Job Discussion Forums

[blueboy]

Thinking about leaving my current job in Japan and taking up an ALT job come April. The only problem is that I don't have a driver's license valid in Japan, and I know that's going to limit my option.

So what is life like as an ALT? Is it a little too much like being a genki-puppet (that's one of the faults I find with my current job). I know it can be harder to save money, but so far I've been spending all of my time in a pallookaville town in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and I would like to see more of Japan.

[TK4Lakers]

What's life like as an ALT? Hmm, that is a very vague and tough question to answer. But I'll give you my quick two cents, although in return may be a bit vague and general.

As for life as an ALT, I have been here since April. Overall, the experience has been good. I work hard, get along with most teachers, and I try to interact with the students and get to know them more. I teach at one JHS in the mornings, and travel to 3 different ES in the afternoon depending on what day it is.

In the JHS, I help out with many different things. I helped out with the speech contest in the beginning of the year. I now teach an English morning class 2x a week for 15 min. Kind of a pain in the ass, but I do it anyway. Each grade level and class is different, but I try to enjoy them as much as I can. I team-teach with the JTE (Japanese Teacher of English), and sometimes I find myself teaching parts of a lesson myself.

Sometimes it can be dry and boring. I only do flashcard drilling or reading practice. But its fun when we play games or do activities, or I share my own experiences from America.

I also participate in club sports when classes are up. This has been maybe the most rewarding...not only getting a good workout in, but interacting with the students outside of class and messing around with them.

The ES is tiring, but can be fun. Most of the time, I am the only one teaching since the HRT (homeroom teacher) has no English ability, and lessons are quick and fast-paced. Usually they start with a warm up or song, then drilling that day's vocabulary, then a game. The kids can be noisy and too talkative at times, but they are definitely cute, which makes the job more worthwhile.

Some classes can be rude and unattentive. Some classes have smart, bright, diligent students. Some of the students will love you, and some will be lukewarm. The teacher's you team teach with will be vital as well. If their experienced and "good," it'll make everyone's job more fun and enjoyable. But some teachers may be new, and some may not be accustomed to working with ALT's. Everyone's experience will be different. Hope this helped a little, if you want, PM me if you have any further questions. Ja ne.

[prof]

alt = TEMP

Simple.

[Sweetsee]

American Language Tape-recorder.

[Atlas*]

being an ALT is ok, it varies upon your school and schedule. i work at 2 main schools and occasionally a few others. both of my schools are incredibly different even if only 2 stations away from each other. one school i go to each individual class to teach, and the other i have my own english room, which by the way is a great environment for learning, and i think makes it more fun - like the kids are going to a special class rather than just another boring lesson.
i try to make the most of each day, and you do have good ones and bad. sometimes it feels like the bad outweigh the good, and then you have a run of great days and can't wait for the next one. ALT work is not too difficult, but the energy of it can be tiring by the end of the day. i assume this is similar in eikaiwa work too. as an alt you are also expected to interact with the students and teachers when you don't have scheduled lessons. although sometimes sitting on a computer on daves forum helps pass some time and makes me look busy.
i work at elementary schools and the children are great. they seem excited to see me evertime in the halls, or in the yard. the teachers are friendly too, although with my limited japanese and their limited english we tend to not interact as much as we would both like i am sure.
basically if you give it your all then you will enjoy it, if you do it half-arsed then it will show in your lessons and your teachers may not let you know anything is wrong until one day your training dept comes to your school, views your lessons and has a discussion with you - happened to my friend, and she was so worried, but is doing great now.
try alt work and see if you like it - the schedule is great for doing things in evenings and weekends, for me the good outweigh the bad for now, and i hope it continues this way, but you can always change companies, schools, BOEs, types of teaching, countries, careers, etc.

[cornishmuppet]

some people love it, others hate it. I have friends who like the eikawa format - students turn up for an hour, sit there, go home. Finished. As an ALT your classes are only part of your job. You're basically there to interact with them in and out of class, but you get plenty of down time during free periods.

For me personally, I love it. Could never go back to eikawa. I start at 8, finish at 4, so feel like like I've made something of the day, and have my evenings free. I don't go out on the pi ss until 3am during the week very often, but then I don't waste the whole day asleep either.

The workload of 3/4 (sometimes less) classes a day suits me great. Not too much intensity, you don't have to sit there staring at the students the whole time, draining you mentally. You get them doing a game or something and then you switch off or 'conduct' while they do it. And when they enjoy themselves it really makes you feel good. At my old eikawa school many of my students were spoiled brats. You could never play enough games. Now, you play a game the eikawa brats would have spat on, and you see your kids light up. Makes you feel great. Of course you get bad classes, and bad kids, as well as bad or unfriendly teachers (I've been lucky so far) but you just have to hope you don't. I've been to three schools now, and had no particular problems.

