Job Discussion Forums

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

We are only needed in the sense of being a guide. It is somewhat true that Deconstruct's opining about teachers teaching for too long could be true, except many students in Japan are nowhere near fluency, sometimes not even at a communicative level (except with foreigners living in Japan who understand Katakana English). So in that sense we are needed. Hey think of it as long term language training. Anyone can exercise, but some people still use personal trainers Wink

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guangho · Joined: 16 Oct 2004 Posts: 476 Location: in transit

Another problem is what we teach- much of it is so anachronistic it's downright laughable. I have a ten week course on research and writing which one kid summed up on day one:

"http://www.google.com"

No that's not ALL there is to it but it's a considerable chunk- why bother with the library when everything is available online? The old exercises about finding material in the library and verifying it just don't cut it anymore. I sometimes feel like I'm teaching them how to write with a feather and a bottle of ink.