Job Discussion Forums

[OnTime]

I don't want to sound like a disillusioned radical here, but is there actually any point in discussing the quality of language education in Japan? I'll assume the answer is a tepid 'yes' and write a few more lines.
It would appear that most teachers come here for the money, the women or the escapism (i.e. the money and the women), the old rich and homosexuals exempted. So, is it simply that the teachers are apathetic to this issue because they have hedonistic motives?
It's impossible to avoid these generalisations because I have no intention of writing a book on the matter.
But if you don't fall into these categories why did you come here? Specifically, who came here because they felt the private Japanese language system is the best in the world? Excuse me while I **** myself laughing...OK, that done I have an open mind on this issue again.

I guess if I had two central observations to make about the problem of working at private language-businesses in Japan it would be these: 1) owners (particularly) and managers have attained positions they wouldn't get within a lightyear of in their native countries. Reinventing themselves with a job title in a foreign country doesn't render them any more suitable for that position than they would be in their own country - and it really shows sometimes. 2) it seems simple to look for a small suite and nail a sign on it and in doing so it becomes a langauge school with a self proclaimed 'good reputation in the community'. It seems that market forces don't work well in these cases and many of these shabby, unethical little places avoid death because they are remarkably cheap and the overheads are so low.

What's good about yours?

[JimDunlop2]

[OnTime]

Hi Jim, without getting into the nuances of precisely what I meant you seem to have picked up on the general theme quite well. But, it wasn't really a question about why the Japanese students aren't interested in English. That's one of those intractable systemic questions, flogged to within an inch of its useful life too.

I wrote that post because I am at a loss to understand what these cheap and nasty little businesses bring to the table in terms of helping the students that do express an interest in English.

So, I was asking 'What's good about yours?' because I am interested in what benefit there is in their existence. My current theory is that they are nothing more than small social units which seem to attract a high proportion of women in their 20s and 30s who have nothing better to do.

If there is some hidden dimension to these shabby little places then do enlighten me, or are they just a waste of everybody's time?

[Glenski]

Private language schools (eikaiwas). The word "school" itself conjures up a successful education of sorts, but in Japan, eikaiwa doesn't usually equate itself to that. Eikaiwas are companies that offer classes in conversation. That's about it. It's not high level high quality schooling by any means. Each school has its own gimmick, whether to let teachers create lesson plans on their own, or to provide a teaching format of sorts, sometimes with the eikaiwa's own books.

Some grammar is reviewed, but for the most part, instructors just try to get adult students to use the English they should have learned in high school, and to get younger students used to it so they feel comfortable using it.

If you had any other concept of such education (oops, there's that word again), how did you get it?

As for a couple of your points,

[Glenski]

Looks like we posted at almost the same time OnTime. One final note...

[moot point]

[saloc]

There are quite a few good eikaiwa schools, where the quality of teaching is high. Unfortunately, however, they are certainly not the majority. The high profile eikaiwas, in my opinion, usually offer very little in terms of real quality teaching.

I have my own small school and I like to think, and hope, that the lessons are of a high quality. On the ETJ owners list you will see that there are a lot of highly dedicated people offering quality lessons in the eikaiwa field. These are usually small schools where the owner does a fair share or all of the teaching. These owners depend on giving high quality lessons in order to make a living. They realise that qualityis paramount. Sure, I could accept every student who applies to join my school and throw them into any class with a space and make a bit more money in the short term. In the long term, however, having classes according to ability and saying "no" when you have to is far more beneficial for everyone. We have a very low student turnover and I think that this is because we focus on quality and not just bums on seats. Word spreads and the classes fill in time anyway.

So what makes these schools better? Well, obviously every school is different, but I would say that the one thing most such schools have in common is that they DON'T just focus on conversation (despite calling themselves eikaiwa schools). They focus on all four skills and many have a heavy emphasis on phonics and reading. The majority of students in (small) eikaiwa schools nowadays are kids, and the ones in the good schools are benefitting. As I said, however, these schools are still the minority and there are still too many that think a spinning bow-tie and a comedy voice is good enough for a kids' class! Yes, it is important to engage the students and games etc can be extremely beneficial but only if they are carefully thought out games with useful (often hidden) targets.
So basically, yes there are places which offer high quality lessons in Japan, but there definitely aren't enough of them.

