Job Discussion Forums

[yangyoseop]

Hello all,

I recently was offered a position at a private school in Japan and will be moving there in a few months. To those of you who have been teachers in Japan or currently are, I was wondering, how much Japanese language did you know before you went over? To those of you with little knowledge, do you feel it was/has been a problem?

I have teaching experience abroad, but it was in Korea, and Korean is my L1. Please lemme know. Thanks a bunch!

[Glenski]

private school = eikaiwa or private JHS/HS?

Most people know scant little. You're not allowed to use it in most settings anyway. Get cracking for survival J anyway.

I came with a year of night classes under my belt, FWIW.

[Ryu Hayabusa]

I made sure I knew Hiragana and Katakana before I came to Japan. My listening skills were better than most people fresh off the boat because I had watched every episode of Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) and the Japanese coupled with subtitles was a surprisingly good learning tool. I knew basic stuff like how to order, how to ask for directions, etc. I also knew some basic grammar.

I started work at ECC. In most eikaiwas, a person mustn't/shouldn't use any Japanese with students. I think you'll be okay if you don't know any Japanese at first.

I should say that, with Korean as your L1, you should be able to learn Japanese and progress really quickly. The grammar is similar sometimes and words that are from Chinese can be similar in Korean and Japanese. Sound changes are pretty uniform, too. For example, "ae" sounds in Korean tend to become "ai" sounds in Japan. Dae (大)　and dai　(大) for example. "so" becomes "sho" in Japanese. For example, the word address is "juso" in Korean and "jusho" (住所)in Japan. "Soju" vs "shochu"焼酎. "shi" becomes "ji": time in Korean is shigan. In Japanese it's jikan(時間). There are many more that I'm just too lazy to type out!

I think you'll have an easy time learning Japanese!

Good luck!

*post not checked for spelling and grammar*

[Apsara]

I had 5 years of high school Japanese study and 2 years of university when I arrived in Japan, but my Japanese was a lot like Japanese people's English- I knew loads of vocab and grammar, but could hardly hold a basic conversation. That improved after I spent 3 months working in a restaurant, but when I started teaching English I found I didn't need Japanese at work, and progress stalled for a while.

Obviously the more Japanese you can speak/read, the easier your daily life is going to be, but most people arrive here with almost no Japanese and seem to get on fine. Some people put in some effort and learn quickly, others cruise along for years with only a few phrases.

Whether you will need much Japanese at work depends on what you mean by private school- if it means eikaiwa, then not much, but if you mean a private high school or similar then you are likely to find yourself in situations where understanding Japanese would make things a lot easier.

[yangyoseop]

OK thanks guys. I passed the JLPT lvl 2 test last year, but I still feel unprepared. I'm a huge advocate of L1 use in the L2 classroom, so I'd like to use it as a medium of instruction, but I really doubt my ability to do so properly.

And Glenski, it's a private high school for girls.

[Apsara]

With JLPT level 2 you should be fine. I have been teaching yoga in Tokyo in Japanese for years with Japanese around that level, and also work in offices where no English is spoken. I don't often run into situations where I don't understand something at all.

[wayne432]

The problem with JLPT being used as a basis for language level is that it can't always be used as a measure of applicable skill in speaking.

Learning reading/vocab/writing, etc can be much easier for Chinese and Korean natives, but I've met quite a few that couldn't speak anything in the intermediate range without making many mistakes. I guess it's sorta like the Japanese studying for various English tests... mass grammar and vocab study, but almost no practice or confidence in speaking.
That's just in some cases...

Anyhow, if you've been hired as an ALT at a high school, then you'll be expected to not speak Japanese in school, even if you know it. In the teacher's room, it would be fine if you knew some, but many would want to try to talk to you in English if they could.

If your speaking is up to par with your reading/grammar, than you should be fine anywhere in Japan.

[Lyrajean]

You should be fine with JLPT 2 assuming you are not like your future students and can only pass a written test, yet barely function speaking.

My recommendation for a newcommer would be 2 years college level Japanese and the ability to read hiragana and katakana fluently. That's what I came with and I would not have felt comfortable with less (and I'm in an area where you can really get by with little or no Japanese -Okinawa).

At that level you can build on what you have and get more fluent largely on your own. Kanji is just a memorization game, and your listening and speaking skill will improve with time spent interacting with locals.

[Glenski]

Any foreign teacher in a HS will benefit greatly from JLPT2. The thing is, how much of that are you going to be allowed to use in the classroom? Find out.

Taking attendance is important, and letting a few key words slip may be all right. Find out.

Reprimanding students cannot usually be done well in English, so see how much is needed/allowed.

If your school is like mine was, there will be exams 5 times a year, and you will have to help proctor them. The rules are written and explained in Japanese, and students may want to use it when they have questions or want to leave the room.

And, then there will be the mandatory club participation. If for no other reason than safety (yes, heart attacks happen even to school kids, and you'll be better off with some J to help out), see what the policy is.

With JLPT2, you are going to be leagues ahead of most other foreign teachers.