Pachipro
Oct 20, 2006, 22:21
A lot of people have asked me over the years how I began teaching English while stationed in the military in Japan and I tell them it was easy. All I did was make a phone call.
While in Japan in 1973 I was assigned to the Public Affairs Office at Camp Zama for on-the-job training as a journalist. How I got that position while I was a clerk/typist is a whole other story for another day. Anyway, it was my job to write stories of events that occurred on base and interview people who received awards or special recognition and such. It was a fairly easy job and I enjoyed it. Working in the Public Affairs Office I always knew what was going on around the base and the military in general in Japan. However, being a gtraineeh, my stories were always reviewed by a superior and usually severely edited.
In our office we had a paper rack with The Stars & Stripes newspaper for military personnel, along with English language editions of all the Japanese newspapers such as The Japan Times, The Daily Yomiuri, Asahi, etc. One day, after being in Japan about six months or so, I was reading the Japan Times and came across the classified section. I had never paid much attention to this area of the paper before as I already had a job, but today, for some reason, out of curiosity, I decided to read through the help wanted ads to see what was being offered. I was surprised to see that most of the ads were for native English Conversation Teachers and were for both full-time and part-time. As I read further, I also noticed that most of the jobs required little or no experience and that the only requirements were that one be a native speaker with a college degree and proper visa and that, in most ads, one must be least 21 years old. Well, I was disqualified on two of four counts as I was only 18 and I didnft have a degree. Besides, I barely made it out of high school so what did I know about teaching? I hated school and only finished to escape the big city and join the military.
Anyway, most of the jobs were for a couple of hours in the evening and were located in Tokyo or Yokohama. I remember thinking to myself that I sure wish I were qualified as it could prove to be interesting. Still it intrigued me and I began to think that I could teach English Conversation as it didnft sound all too difficult. I mean how difficult could it be to teach English conversation? You just talk right? Also, the pay of 1,500 - 3,000 yen per hour was a lot of money back then and very enticing.
I forgot about it for a while, but it still stayed in the back of my mind and I continued perusing the classifieds, especially the Monday Japan Times when there were two to four pages of ads. I began to calculate that, at a minimum of 4 hours a week part-time, I could make about 40,000 yen per month which was about $120 (yen was 300/US$1 back then.) That was about one-third of my monthly salary in the military for about 16 hours of work! What a great second income for so little work if only I was qualified! With that income I could even rent an apartment off base. There was a lot I could with an extra 40,000 yen per month.
One day I came across an ad for a part-time native conversation speaker, no experience required, in the evenings at a place located near a train station not far from the base. The ad didnft mention age or degree and I decided, what the heck, and gave them a call. I didnft have a degree, was not 21, but hey, I am a native speaker so why not go for it? What could they do? Not hire me? So what! After speaking to the secretary I spoke to who I guessed was the boss and was asked to come in for an interview. I made the appointment for an evening a few days later.
The place was located in a small office building about 20 minutes away by train and I arrived on time dressed casually. I was greeted by a female secretary and escorted to a room that had a sofa, two chairs opposite the sofa and a coffee table in the middle with an ashtray in the center. Behind the sofa was a book case with quite a few books in at. Glancing quickly I could read some English and figured they were the teaching books. I was asked if Ifd like some coffee. I replied in the affirmative and she went to make it after bowing to me while I took a seat on the sofa.
A few minutes later a Japanese man in a suit entered and introduced himself to me as the owner and took a seat opposite me. He took a small packet from his breast pocket, opened it, removed a card and placed it on the table in front of me. I picked up the card and looked at it. It had the name of the school on it along with his name. A few minutes later the secretary entered with two small cups of coffee on a tray with some milk and sugar. She placed the cups in front of us along with the milk and sugar, bowed politely and left.
As he began the interview and we stirred our coffee I distinctly noticed that his English was far from perfect with a thick accent. First he asked if I had any experience and I replied that I didnft as I had been in Japan for about half a year and had never taught English before. He then asked if I had a degree and I answered that I didnft. He inquired how it was then that I was in Japan. Was I with my parents? I said that I was in the military. This didnft seem to faze him at all and he continued with the interview after asking me what I did on the base and how long I was to be in Japan. I told him and said that I would be in Japan until the end of 1975. When the question of age came up I told him I was 21. He looked at me strangely and said that I didnft look 21. I insisted that I was and he never asked for any identification thank goodness as it wouldfve been pretty embarrassing. He then asked if I could speak Japanese and I replied that I had been taking a basic course on base for about two months now. I was informed that, if hired, I was not to speak Japanese during class. It was to be English only, and that was fine with me. At this point I began to think that maybe I would be hired and tried to conceal my excitement.
