Question #21. What will teaching ESL in Japan do for me and my future?

Posted by Bill Belew on May 8th, 2007 in Japan | Comments Off

Teaching ESL in Japan does not really prepare you to do anything else other than teach ESL in Japan.

Even you spend one, two, three….five…ten years teaching ESL in Japan…you pretty much become quite good at understanding your Japanese students and their unique challenges. That's about it.

Teaching ESL in Japan does not prepare you to do the same in China, Korea or anywhere else. Some things are the same, but the students and their challenges are different.

If you go to Japan with a bachelors degree in horticulture and teach for two years, you will return to your home country with a bachelors degree in horticulture with an understanding of ikebana (flower arrangement) that most people don't have.

BUT…IF you study the language, immerse yourself in the culture, read, question, get in and out of trouble with relationships, learn a martial art, study and become more sensitive to the Japanese and gain an insight into the country that many people do NOT have, then you MIGHT be worth something to an employer in your home country…IF…you can learn to speak the language.

Is Japanese hard to learn? 3-4-year olds can do it. If you are intelligent you can learn it to. More on that in future posts.

Are there jobs? Well…I am being paid to write this, so I guess I would have to say, 'yes.'

What do you want to do after you finish your 'stint' of teaching ESL in Japan?


 

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