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Why Eikawa get a bad rap

 
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Symphany



Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:28 am    Post subject: Why Eikawa get a bad rap Reply with quote
Basically, I've noticed in the few months I've been here (I arrived earlier on this year) that my impression of the EFL industry in Japan has almost completely changed. Before I came here I would have been among the first on the bandwagon against private EFL schools, thinking they're all run by a bunch of greedy know-nothings.
Now, when I first got here, I spoke very little Japanese, I still don't speak much but feel more comfortable now. I work for a major company (I really don't want to say the name right now) and I have basically had some pretty nightmarish situations with people that I have been around who are in the same company. My impression now is that rather than the EFL industry being "rubbish" or whatever you want to call it, there is no structure to protect foreigners working in Japan.
Sure, there are probably labour laws as I understand it, but nobody is going to enforce them. Other than that, there are few places one can turn for services that can be easily found. Sure, some say "you're in Japan you should learn Japanese" -- I've done that, but keep in mind as well, I came here to teach English, not Japanese. The long and short of it is, there are plenty that will abuse whoever they can simply because they can get away with it -- there are not alot of options you can take as a foreigner. Sure, its Japan, not your native country you say? I say fine, if you don't want to have people permanently immigrating llike in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, and for the most part desire temporary, contract workers then there should be some kind of mechanism to protect those same workers you desire so badly. It shouldn't be a simple you're here so deal with it line as many like to say.
Thats just my two cents worth.

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furiousmilksheikali



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
I work for a major company (I really don't want to say the name right now) and I have basically had some pretty nightmarish situations with people that I have been around who are in the same company.


Specifically what are these nightmarish situations?


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My impression now is that rather than the EFL industry being "rubbish" or whatever you want to call it, there is no structure to protect foreigners working in Japan.


Never heard of the Union?
http://www.generalunion.org/

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Other than that, there are few places one can turn for services that can be easily found


What kind of services?

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Sure, its Japan, not your native country you say?


Who said this?

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It shouldn't be a simple you're here so deal with it line as many like to say.


If you want more than simplistic advice then perhaps you should give more than a simplistic complaint. You have provided nothing of substance here just a poorly written deluge of undirected whining. Try again please.
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Symphany



Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:03 am    Post subject: Eikawa Reply with quote
furiousmilksheikali I can see from your posting that you're one of those who posts so you can criticize others and feel better about yourself, I've seen your other postings as well, and they're nearly all critical rather than supportive, but that's your prerogative. You might want to stop to think that I have left some details out deliberately so I cannot be identified personally, this post is my point of view.
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furiousmilksheikali



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:15 am    Post subject: Re: Eikawa Reply with quote
Symphany wrote:
furiousmilksheikali I can see from your posting that you're one of those who posts so you can criticize others and feel better about yourself, I've seen your other postings as well, and they're nearly all critical rather than supportive, but that's your prerogative. You might want to stop to think that I have left some details out deliberately so I cannot be identified personally, this post is my point of view.


It's a little difficult to be supportive when you give no information about your nightmarish situations. Okay, you don't want to be identified but don't you want advice?

Alot of posters come on to say how much they hate EFL or the company they work for or Japan or the "system" and it becomes a little tiresome. You might want to stop to think about that.
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shuize



Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 12:51 pm    Post subject: Re: Why Eikawa get a bad rap Reply with quote
Symphany wrote:
I've noticed in the few months I've been here ...

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Sure, some say "you're in Japan you should learn Japanese" -- I've done that ...

Funny.
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... but keep in mind as well, I came here to teach English, not Japanese.

Yeah. That's the same excuse I hear from people who've lived here decades with crap Japanese.

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Thats just my two cents worth.

Here's mine: Another crybaby.
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Glenski



Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
My impression now is that rather than the EFL industry being "rubbish" or whatever you want to call it, there is no structure to protect foreigners working in Japan.

Does this mean you don't think the EFL industry is rubbish here? Or does it mean that you simply feel the lack of protection is more important to you? I'm confused.

Quote:
some say "you're in Japan you should learn Japanese" -- I've done that, but keep in mind as well, I came here to teach English, not Japanese.

How would you feel if a Japanese person went to your home country to teach Japanese and didn't learn much English?

Quote:
I say fine, if you don't want to have people permanently immigrating llike in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, and for the most part desire temporary, contract workers then there should be some kind of mechanism to protect those same workers you desire so badly. It shouldn't be a simple you're here so deal with it line as many like to say.

You've only been here a few months, so I won't hit hard. Things run deeper than you imagine. Try to understand the basic education system here in regards to learning English. Teens are taught a certain form of English only to pass college entrance exams, and when they are ready for college, they can hardly get past, "How are you doing?" JET has been around for almost 2 decades, and despite it being set up as an "internationalization" effort, the majority of ALTs are native English speakers, and practically everyone gets placed in an English oral communication program. Yet, how much has this improved English? Japanese study countless hours every week, yet they learn so little that is useful or practical. Compare this to what other countries do with English or any other foreign language. But, what is Japan really trying to do with foreigners and the English education system? Despite some changes in recent years, the progress is enormously slow if at all.

You also have to understand more of the culture. History textbooks exclude or distort various aspects of WWII. Prime Ministers go to an infamous war memorial/shrine despite public outrage here and abroad. Eleven years ago Japan signed an international declaration against racial discrimination, yet it has not enacted any laws to protect people against racial crimes or discrimination. The governor of the largest city gets away with making racial slurs on a regular basis. The government itself puts up a "snitch" web site for people to rat on foreigners that may have overstayed their visas. Even though the population is declining and the number of senior citizens is growing, the country refuses to import more foreigners for many jobs. EFL companies (eikaiwas and ALT dispatch agencies) are getting away with murder in their treatment of foreign teachers, with blatant disregard for the law in some cases.

Is a lot of this disharmonious? To some, yes. But many Japanese have a different sense of harmony that some of us westerners. As an example, I have often been upset when one person stands in a doorway in a train station, blocking the way for many others disembarking, yet nobody will tell that person to move. He/She is disrupting the harmony, I say. Japanese people have replied to me, No, to make a scene by talking to that person is disrupting the harmony.
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