Comments on Teaching English abroad in Japan: Children in Japan

@ Julia
I'm sorry! Many people often email me w...

2008-11-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

@ Julia
I'm sorry! Many people often email me with requests like yours and while I'd love to help everyone out, I am just a regular person with a full-time job and not a whole lot of free time. But I will show you to a wonderful website written by a girl who has had lots of experience moving to different countries, mainly Australia and America (She's from New Zealand). She has written a ton of great articles about exactly your topic! Here are some links for you. I hope this helped.
xox

http://galadarling.com/article/loving-a-new-city-alone

http://galadarling.com/article/how-to-settle-into-a-city-part-one-social

http://galadarling.com/article/how-to-settle-into-a-city-part-two-domestic

Hi Julie!
I've been reading your blog for a whi...

2008-11-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hi Julie!
I've been reading your blog for a while and it makes me want to visit Japan more and more each time.

Anyway, I'm a journalism student at Columbia College in Chicago and we're writing 'How To' stories for a class. I wanted to do mine on first steps to take after moving to a new country. You seem like a really great resource, so I was wondering if I were to e-mail you some questions, if you'd have the time to answer by next Monday? I wish I could tell you that this would get published somewhere, but it's just for a class.

If you don't mind, then please e-mail me at julia.korol@loop.colum.edu and I will send you my questions asap!

Thanks :)

Hey Julie :)
I'm not sure how I found your blog...

2008-11-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Hey Julie :)
I'm not sure how I found your blog, but I'm glad I did...it's really interesting.

About Japanese children, I haven't met many of them...but I did notice how self disciplined they are and I too wonder how their parents raised them to be that way.

However, I've taught Saudi children English in the past. I guess you could say they are the exact opposite of Japanese children.

They were way too hyper for me to handle in the beginning and hardly ever serious about anything. It took me a while to get the hang of it.

Teaching children is always a challenge, especially if they come from different backgrounds.

All the luck to you! :)

Ha!! Joseph, your comment made me laugh so much! I...

2008-11-07T04:27:00.000-08:00

Ha!! Joseph, your comment made me laugh so much! I forgot how famous Japanese horror movies are.

Reannon! No problem. I think you're smart and your...

2008-11-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

Reannon! No problem. I think you're smart and your posts are all really interesting. You know the character from Coppola's movie "Lost in Translation" who comes to Japan and, while disliking a lot of aspects of the culture, tries her hardest to discover and appreciate things? Your blog reminds me of something that girl would write if she moved here and wasn't just here for a week with her husband's job. I mean that in a really good way. I really, really like your blog. I think it's hard for a lot of people in Japan and in a lot of ways, and you really point out the difficulties and differences in an open-minded, respectful and funny way.

So many people found me from Gala and those people are all so great. She's a positive person so I guess other great people are attracted to her and I'm glad she likes me and tells others about me. It's so nice!

As for parents, I have never had any problems! I always liked that nobody talked to me. The few who did talk to me were really polite. But then again, I didn't teach in a GABA/NOVA place. I taught at this incredible school. It was a hyper-elite private school that is a place where every kid's daddy and mommy is a politician or a heart doctor or an ambassador. Everyone wanted their kid to go to Tokyo University. The 5 year olds there spoke better English than many of the teens and adults I teach now.

Really, though, good luck.
Please keep writing!

That is actually quite good to know. I have been ...

2008-11-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

That is actually quite good to know. I have been considering acquiring a certificate in teaching English and eventually coming to Japan to teach (strangely enough that is not how I came upon your site though). Unfortunately, I would probably not be overly lively in a classroom environment and especially not when dealing with children. Honestly, I probably will not end up teaching young children anyway because I am not a huge fan of them. However, I very well might have to so it is good to know that I can teach in Kansai and not have to change too much about myself. That and I now know to stay away from teaching in Sapporo.

In case you were curious, I found your site when I searched for audio of Japanese crows on Google. Your post about them showed up in my results and the fact that your site is about teaching in Japan which is another one of my interests was pure serendipity.

My experience with Japanese children has been limi...

2008-11-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

My experience with Japanese children has been limited to the ghost kids in Ju-on, Ju-on 2, and the precocious yet adorably murderous tots in Suicide Club, so it coud be argued that my understanding of them is somewhat more limited than yours. That said, is it possible that there could be other reasons, besides cultural upbringing, that could explain their stoic demeanor? Like, say, demonic possession or a curse.

I'm a little worried about bringing my daughter to...

2008-11-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

I'm a little worried about bringing my daughter to Japan with me. She's... Well, spoiled, probably. I honestly don't know how it happened. She spends like half her tim in time-outs... And still nothing. In North America, actually, she doesn't stand out compared to other kids, but maybe in Japan they'll say, "Look at that crazy gaijin kid!" Haha, poor Evvie.
Maybe Japanese daycare will cure her though!

Hey Julie!

OMG I was so surprised to see th...

2008-11-06T05:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Julie!

OMG I was so surprised to see this article...about ME. Wow. That's a real compliment coming from you...since you're like a weblebrity among Japan blogs, (I found you through galadarling.com).

Thanks so much! That's awesome you think my posts are thoughtful, because I often feel as though I come off as another 'complaining gaijin' which I'm trying really hard not to be.

It's validating that you found the same thing to be true about teaching children here. I've really been thinking long and hard about it, because it's been so tough. I've worked with children for over 10 years straight and this is the first time I've had to struggle to get children to like me! But yes, I definitely think it was just that I was coming off too camp counselor-ish. I wish someone had told me when I first started...I wasted 6 months beating my head against the wall, wondering what I was doing wrong.

But oh well. It's been a learning experience.

What were your experiences teaching kids? How were they similar? Do you have any advice on dealing with parents? They've still got me stumped...They're so unfriendly towards me which I know is just a cultural misunderstanding but I don't know what to do about it.

hmmmm - my experience up here in sapporo is comple...

2008-11-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

hmmmm - my experience up here in sapporo is completely the opposite. the kids on the subway generally can themselves silly at my faces on the train :p and sometimes they speak to me and ask me questions about the most random stuff. it`s cuuuute! you are right about self control though - its amazing! sheesh man - the other day there was a gaijin kid on the train bawling his eyes out and the elementary school student sitting across from him was staring at him with his mouth open thinking `what the hell happened to him?!` heee!

but then again, whenever i venture down to tokyo, i tend to find all people completely different. same for osaka and okinawa... i think geography plays a huge part in japanese - gaijin relatiions!