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Originally Posted by MMM
When people ask me about physics, religion, politics, my opinion gets second fiddle because these aren't the topics I am an expert in.
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We're talking job prospects, not world views.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
every foreigner in Japan is in Japan because of JAPAN! That's reality. I knew many people who were looking at teaching English anywhere in Asia, and Japan is where they ended up. To them, Asia was pretty much all the same, so it didn't matter. For me, it was Japan or nowhere (I didn't study four years of Japanese to be sent to Taiwan).
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Of course not. But as my disclaimer said, you'll never beat outliers. I don't know why people have to bring it up. All things equal, you'll never satisfy anyone's opinion.
The only reason I brought up Japan is because we're on Japan forum. I'd love to give S. Korea or Singapore a shot, but I happen to be in Japan right now because it was a convenient way to get to Asia as well as getting to be in a modernized city. Regardless, these people you speak of still came to Asia to see asia, not to teach. Teaching was just a viable option for them to get over here, and that's a fact. That's why we have people come here every day asking about how to get teaching jobs in Japan. It's a surefire visa. If it didn't matter where they went to, that all the more affirms my point.
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Originally Posted by MMM
, Wings, but that is so elitist and condescending. Indeed I came to Japan to be in Japan, but also to see if I liked teaching, and the JET Program gave me that opportunity. Being a JET is an assistant teacher, but it is still teaching.
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I don't think we're on the same page. I don't really have any beef with JET. At least they try and have the ALT thing kind of working. What I'm more referring to are eikaiwas like NOVA/GEOS who got shut down for bankruptcy, embezzlement, etc. Sounds great, huh?
But it's not elitist or condescending. Just like how you studied Japanese with the goal of getting to Japan, people go to school to be teachers if they really want to teach. How is that any different?
Read what you said though. You came to Japan through the Jet program to see if you wanted to test out teaching? How the hell does that make sense? They just hire you without any teaching qualifications because you feel like trying it out, and it will get you your visa? So it's a game? If you don't like it, you can just quit? And you've wasted some poor family's money who was expecting a quality learning experience? Once again, this isn't necessarily directed at Jet, but the entire industry.
I'm not going to kid myself and say I'm a "teacher" if I get some sh*tty job regurgitating mock conversations out of a textbook. That's a disservice to those who actually have a passion for teaching.