Job Discussion Forums

[markle]

It is often inevitable that the people you work with have habits, teaching styles, mannerisms that get right up your nose. Now I'm sure there are things that irritate the bejesus out of people I work with but here are some that set my teeth on edge.

1. Using Japanese in class unecessarily. I mean people who have only the most basic grasp of the language and but still ask kids "blah blah blah nan deska?" when a simple "What is it?" will do. Saying 'shokudai'(sp?) after I've been teaching and using 'homework' for months. I'm open to the use of L1 in class but I see way too much of it used pointlessly. Don't even get me started on teachers with poor Japanese pronunciation....

2. Using unnatural or broken English when speaking to students. Not simplified or clear English but just outright wrong sentence structure - Where do you go yesterday? or bad pronunciation - passu me za booku.

Anyone got any others they wanto get off their chest.

BTW JTEs are offlimits, they have their own seat reserved in Hell.

[Yawarakaijin]

I guess it's not so much limited to co-workers but bad pronunciation is surely one of my pet peeves. Japanese is NOT a difficult language in regards to pronuciation. I let slide the words with RYO or the small TSU but that's about it.

I pretty much work alone so I don't really have any good co-worker pet peeves.

[J.]

Gargling and spitting in the sink in the kitchen after every class on the premise that it will prevent colds.

Office staff gossiping loudly when you are trying to do lesson plans. In fact teachers loudly talking in the office space when others are trying to work. I'm talking about people shouting at each other across a one-metre space.

Smoking in common spaces.

Not co-workers but the boss thinking he can get native teachers at a bargain rate because they need the visa. And the government making that a reality.

[furiousmilksheikali]

I have no idea where to begin but this co-worker, let's call him "W" does all the things markle has mentioned and more.

W uses Japanese to impress people despite the fact his Japanese is miserably low. He uses Japanese words that he knows and the rest of his speech is lightning fast colloquial Australian. He speaks in this bizarre way to students and teachers not realizing that his English is not comprehended by anyone and his Japanese is plain rude. He's on a mission to teach everyone in the school "no worries, mate!" and it is a phrase he uses repeatedly when listening to or giving instructions.

Also, not only does he mispronounce Japanese names, he does it deliberately! For him, it is amusing to read the register to students referring to students named "Yuko" as "Yucko!" (hilarious ) and "Yumi" as "You my!" in front of bemused sea of faces.

Don't get me started on his giggling, simpering, nervous tics, obsessive/compulsive washing of his hands, illogical test questions, incompetence, gargling in the sink, writing his name on EVERYTHING he owns, muttering to himself and all round annoying behaviour.

[markle]

[leosmith]

[Quibby84]

Boss using silly manipulative tricks to get her way...well actually she has one trick, the Guilt trick. It doesn't matter what you ask from her she will always say that she is very busy doing the other thing you asked from her (even if the other thing you asked from her is more help to her). ARGHHH!

[jademonkey]

Idiot co-workers who, when they've been asked something by Japanese staff in polite yet halting English, get annoyed by the Japanese person's lack of English.

Emi: "Mr Paul, can you please...Mr Tanaka's file onegaishimasu."
Paul: "What?"
Emi: "Ah. Sorry. Mr Paul, can you please...etc."
Paul: "What are you talking about??"
Me: "She wants Mr Tanaka's file."
Paul: "Don't blame me if she can't speak English."
Me: "I don't. I blame you for being a jerk."

[gaijin4life]

Hmmm, where to start !! Pet peeve would be small-minded and petty co-workers who go for one-up-manship rather than focus on doing their job well.

From being a sole gaijin-teacher at a couple of places, I would have to say, `foreigner-envy` (if there is such a term..) would have to be another. - I`m over people with issues just because I happen to have chosen to travel and work, while others are feeling stuck and frustrated with where they are at and what they`re doing !

[Glenski]

One co-worker just had to complete her long-winded monologues, at everyone's expense. We foreigners speak with interruptions ("But, don't you think...?" "Oh, I know what you mean, but..."), however this woman would not tolerate them (despite being a fellow native English speaker). She would give a huge sigh and hum, and announce in a very condescending tone, "Can I finish what I was saying, please?" This was bad enough, but if anyone ever did the same in reverse to her, she would sulk or pout or hmmph and bring a tear or two to her eyes.

I had another co-worker when I was very green to the biz. He was not, so I felt I could ask for some advice from time to time. I would announce that I had a mental block 15-20 minutes before a lesson, and could he help me with a plan, or give advice on what I'd put together so far. He gladly took a look, but usually the first words out of his mouth were not helpful tidbits, but words like, "Oh, that's not the way to do it." Or "Oh, this won't work. You shouldn't have done this." The fact that I'd already told him I was stuck with something or had a problem with the plan wasn't clear enough that I wanted constructive criticism and an occasional glimmer of how to change/improve it. After 3 or 4 of these blatantly offensive remarks (which he uttered completely innocently), I stopped asking for his help.

The same guy also had the bad habit of speaking to fellow foreigners in the slow, choppy, overly enunciated English that he used on students. Grates my teeth right now just to think about it.

I can hear my co-worker in the next office. So, when he chats with students or has mini-course lectures in there, it's like I'm in the same room. What bothers me is his style of explaining things. Besides punctuating every sentence with "OK?" he talks way over their heads, and then a few minutes later realizes it, so he has to backtrack and explain it all over again in simpler terms. He also doesn't give his students much chance to speak, which is a definite no-no in this biz.

Another co-worker learned his Japanese on the street after being placed with GEOS in a rural area. He knew how to use the "masu" and "desu" forms, but refused to. Bad enough in some situations, but when we were together with Japanese who failed to grasp what I was saying in English, he would chime in with VERY casual street slang language to explain. It got the point across, and students smiled a lot, but you could tell (he couldn't) that they were smiling in embarrassment.

I didn't have this next guy as a co-worker, and I'm glad. I saw him several times in an info center lobby giving private lessons to a couple of ga-ga starry-eyed young ladies. For 57 out of 60 minutes, he would talk...non-stop... about his weekends or anything else that came to mind. The girls were presumably supposed to get conversation practice, but they obviously didn't. The man was obsessed with his own voice and life, and sadly the girls were enthralled with it (not him, because he was married). They not once opened a notebook or picked up a pencil once he started talking. Bad enough, but he was also very full of himself and his opinions about life as a foreigner in Japan, which only made listening to him all the worse for me.

[fluffyhamster]

These guys with the crap Japanese, are they as bad as, say, Josh Barnett (the UFC/Pancrase/Pride fighter (pro-wrestler))?

[shuize]

[Angelfish]

Foreigners who say things like "Oh, yeah I got a new camera for ni sen en at Bic Camera" when they really mean 20,000 whilst out with a group of complete native speakers, not a Japanese person amongst them. They just want to show off their complete inability to grasp even basic numbers in Japanese.

[fluffyhamster]

Yeah,Barnett's still around-he was runner-up in the Pride Openweight 2006.

[TK4Lakers]

What annoys me at my school...and this happens quite a bit, is that everyone there knows I am a native English speaker but hardly ever approach me for help.

Ex: A warning pops up in English on the school computer. Teacher A "Hmm...what is this? I can't read it." Teacher B "I have no idea, oh now, what shall we do?" Teacher A "let's leave it alone, or let's call a computer expert."

How hard would it be for them to just walk up to me and ask me? This happens quite a bit, with things like documents or English written instructions. I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with Japanese culture? Where I'm from, if someone needs help go and ask for help.