Job Discussion Forums

[sukatrash]

Hiya,

What's the situation like in Japan when it comes to accents? I've seen a lot of ads for jobs in Japan stating that they prefer American or Canadian teachers. At the very same time I have heard lots of horror stories about teachers getting fired in S.Korea after refusing to put on a pseudo-American accent. Is Japan that strict as well, or can I expect a bit more understanding? Also, just as a bit of an extra question, should I sound more "American" during my interviews (thinking especially of GEOS here)?

Cheers

[Willy_In_Japan]

GEOS has no American English bias. In fact, much of their Sprint 7 book is on British English, and is voiced by Brit teachers.

I would be more concerned about speaking clearly and slowly.

[PAULH]

Trash,

I am a New Zealander (from Auckland and have lived here nearly 20 years. (17 to be exact) Never had a problem over my Kiwi accent.Lots of Aussies working in the big language schools. Students understand New Zealand english and Kiwis get jobs here.

As the other posters say, sometimes your thick rural Kiwi twang may get in the way which students wont be used to, so you just have to slow down your speech a bit and speak clearly. (talk like you are talking to your deaf grandmother)

[AgentMulderUK]

Don't worry about it.
I have a British accent (there's a surprise, give my username) and teach at a school that supposedly teaches American style English. But actually most people here aren't that aware of the differences anyway. The books use words like 'sidewalk' and 'faucet', which is a little stange for me, but there you go. I just explain that in other countries a 'faucet' is known as a 'tap', which helps them learn.

If a student asks you why you said something a certain way, just say it's the way it's said in your country. After all, your country is a native-English speaking country as much as the next one, so there's no right or wrong.
And, if you can, explain how an American or whatever would say it, better still - most adult students seem to really enjoy learning about the differences.

If a job at a small private school specifies North American English or British English, then obviously it's not worth chasing too hard. But, from what I've seen, this is only a small proportion of jobs.

Hope this helps.

[Celeste]

I would second the speak clearly post. The biggest difference in pronunciation is going to be the vowel sounds. It is especially important that you articulate your consonant sounds clearly so that your students can follow what you are saying.

[JimDunlop2]

From all my personal experiences thus far, I have met precious few Japanese people who could recognize or even place an accent to save their lives!

I'm from Canada, speak like a Canadian (which sounds a lot like many parts of the U.S.) but I've had students (adults and kids) of many different levels of English try to guess where I was from. They've guessed every single English-speaking country you can imagine, including NZ, UK.... Just for fun, I usually ask them whether anybody thinks I'm from South Africa.... They just laugh at me! (I think they expect someone from that continent to not be Caucasian)...

Yeah, some companies specify where they want their teachers to be from.. But usually the reasons behind that are not so much the accent as they are other things... E.g. driver's permits, WHVs, students' exposure to a specific person... Perhaps the previous teacher was from XYZ country and they want to maintain a status quo.... etc.. etc...