Job Discussion Forums

[Dr.J]

I call them English Leeches; "vulture" implies you are already dead...or does that just mean they hover after the class is over? Funny, my favorite people are either very good at English, or hate it completely. Just people who treat you like normal person.

[TokyoLiz]

There are certain categories of eikaiwa people, I've found.

The kind I like - earnest, friendly and open-minded people.

The kind I worry about - people who are desperate to connect to their children who live with spouses of a different nationality. They're earnest too, but often disillusioned with learning English. They get frustrated because they feel they aren't progressing enough, or forsake grammar for conversation because they believe that's how they can learn.

My least favorite kind of student - the English Tourist. People who just come to a community Eikaiwa to gawk at the foreigner and socialize with the other students, or think that it's stylish to learn English. They usually have nothing to say in class when called upon by the teacher. I find these people insult my intelligence.

The good part - in my Saturday morning eikaiwa, the number of earnest people seems to outweigh the English Tourist types.

[fat_chris]

Dr.J,

Well, I'm only familiar with Chinese English Vultures and they are indeed vultures, albeit weak ones.

Case in point:

On the streets of any mid-sized to large Chinese city, a laowai (gaijin) can spot the English Vultures a mile away. Usually they spot you coming but they try not to make their interest in chatting obvious...at first. They pace back and forth in a 4 foot by 4 foot area, pacing back and forth, back and forth, until you pass them. As you pass them, they start to follow you [here the weak swooping]. If you stop to talk, then you are dead. I find it humorous to continue walking, ignoring their pathetic pleas: "excuse me, excuse me, excuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me. I want to make friends with you." If you ignore them, you may find the agony in their voices pretty amusing...or annoying.

[Dr.J]

ha ha

OK they are like vultures...I get the swooping thing - had this girl circling me in a bookstore once, I felt like one of those zebra being hunted by a lion on a wildlife program. "Excuse me, I like English." "Yeah lady well I like police and restraining orders." "I like to practice English." "Argh!"

[fat_chris]

[shmooj]

One a flock (or is it a murder) of junior highschoolers cornered me on a subway train in Japan. I responded in Japanese that I didn't speak English as I was from Germany. Kept this up until my stop. I got to practice my Japanese and they didn't know a word of German between them. Neither did I but I didn't let on.

These vultures are after a particular type of carrion - they won't touch other meat.

[ntropy]

I always told people I was Slovakian. In Japanese. Worked like a charm.

[fat_chris]

Or Icelandic.

Chinese saying "you have a big nose."

And I respond, "in Iceland, our beautiful women like big noses. They would never like your nose."

This is the reaction I get:

And this is my reaction:

[cafebleu]

Pardon my sounding cynical - I don`t think of myself as a cynical person, just somebody who is highly analytical - but I think this English leech thing boils down to that sense of entitlement that I mentioned any number of Japanese people having.

The entitlement mentality means that internationalisation equals getting access to benefits from foreigners. I don`t know why but I suffered from the `I expect a homestay from you` syndrome in previous jobs. Note that these people had done absolutely, absolutely nothing, a big fat zero, in helping me adjust to life in Japan or friendly gestures but homed in on an English foreigner who would get them hooked up with a homestay situation in the UK.

Forget about all the blah about giri - obligation - in Japanese society. For the usual Japanese there is absolutely no obligation to foreigners even if that foreigner is generous (as I once was) to them. Usually foreigners are entertainment, to be kept at arms` length in the usual course of affairs, but to be hemmed in when the Japanese person wants a favour or two or three. Not everybody but I think it is fair it is a characteristic of any number of Japanese when dealing with foreigners.

I have known foreigners who were asked for their telephone numbers and email addresses by teenagers, young men and women, and not so young men and women. All on the basis of a brief acquaintance in a train or shop or such place. I am not criticising genuine friendliness and cross cultural exchange - my gripe is with people who don`t know you but you are expected to hand over your personal details to them because they feel like getting something from you.

I find it interesting - the Japanese generally are so reserved, often cold with each other when they are strangers yet the stranger foreigner can be asked private questions when some Japanese feel like it. When those Japanese people start asking why foreigners who have lived for years in Japan are still systematically discriminated against in so many ways (and we westerners have got it good compared to the Koreans and Chinese), then I will take their intentions as being reasonable.

[Vince]

I too avoid English leeches, but they don't bother me that much these days. As sensitive as the Japanese are to non-verbal communication (and to the relatively large extent to which we broadcast our feelings), most people see that I'm not an approachable target.

About a year ago, a guy came up to me at the gym between sets to say hi. He'd lived in the US for a few years and spoke reasonably well. There were no sushi questions or any such nonsense, and he had something worthwhile to say and went back about his business once he said it. I had no problem with that.

A few weeks ago, a teacher at the college where I teach tried getting friendly with me. It was the typical "do you like Japan," "can you eat sushi" schtick, and it was obvious that he was cruising for English lessons. After having his greetings answered by a few luke-warm nods, he got the hint. He quickly targeted another teacher, and she too saw right away what he wanted. She chats with him for a few minutes at a time, but she handles it brilliantly. The other day he interrupted her in the middle of grading papers, and she answered, "You'd like to chat? Fine. But would you get me a cup of tea first?"
Him, after a moment a stunned silence: "Excuse me?"
Her: "Tea. You know, paper cup, tea."
Him, after more silence: "Uh, OK."
He held a congenial face, but I could see by the way he turned and walked to the tea machine that he wasn't at all happy. He came back mostly recomposed with the tea in his hand, and they started to chat. She'd talk for a minute in English, then switch to Japanese. I could see in his face that he learned something about give-and-take that day.