Haha, i've read this and its hilarious! The fictional stories he told about JET teacher life is rather amusing.osistlk said:http://www.kindofcrap.com
This is a funny webblog about a JET teacher and his experiences with Japanese students and all other things Japan, the site is a bit old though.
Glenn said:You mean like the ALTs in the JET Program? I wasn't aware that it was so widespread that it was all over the country. I was aware, however, that the way English is taught in Japan is mostly through written material, and that conversational skills aren't stressed at all. That is a bit strange that they wouldn't capitalize on the opportunity that they have with a native English speaker in the room.
osistlk said:Kakulin, you are such a cheater. Tu eres Puertorriqueno. No wonder english was a breeze for you to learn.
osistlk said:Tu eres Puertorriqueno
That really does become paradoxical in a sense, then, assuming there is no ulterior motive to draw on. The few times I have taken Japanese classes in Japan the teachers have all been very alert to signs of my laziness or excuses that I've never done the things all the other Chinese and Korean students had, the most annoying proof in pages and pages of supplmental, 'extra credit' kanji worksheets.Mikawa Ossan said:At any rate many Japanese people have a mental block towards English. It's like they just turn off their brains when confronted with it.
I think it has something to do with the way people perceive language. It's hard to explain. My whole life, I've looked at language as little more than a skill, something that almost anyone can learn with some effort. So it was really no big deal learning a new language (if not a big pain in the arse).
Japanese people, on the other hand, seem to view language less as a skill to be learned but more as an innate ability, like handedness.
That, to me, seems to be the main reason why Japanese people tend to not be so great at English, based purely on my own personal observation.
Without any firsthand experience this may be quite biased but the former Japanese English teachers I've known here in America and that I've seen on television in Japan hold varying degrees of fluency but they have all had a sufficient knowledge of the language to at least get the point across at a basic and intermediate level. And none has ever corrected me to my face or had a problem admitting 'I'm not really teaching English' (not sure that's quite the impression he correctly meant it to convey)...☝Even though I think, or hope at least, that incompetent teachers like this one are rare, I find it "disturbing" at teachers with no sufficient knowledge of a foreign language are allowed to teach it.
Kakulin said:English is taught at school but everyone cheats their way through class. Many people in P.R. graduate from High School without knowing any english at all (except maybe how to say "yes", "no", "sex", "p*ssy", "d*ck", "sh*t", and "****"... lol), my neighbor is a great example lol.
I admit that my spoken english is not great (I have a latino accent), but I can understand the language fully (which is what matters most).
And as I mentioned in my first post you must play the Final Fantasy type of videogames, not Tetris or other such videogames. Understanding the story of a "Final Fantasy" game is about as hard as understanding a "Lord of the Rings" book (or any other novel for that matter).
tanhql said:i always have a belief that a language teacher should be a native at the language he/she is teaching, and the language medium used is his/her foreign language. what do i mean? japanese people learn english, and teach japanese to non-japanese but english speaking people. that's what my japanese teacher does. she is a native japanese, learnt english as a foreign language, migrated to my country, and teaches japanese to english-speaking students. if a japanese school wants to hire a teacher to teach english, they should hire a native-'englishman' who learnt japanese as foreign language to teach english. that way, there won't be any 'wrongly corrected mistakes'.
Actually most kikokushijos are not that great in English, but the teachers are not any better than these returnee kids. I suppose the teachers don't want to be looked down on. Or they are just jealous, so some teachers underestimate the students' english skills to show who the authority is. In Japan, very few teachers who teach english in JH/SH speak fluent english. At least, the returnee kids speak a lot better than their teachers.epigene said:It happens to both girls and boys. When my two kids went to junior high schools, they never showed their English skills to their classmates. Since the teachers "corrected" their English, many thought my kids' English was actually poor. Their ability was recognized only when they reached high school.
Personally, I told them to literally "turn off their ears" during English class. I didn't care what grades they got for English. (They were never at the top of the grade in English during junior high school, although they were rated at the top level in all of Tokyo according to nationwide achievement tests.)
I think it is the same for many "kikoku-shijo (returnee Japanese)". Otherwise, they go to schools where returnees make up a large part of the student body.
Some even give spelling lessons in misspelt words which really gives me the shakes...In Japan, very few teachers who teach english in JH/SH speak fluent english.
I agree from the perspective of foreign interactions speaking English inappropriately (especially when being addressed in Japanese) or obviouslyosias said:I found a relevant topic on Yahoo! Chiebukuro.
http://chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/service/question_detail.php?queId=8390502
Japanese students with good skills in English can displease the teachers and classmates. Japan is basically a monolingual country, so English skills are considered very special, biilinguals are often frowned upon for being "pedantic", or "showing off" their skills.