Can I Be A JET

[kenmei]

Originally Posted by taro

If you are in a city like Tokyo, Osaka.., you can manage daily life with only a few words of Japanese. You can learn Japanese in the evenings from volunteers in Japanese city offices.

yeah, except that you will most likely be placed in the inaka, not in big cities.

[Sauvecards]

Originally Posted by kenmei

yeah, except that you will most likely be placed in the inaka, not in big cities.

Well Im not set on a huge city anyway.
I mean if you think about it japan is a VERY small country so if I wanted to go somewhere it shouldn't be too tough, right?

From what I've gathered Japan seems to have one of the best transit systems in the world.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by kenmei

for the job?
no
for general life?
maybe, but not so much


i've heard that speaking japanese and having been to japan/lived in japan can actually hurt your chances to become a JET. Cos, remember, they're aim at hiring you is to promote foreign culture and all that sorta stuff..not necessarily to speak to the kids in Japanese (when there's always another teacher with you who does anyways). Not sure how true this is, but some of the past JETs can probably confirm (MMM, ect).

The reality is, it depends. I had a degree in Japanese, and part of my interview was in Japanese, and that probably affected my placement. I wouldn't have want to have been in the school I taught without knowing Japanese, and so that was probably on purpose.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Sauvecards

Well Im not set on a huge city anyway.
I mean if you think about it japan is a VERY small country so if I wanted to go somewhere it shouldn't be too tough, right?

From what I've gathered Japan seems to have one of the best transit systems in the world.

True, but it isn't THAT small. A little larger than the state of California, the transit system is amazing in the cities...not so amazing in the country.

[Sauvecards]

I mean I don't want to sound delusional like some of the posters Ive seen that assume japan is just made up of big ole cities with anime and crazy t.v. shows.
I was comparing Japan to the US I completely understand I cant just walk from one end to the other like its a field trip in d.c.

I figured it was a good idea to at least be able to communicate on a moderate level. That makes sense to me regardless of how many signs are in English or how easy it is to get around, its the right thing to do.

Rural Japan seems ok with me. I love the fact that the Japanese really guard some aspects of they're culture and that you would most likely see alot of that in the smaller towns/cities. I'm a very simple person I don't need sensory overload to be happy.

I might be wrong though I've never been.