non-native English teachers
 

I believe the key to English in Japan is in the hands of the non-native English speaking teachers. Especially those who teach young children at home. Does anyone know how I can contact these teachers? Are there groups online? Or websites?
Japanese is OK. My wife can read it for me!!!
Thanks

True. It does make sense that for Japanese to learn English as foreign language, it is advisable to have a teacher who has passed the same difficulties, i.e. a non-native English speaker. The process for learning a foreign language is quite different from learning a mother language. I didn't get vocabulary homework at my native language lessons, and I never had to analyze paragraph structures or poetry at any of my foreign language lessons.

There are Little Angels in Mitaka, Tokyo.

thanks
 

Thank you acjama. That is only one reason I think non-native speakers are key. They are also very enthusiastic and enjoy what they are doing. Of course many native teachers are genki too, but most of them work in schools. I am looking for teachers who work from home. I know of two. They are Japanese moms and teach small groups (another reason they are successful) of young kids (important to get them before at pre-school age) at home. If I know two their must be hundreds or thousands of them in Japan. I am looking for a way to contact them.
Thanks again

You're welcome! :vsign:

The Japan Times article that hinted about the non-native teacher English school Little Angels also mentioned RareJobs.com that offer English lessons via Skype. Maybe you'll get forward from there.

so on this basis there is no point in English native speakers going to Japan to teach English?

Hmm, I suddenly have the urge to quote Shakespeare...

Depends on your priorities. Are they:

1) To fulfill your teenage life long dream (described in full detail here) of "living in Japan" by riding the demand that ignores the result and damns the rest?
- Sure, c'mon in!

2) To actually teach somebody English in a way that in the end, that person can actually converse in English?
- well, have you yourself learned a foreign language? If not, what insights can you give to a person whose starting efforts exceed your end results? How are your pedagogic studies going?

Better to follow somebody's example than simply walk alone to a direction he's vaguely pointing to. :vsign:

Maybe, I think you can watch more English movies, it is a good path to learn English. I think the most biggest problems for Japanese is pronounce, if you can do that, you will love English. I am a Chinese.

I am not saying native teachers are unnecessary. Most natives work in schools. by the time a kid is school age she has passed the stage of picking up English phonemes from natural native speech anyway. I am suggesting the teachers who work at home, with very young kids are giving the students a great head start. It is fun, not part of a full day of other studies, and in small groups.

these teachers can use audio-visual aids to get the correct pronunciation

thank you acjama

Most Native english speakers do a special course on teaching English as a foreign language.

So if a person visits England-- are they to avoid all the locals and search for foreign teachers of ENGLISH?

Its crackers to me.