After some more questions, he then got up and went to the bookcase behind the sofa and pulled out a few books and placed two in front of me. He said that these were the books that I would be using in class. (This is when I realized I really had the job.) One was of the advanced basic level and one was Basic English. He proceeded to go over with me how I was to teach the class and told me that the lessons would be taught with me reading from the book and the students repeating after me or filling in the blanks while reading along. It seemed simple enough and he stressed the importance of the students having correct pronunciation. Each class would be about 50 minutes long and would be compromised of adults, high school and/or college students with no more than 7 people in a class.
The interview lasted about 30 min and I was amazed that, at the end of the interview, he asked me if I could start the following week at the beginning of the month. Of course I told him I could. The pay would be 2,000 yen per hour for two hours a day, two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday, and my transportation costs to and from the job would also be paid. There was no contract or anything! We shook hands, confirmed the date, the 7pm start time, and I left the building with a big grin on my face. I was now a teacher! How about that!
As I headed home on the train I glanced through the books and thought to myself that this was going to be a piece of cake. Anyone could do this. I was excited as all get out at the pay and an extra 32,000 yen per month and being a gteacherh. Heck, that was still enough to rent a small apartment off base which is what I really wanted to do but couldnft afford on the measly military salary I was being paid and party too!
I showed up on time the following week and the rest is, as they say, history. Of course I was nervous that first day as I had never spoken in front of a group of adults before, but thinking I was the gteacherh and they the students I had to show them I was serious and good at what I was doing. In a way I felt important for the first time in my life.
Teaching English conversation was as easy as I thought it would be and I became a natural at it taking my job seriously and continually striving to come up with ways to improve my own ability and that of my students. It wasnft long though before I soon found out that the Japanese had a mental block to learning the spoken language and were extremely introverted. I also learned that in their schools emphasis was placed on reading, writing, and grammar with almost no emphasis on speaking. It was frustrating and I blamed myself at first that hardly any of my students improved their speaking ability much. Thankfully though, over the years many did and, even though they were not as many as I desired, I received a lot of satisfaction in knowing that I was able to help some become better speakers of English.
It was during this first stint as a teacher that I decided that this was what I wanted to do in the future. I wanted to stay in Japan and be a teacher. While continuing to teach English regularly while in the military, things eerily fell into place for me and I got out of the military 3 years later (after extending for a year), taking an in-country discharge, attended the foreign language division of Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) under the gGI Billh (which paid for 90% of my tuition at the time), and eventually opened up my own English school. All in all I taught English in Japan for 15 years and it truly was a most satisfying and rewarding experience for me and one that I look back on with fond memories. Also, it allowed me to live and work in a foreign country that I now call home.
To think that a shy, wild kid from the inner city with basically no future before him save for the military would ever make it in a foreign country as an 18 year old teacher is something even my own teachers back in high school a year earlier would never have believed. If I didnft make that phone call that day I wonder where my life would be today. I shudder to think about it. That one call, on a whim, opened up a whole new world for me and changed the course of my life.
Looking back on that first job as a teacher and knowing what I know now, I am sure I was only hired because 1) He didnft have to sponsor me or provide for a visa, 2) I had no experience, but was a native speaker and he could pay me cheaply as I later found out that the rate for teachers at that school was 2,500/hr and, 3) I was close to the school and may just work there for a while. But thatfs ok with me as I got an ginh, gained experience, became a damn good teacher, and eventually found much higher paying and more rewarding jobs in the course of year.
One final note, teaching English Conversation, while it worked for me, is not for all as some are just not cut out for it and many find it tedious, repetitious and/or just plain boring and frustrating regardless of the high pay. Also, a lot of teachers get burned out on it these days with the long hours and the large gschoolsh taking advantage of both students and teachers, but there are still some decent schools that pay well and are very satisfying to work for.
