# 69 What kind of experiences are valuable before teaching ESL in Japan?

What kind of experiences are valuable before teaching ESL in Japan?

This is a loaded question indeed.

What kinds of experiences would NOT be valuable to a new instructor?

All life experiences are useful – school, marriage, divorce, work, military, sports, births, deaths, anniversaries, rites of passages…

Anything the instructor has done, the Japanese ESL student will want to know how to talk about in English.

Of course, some experiences are more relevant to some students than others but, in short, the purpose of most ESL classes is to learn to function in daily life and beyond. And, it’s the beyond when it gets to be interesting.

Nearly all life experiences can be valuable in an ESL class. I say nearly because, indeed, some life events may be best left out.