I finish at 4, and that's it, over. No annoying boss on the phone at midnight or 8am (when I start at 3pm) wanting to know something or tell me something irrelevant that inadvertantly helps to line his/her pockets. I go home and enjoy the rest of my day.

Some people don't like talking to kids outside classes, but its easy. You basically just hang out, act like a goon, amuse them. For example I spent 2 hours the other week making apple puffs with the special needs kids, on a day I had no classes because of tests. It was great fun, and hardly what I call work.

Its good for your Japanese too. Apart from the spare time I have to actually study during work hours, just being in the class while the teacher explains the grammar in Japanese helps a lot, as does talking to the kids in Japanese. I'm sure that some stiffs will complain about talking in anything other than English, but that's not what its about. You're a cultural ambassador. If a kid can speak/wants to speak in English, then fine, but I won't force them. If they want to talk in Japanese then all well and good. I give them all an equal chance to communicate with me in whatever form they prefer.

A lot of JETs seem to end up as human tape recorders. Its up to you to avoid that. I do it - that's part of the reason I'm there - but I make games and activities all the time (often some I don't use) and push them on the teachers. Some will say no, some have their routine that they stick to, but others will take anything you have because it makes their job easier and is fun for the kids. Its up to you to make the effort.

Some people like eikawa style. Good for them, its their choice. Personally I think being an ALT is great.

[luckyloser700]

Always nice to read your refreshingly honest posts, Cornish. I think my ALT experience was pretty much like the one you're having. You're in Nagano, right? I was up in the Tohoku area. Lots of genki, willing-to-try anything kids in the inaka, don't you think?
I had lots of days, just like you do, where I conversed with teachers and students, participated in student sports and other activities, and other not-so-much-like-real-work stuff. I loved it.
There were some bad classes, but no job's perfect. I'd say being an ALT is a great experience if you've got lots of energy and are very outgoing. You get to really understand what Japan's public schools are like and what the students' lives are like. You can see some of the major things that influence young Japanese people and why they become the types of adults you meet outside of school.

Definitely a worthwhile experience.

[luckbox]

[cornishmuppet]

Hey luckyl, cheers my son. Yeah, I know what you mean, you can have good and bad days. I have more good than bad, but I imagine in some nastier schools in Tokyo or Osaka you could have a pretty hard time.

Nagano City has 3 schools with a bit of a rep, but I'm waiting to see for myself. It seems to me that the same people always get the bad schools, just like in my apartment building of 12 appartments, the 'ghost' just happens to live in the one rented by my slightly crazy, new-age American neighbour. Apparently her toilet light turns on just before she wants to use it. She consulted her psychic friend in the States who said a woman had died in the kitchen, but she was friendly, blah de blah. Now apparently, my neighbour is practicing her Japanese with this 'ghost', though the woman only replies in her head. Personally, I would have checked the lightbulb was screwed in properly, and spoken to the landlord first. But there you go. I'll forgive her because she's damn good at the cello! Chills my evenings right out after a long day at work.

Anyways, being an ALT is the only job I've ever looked forward to going in to. The list isn't extensive, granted - ice-cream scoooper, barman, chav-shop worker, insurance claims administrator, bank worker, English teacher, Eikawa teacher (there's a difference!) - but its still nice to have a day where you don't utterly hate 8 hours of it.

The only thing I'm a little worried about is whether it'll work for anything if and when I decide to go home, but then a reference from Nagano BoE is probably going to look better than one from Nova or some other money factory (sorry, school). Money isn't everything anyway!

Rock on.

[Glenski]

luckbox wrote:

[luckbox]

[angiestar]

it looks like you're coming from taiwan, so i'm not sure what your options are, but i was able to get an international driver's license from AAA in the states. it's good for one year, which gives me a good amount of time to deal with getting a japanese license.

[Sweetsee]

Proud member of the digital-underclass LB.

[Big John Stud]

blueboy wrote:

Thinking about leaving my current job in Japan and taking up an ALT job come April. The only problem is that I don't have a driver's license valid in Japan, and I know that's going to limit my option. So what is life like as an ALT? Is it a little too much like being a genki-puppet (that's one of the faults I find with my current job). I know it can be harder to save money, but so far I've been spending all of my time in a pallookaville town in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and I would like to see more of Japan.

Life as an ALT is work and more work. I sometimes work from 7 in the morning until 9 at night, 21:00. I kid you not! However, I do know many ALTs who are not as dedicated. They tarnish the rep of all the good dedicated ALTs.

The demands are different. Elementary school is far more demanding. In fact an elementary school ALT is not an assistant. I do everything, and often teach alone.
I also teach at a junior and senior high school, there, I do less but sometimes get to plan the whole class.
There are periods when I have nothing to do. Absolutely nothing like on midterm and final test days. On those days, I usually leave around 4.
Hope this gives you an understanding of a life and times of a good ALT!

[TK4Lakers]