, it’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more fun.
They say ESID, but they should also add EPID (Every Person Is Different) because yeah, this job isn’t for everyone. I experience the same thing as well having come from being a lead teacher myself- dull curriculum, protocol this and formality that, and just a lot of time wasting. That’s just how the culture here is.
Every person is different in that I was super stressed as a lead teacher at times having worked in a hagwon in Korea, so having a passive job like this was kind of a breath of fresh air for me. Hopefully your school has extracurriculars and you have ways to interact/bond with your students, or your area has a decent amount of festivities, because that’s where it’s at- the community building.
I admittedly don’t think too much about the teaching process and lack of Engilsh literacy here, having never given a shit about learning another language back in my teens myself. We’re just lowly foreigners, for better or worse. We’re not going to make a big difference in the kids’ education, but that’s not to say we can’t make their days enjoyable somehow. Win some, lose some.
Welcome to being an ALT. That’s one of the reasons I don’t like it and don’t do it.
Anyone have similar frustrations? Yep! Pretty much everybody who cares about teaching! And no wonder they can’t speak English. But the government has decided that the same method that hasn’t worked for 50 years, is what we will continue to do. Sadly, I’ve come to realise it’s more baby sitting than teaching. The students aren’t there to learn, they are there to learn to obey
Not sure why you thought it would be a good “foot in the door” as an actual teacher if you did even a little bit of research. ALTing is a trap for unqualified entertainers to pretend to ‘teach’ while the system pretends that students are learning English.
If you are actually qualified to teach at international schools, you should have just applied directly to international schools in Japan. JET won’t exactly help your resume if you want a real teaching position.
So I am going to give you the advice my friend did when I arrived and voiced the same opinions. Unfortunately the reality is the English programs here are a show and nothing more. Focus on what small help you can offer and enjoy your time in Japan.
If you want to actually teach then apply to teach at an international school or an english school. You gonna get paid a lot less than jet and have messed up hours but you will be actually teaching.
English in Japan is like spanish in the US in elementary school.
That’s because they don’t teach English in Japan – they check boxes. It’s all box-checking so that it can be said “we did this.”
I am assuming you didn’t read this subreddit before you decided to teach in Japan, because this is what you would have been told.
Of course, even when people ask, they tend to ignore what they learn here and come to Japan anyway, because they just really want to be in Japan…. so they convince themselves that it can’t be that bad. Yes, it’s that bad – at least, it is for people who take teaching seriously.
Sorry … it’s probably time to jump ship and find a direct-hire job at one of the good international schools, or level up your quals and teach college or university.
yep this is basically it. you don’t figure it out till you’re already here.
I’m a JET ALT as well. I will say that I actually prefer my ES’s way of doing it because it focuses on trying to get the students to remember key words and phrases, and we spend adequate time on the material so it works. JHS is an absolute nightmare.
They blow through the material too fast so the kids don’t get a chance to retain anything. Instead they expect the students to study all the stuff we weren’t able to in class for extra HW if we run out of time. They have the kids blindly repeat stuff, even if they don’t know what they’re saying. It’s all test, after test, after test. Even worse is they will mark off points if it’s not “written perfectly” even though the word is spelled correctly and is legible; or they will mark them wrong just because the kid didn’t write the answer word for word on the answer sheet.
I hate seeing these kids who were happily, bubbly, actually eager to participate in class when they were 6 year ES student become completely dejected as 1 year JHS students after one semester of JHS.
Yeah, we’ve all been there welcome to Japan. I will say that it’s not like this at all schools. It depends on the teachers and the area but this is sadly too common.
I worked through that stage and got a license. Plenty of freedom and better pay, though not amazing.
> And either use me as a human voice box or just a warm body in the class.
I’m sorry to say it, but that’s the job of an ALT. Actually, even as a main teacher you won’t do much teaching in the vast majority of institutions in Japan. The system here is very different and learning a subject isn’t part of the plan, though sleeping in class apparently is.
A lot of people in the replies are dumping on you because you’re an ALT, and it’s not fair. Reddit Japan loves to bash ALTs and apparently even this subreddit’s rule expecting us to act like professionals doesn’t apply to people who think the can get a sick burn in on an ALT.
If you’ve taught before, it *IS* an unfulfilling job. What you’re going through happens a lot to people who actually know what they’re doing. And it’s awful that so many people are okay with the fact that qualified teachers keep consistently having this reaction to the Japanese education system.
When it comes to EFL, this isn’t “culture” or “values” or any other subjective waffle. This is Japan consistently failing to keep up with international best practices informed by objective, peer-reviewed research.
>They’re not being taught English.
They really aren’t. They’re getting taught Eigo, which is really a logic puzzle invented by Japanese people for the purpose of impressing other Japanese people and it only bears the most superficial of similarities to English.
I mostly got past this problem by getting my qualifications and getting into a job where I solo teach. That helps a lot, but every couple years some ambitious Japanese person who can’t speak English for toffee decides they should be in control of my classes because of their messed up ideas about their proper place in the order of things in comparison to non-Japanese teachers, and then I have to fight to defend my territory from people unqualified to claim it, but who will get away with trying because they’re Japanese and I’m not.
And I’m afraid I can’t provide any evidence it ever gets better.
>I’m honestly really unfulfilled as an alt and struggle to at how anyone could like this job.
Do not seek fulfillment. Seek money. It’s probably the easiest money you’ll ever make, and JETs get above-average pay.
