Job Discussion Forums

[heathergray]

Hi TEFLers. I've read that many JET interviews include a question on how one would "present/represent American culture" to the Japanese people they come into contact with.

What are your ideas on answering this question in an effective way? To me it's quite confusing. American culture and society are tremendously diverse (to use a very tired word in American discourse) and it's hard to "present America" as I come from a very small slice of it ...

Any ideas? What is JET looking for in this question?

[canuck]

[dove]

Have a clear answer with a lot of specific examples. Tell them you would like to teach about holidays that are celebrated in the USA. For example, Thanksgiving. You could tell them you would teach about the food, the history, the symbols....be specific!

You might also mention your ethnic background and any specific traditions that your family follows.

Years ago I was on JET and I was asked a similar question. I mentioned that in my elementary school, we had guest "teachers" from various countries who introduced their culture. We had a Japanese woman who taught us origami and how to write our names in katakana. The Japanese members of the panel were very interested in that.

You might mention that you have heard that Japan has Brazilian, Chinese, Filipino, and Korean communities....knowledege and appreciation of diversity can benefit Japan.

Hope this helps!
Dove

[Mothy]

Yeah, I have a JET interview Thursday (so nervous ) and I've been thinking of that question a lot, since from looking at what everyone says about the JET interview it seems to be the only question I can be sure they'll ask me... or at least something similar to it. I think the holidays are certainly the easy answer. Especially Halloween and Thanksgiving would be good to talk about I think. But I think the idea about talking about America's diversity would be good too. Although we might have lots of social problems related to our diversity it also largely defines us too. I would also like to bring up our history and how that shows who we are culturally too, but I tend to ramble even more than usual when talking about history. If I was teaching a lesson on American diversity I would probably use food as a tool to illustrate it. In a typical week I eat food inspired by the cuisines of Mexico, China, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and probably a bunch more that I don't even realize come from somewhere else.
Anyway, to sum up, if asked that question on Thursday I'll probably talk about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and our diversity as represented by our food. Unless I choke, draw a blank, and say "umm... Our culture is like... umm... Kinda cool?"

[king kakipi]

'Mickey Mouse'; ..............................they'll love ya mate.

[womblingfree]

[sethness]

Hmmm.... you could present some simple cultural differences that don't necessarily put your own culture (or Japan's) in a positive light, just so neither culture seems best.

I've done similar presentations at HS, Jr. high, and elementary schools. Some things of particular interest are:

pro-Japan:
a) Japanese toilets versus American.
American toilets don't have:
heated toilet seats in Winter.
faucets for rinsing your hands with toilet-tank water-- good re-use of water, and you don't end up with pee in your sink.
American toilets are generally in the SAME room as the place you brush your teeth, bathe and shower-- and Americans don't consider that they're walking through this room both barefoot and with outdoor shoes on. Ycccch !

b) the whole outside-shoes/inside-shoes thing

c) Americans bathe IN the bathtub, and we don't reuse the water for the next bather. neither do we like strippin' down butt-nekked in an onsen. Group soup = nasssstyyyyyy !

Pro-American:
d) far better heating in winter, like baseboard heating, under-floor heating, central heating, and so on...whereas many, many Japanese homes use half-meaasures like kotatsu (heat the legs, freeze the thorax) and kerosene stoves (heat your front, freeze your backside).

e) slurping is universally frowned upon, whereas older Japanese men slurp noodles and hot tea so loudly it'll turn your stomach. (You can use a scene from "Mr. Baseball" with Tom Selleck as evidence.)

f) School uniforms and "juku" (cram schools) and homework assignments during Summer and Winter breaks are not commonplace in America. Japanese schoolkids have it VERY rough compared to American kids.

g) School dances like Homecoming and Senior Prom-- American schools have'em, japanese schools don't usually.