Concerning the age thing, I would say 20-30% of my students are adults, and of them about 90% are women over thirty. Interestingly, though, nearly all of them have full-time jobs and none are the "bored housewife" type you often hear about!

[OnTime]

Hi Saloc

Nice to hear that you have some fantastic edu-principles at your conversation enterprise. I was also really pleased that you didn't come out fighting about this or sounding defensive and closed minded to the issues.

I think that teaching is about working to improving the performance of the student, and not so much about putting talcum powder on their buttocks. I mean this metaphorically of course, but if any conversation businesses actually do sprinkle talcum powder on the buttocks of their adult students please don't hesitate to contact me!

Learning takes place by raising the bar a little beyond the current level of the student and then 'scaffolding' them towards that new level of skill.
It is a profound flaw with the quality of the mass-private educational market that this fundamental idea is unacceptable to the majority of private students.
I'm not pointing fingers here - maybe its the students, the general culture, the high school system, the philosophy of the 'school', the quality of the teachers...etc. More likely its a combination of all these factors and more. Whatever it is, until the idea of challenging and adventurous learning gathers mass appeal we are just humouring the concept of teaching with token gestures.

[tokyo story]

Maybe I haven't been here for long enough, but I find it hard to be cynical. Many of my students speak very good English and the beginners are improving faster than I ever imagined.

I teach at a private language school and I know that the system isn't perfect, but then again, running a private language school is something I wouldn't wish on myself.

But to answer your question, I didn't come here to teach. I came here to live and work in Japan, make friends and see my girlfriend again... I teach because it's the only thing I can do in Japan... I do, however, feel a sense of responsiblity towards my students, and I try my best with whatever type of lesson I'm teaching, instinctively or otherwise. I just don't want a career in ESL.

If I had one observation to make it's that textbooks are useless. I don't know who writes these things, but they're completely useless. So many times I've apologised to students for not using the text book enough and they've said, "No, no, I had a really good time." Even the students realise the textbooks are useless. If you only get one opportunity a week to use English, you should SPEAK, no matter what level you're at -- textbooks are something you can study with from home... It doesn't matter if a student makes grammatical errors so long as they're expressing themselves and learning new vocabulary... That's the whole reason Japanese English students get frustrated, even at University all they do is use textbooks. Textbooks with grammatical forms we never use and language that is completely unnatural to native speakers... and they're written by people who are supposed to have an understanding of what quality English teaching is all about.

[Mark]

Yes, private language education in Japan stinks.

It exists because people are willing to pay good money for a bad product.

Why are they willing to do that?

I'm not sure. I can guess, but it's tough to say for sure. It seems to me that people simply don't realize they're getting a bad product. They assume that the eikaiwa schools know what they're doing.

[Glenski]

[Like a Rolling Stone]

[Mark]

[nomadder]

RE: Glenski's first job

What a great deal! How far it's fallen since then. Nowadays it's ok if you're young and really want to experience Japan for a year or 2 and don't mind corporoboschools. You end up paying a lot for it though with overall lower salaries. For those who have been there a while there are still a few crumbs to be had perhaps.

[24601]

I don't consider my job with an eikeiwa to be a "teacher." I consider my job to help students speak correctly as possible and model for them how to speak.

I don't think one hour a week is v. adequate to pick up a language, tho some are quicker picker uppers (er, apologies to Bounty) than others.

I consider it a business, and people pay for that business, and I don't see it as something *sad* or that something is wrong with that. I think it's their choice and if they wish to spend their money some other way, they will. I don't think it's anymore "sad" that money is spent on this than money spent on all the other "crap" people buy. It's simply a choice.

I do think it would be nice if some of the eikeiwas started offering say, two week daily sessions of an entire afternoon or morning as part of their program, just because it's easier to do it (pick up a language) that way, IME anyway.

Why does no one go on and on about the abysmal second language learning rates in English speaking countries? I don't see where day in day out lectures, like in high school or university, are doing much good there either.

I also believe *people who are serious about learning English will do so.* Even if through an eikeiwa. Half of it is mental. At least.