When you get home, seek fulfillment. Work on a portfolio, network, write a book. Work is work, not your life.
Japanese high school student here that has lived in America The Japanese school system in terms of English is fucked the higher ups fundamentally don’t understand how to teach languages that are more focused on sound,
Japanese is a more written based language due to kanji and the kanji individually have meanings to them and when combined form words but English doesn’t have that plus “あ”is only pronounced as “a” English is more complicated in that regard because the same letter can be pronounced in multiple ways
Anyway what I’m trying to point out is that you can’t just teach English like you do Japanese (they don’t even teach phonics the most important step in learning English imo) Sadly Japan’s English education system is dog shit and there’s nothing you can change about it (honestly feel miserable to be part of this system as a student)
Ah, classic mistake. You were teaching English in Taiwan first… and then you came to Japan.
One of the most common pieces of advice around here is, if you REALLY want to teach English- as in, ACTUALLY teach- DON’T come to Japan.
I came over as an ALT myself, and quickly learned that in a school of about 500 kids… MAYBE 5 will actually care about English. To everyone else, it’s just another subject. On top of that, because the next step of JHS is mandatory… the kids don’t even care what their grades are in English, unless they’re one of those kids that actually likes English.
So how do I survive? You probably won’t like my answer, but it’s the truth: I will take Japan any day over my home country of America. Besides the fact that I’m actively learning Japanese to give myself that .01% chance of maaaaaaaybe getting something better down the line… the fact that healthcare is super-cheap, transportation is amazingly convenient, and overall you’re much safer here than is the US… well, that’s how I survive. And quite frankly, I enjoy myself too.
Yep, been there, done that. I used to work as an ALT and was bored out of my mind. Then I got a Master’s, and now I solo teach at a university. The pay and freedom is much better compared to ALT work, though admittedly many students at university can be lazy. There are still good jobs jobs in Japan, but you need qualifications and often good Japanese
Each class only saw me once per term so I basically could prep everything for the year within the first few weeks.
The rest of my office time I used to study Japanese and also drop in on PE and music classes, it’s fun to use English with them when they are not all sat down. I found out which kids liked which music/sports celebrities and could work it into lessons. Later on, many hours spent hanging out in the school nurse office to do language exchange and sip tea 😊
I probably could have done a master’s degree remotely if I knew how much free time there’d be on the job.
Fun but can’t imagine doing it for more than a couple of years.
Just going through the motions like everything else in Japanese culture. So long as things look like they are happening, that is all that is required.
This has been a common complaint since the JET program began back in the mid 1980s, and it will remain a common complaint as long as the program exists. The reason is varied, but it is primarily because the real purpose of the program and the stated purpose are completely different. I can imagine how frustrating it may be, but use the time to develop connections and networks, learn some Japanese, and take the initiative to make better use of your time and take advantage. (For me, I made sure my host organization, assigned schools, and teachers were aware of my experience. I had the opportunity to work at teacher training centers, special education centers, and schools for students with disabilities, as well as the typical high schools. I had a wonderful experience…although I agree, the system—both JET and the school system—is a better example of how not to teach a language, but that is for a later discussion.)
Moving from an international school to JET is just a silly career choice. You could’ve shot for a lower tier IS in Japan. Really not worth it career wise.
To lead you in the right direction there are actual International School positions being listed on Teacher Horizons and Schrole right now.
From my understanding, you teach JET to experience JP and be an ambassador of your country.
Your job is simply to do the best you can in your position to improve things for the benefit of the students.
What you were doing before is only more of a reason you should feel pushed to find ways to improve things.
Realistically if you only applied to JET to get a visa with the aim to then move on you are part of the problem and are contributing to the overall low performance of the system you are quick to put down.
You’re a JET? Jesus wait till you try eikaiwa…
I have had classes like this, especially JHS but almost every elementary of high school class I taught I was put as T1 or basically t1. Normally paired with a old Japanese teacher one the verge of retirement who would just rubber stamp everything or given half the classes to basically run communicatively as I saw fit. Horrible from a standards, but made my life better. When I did finally do the licensed Japanese teacher thing for a year there was no difference in teaching just more extra duties. Though I guess this is far from the norm because my current job is trying to hire people who can teach T1 communicatively and is having a really hard time finding people.
You are on JET, so realistically near the top of the food chain for public school jobs here. Bear in mind that the Japanese name of the JET program has nothing to do with teaching- it is referred to as a ‘youth exchange program ‘.
So, make good use of your time, upgrade your skills, and try not to take your position or yourself too seriously.
Remember, in Japan, English in public schools is taught:
By Japanese;
To Japanese ;
In Japanese ;
With Japanese textbooks ;
To get Japanese students to pass a Japanese test.
You’re so right, but people have been saying this for years and years.
I found the teacher in each school that would let you straight up run the class. What did I care if they were reading a book?
Then I got enough recognition locally to get hired by a private school, and now I teach my classes solo.
JET you say?
Well, I love finishing work around 3:00 pm.
I already gave up about the whole education thing, it’s their problem and I’m nobody.
Also with my side gig I can make way more than any regular teacher/manager in the industry and still have free time to spend with my daughter.
But what I still can’t stand is my managers and their ‘training sessions’ using examples, mannerisms and certain language as if our job is more important than quantic physics 🙄
In Japan, even their Japanese English teachers are terrible at speaking English. Witnessed this numerous times!