Quote:
Originally Posted by WanderingWarrior
Not to offend you Nyororin, but for some of us JET is a great option for going to experience Japan for a few years and not all of us want to go to make money and nothing else. I thinks it's amazingly selfless and kind what your doing for strangers to help them out. I myself want to live in Japan for a few years, I want to be outside the city in a mountain town, or the countryside and I want to become better at speaking Japanese than I am now and learn more about the culture. I know a former JET who came back after 3 years was fluent in Japanese (was not before he went) and had an overall great experience. It's all in what you make of it, sure I could go over and not pick up any more Japenese or learn more about the culture and get by ok, but thats not what I want and I'm sure thats not what a lot of ppl interested in JET want. Again it's awesome what your doing, but there are some of us interested in JET for the right reasons too.
|
I don`t recall saying anything against JET specifically - the thing is, JET isn`t
near the majority of English teaching in Japan... And in the end, isn`t what most people mean when they ask about teaching here. In most cases, JETs seem to be chosen partially for how serious they are about cultural exchange and the like. There are only so many participants, and they really only seem to cover the tiniest corner percentage of English teachers in Japan.
Most "English" teachers are of the private school / chain school variety.
But even with JET, it does depend an incredible amount upon placement, from what I understand. The school itself has policies, and if their policy says no contact with people outside of work - then you follow it if you want to continue. If the JET community is very strong (not always a bad thing) you may have little chance to encounter real life without being enveloped by a blanket of western opinion and ideals. The high school I attended (GAP?) had two JET teachers. Both of which were in their second or third year... And one full time teacher who had been there 10 years. None of them could speak Japanese, and used that handicap as a reason to hang around with the other numerous JETs in the area.
It`s not so much as saying that those interested have poor intentions as much as saying that there is a fair chance that they`ll be limited by their surroundings. And being as 90% of the people who come in here asking things are too lazy to even bother trying to find any information on their own, the chances that they`d actually put forth effort to learn without a constant background commentary while in Japan are low.
Your perceptions are largely shaped by your surroundings and the attitudes of those around you. Good attitudes are very hard to find in English teaching, so bad spread like wildfire. Sure, someone dedicated can manage even in the most adverse circumstances... But I will never agree that teaching English is a good way to learn Japanese. It isn`t. A way to live in Japan, maybe. But it`s not going to help you learn the language.