However, it is something that I would recommend to anyone wanting to experience Japan while getting paid whether it be English, French, Spanish, German or whatever your native language may be. Even today, as long as you have a four-year degree, a pulse and a decent appearance, youfre hired. If I could succeed at it, anyone could! You can take that to the bank!
PS: I never did get awarded the job as a journalist and was reassigned after a year on the job. Although I had my immediate superiors vouching for me that I was a good reporter and qualified and therefore, should be awarded the title, the Colonel in charge of the Public Affairs Office, who was gold schoolh, insisted that, to be a good journalist, I must attend school and receive formal training. He would get me into the school, but that would entail my being reassigned and leaving Japan permanently. I refused and was reassigned as a clerk-typist at the base hospital until my enlistment was up when I received my discharge in-country and drove out the gate to a whole new life as a university student. In the long run, I think it was a good choice on my part and their loss.
While in Japan in 1973 I was assigned to the Public Affairs Office at Camp Zama for on-the-job training as a journalist. How I got that position while I was a clerk/typist is a whole other story for another day. Anyway, it was my job to write stories of events that occurred on base and interview people who received awards or special recognition and such. It was a fairly easy job and I enjoyed it. Working in the Public Affairs Office I always knew what was going on around the base and the military in general in Japan. However, being a gtraineeh, my stories were always reviewed by a superior and usually severely edited.
In our office we had a paper rack with The Stars & Stripes newspaper for military personnel, along with English language editions of all the Japanese newspapers such as The Japan Times, The Daily Yomiuri, Asahi, etc. One day, after being in Japan about six months or so, I was reading the Japan Times and came across the classified section. I had never paid much attention to this area of the paper before as I already had a job, but today, for some reason, out of curiosity, I decided to read through the help wanted ads to see what was being offered. I was surprised to see that most of the ads were for native English Conversation Teachers and were for both full-time and part-time. As I read further, I also noticed that most of the jobs required little or no experience and that the only requirements were that one be a native speaker with a college degree and proper visa and that, in most ads, one must be least 21 years old. Well, I was disqualified on two of four counts as I was only 18 and I didnft have a degree. Besides, I barely made it out of high school so what did I know about teaching? I hated school and only finished to escape the big city and join the military.
Anyway, most of the jobs were for a couple of hours in the evening and were located in Tokyo or Yokohama. I remember thinking to myself that I sure wish I were qualified as it could prove to be interesting. Still it intrigued me and I began to think that I could teach English Conversation as it didnft sound all too difficult. I mean how difficult could it be to teach English conversation? You just talk right? Also, the pay of 1,500 - 3,000 yen per hour was a lot of money back then and very enticing.
I forgot about it for a while, but it still stayed in the back of my mind and I continued perusing the classifieds, especially the Monday Japan Times when there were two to four pages of ads. I began to calculate that, at a minimum of 4 hours a week part-time, I could make about 40,000 yen per month which was about $120 (yen was 300/US$1 back then.) That was about one-third of my monthly salary in the military for about 16 hours of work! What a great second income for so little work if only I was qualified! With that income I could even rent an apartment off base. There was a lot I could with an extra 40,000 yen per month.
One day I came across an ad for a part-time native conversation speaker, no experience required, in the evenings at a place located near a train station not far from the base. The ad didnft mention age or degree and I decided, what the heck, and gave them a call. I didnft have a degree, was not 21, but hey, I am a native speaker so why not go for it? What could they do? Not hire me? So what! After speaking to the secretary I spoke to who I guessed was the boss and was asked to come in for an interview. I made the appointment for an evening a few days later.
The place was located in a small office building about 20 minutes away by train and I arrived on time dressed casually. I was greeted by a female secretary and escorted to a room that had a sofa, two chairs opposite the sofa and a coffee table in the middle with an ashtray in the center. Behind the sofa was a book case with quite a few books in at. Glancing quickly I could read some English and figured they were the teaching books. I was asked if Ifd like some coffee. I replied in the affirmative and she went to make it after bowing to me while I took a seat on the sofa.
A few minutes later a Japanese man in a suit entered and introduced himself to me as the owner and took a seat opposite me. He took a small packet from his breast pocket, opened it, removed a card and placed it on the table in front of me. I picked up the card and looked at it. It had the name of the school on it along with his name. A few minutes later the secretary entered with two small cups of coffee on a tray with some milk and sugar. She placed the cups in front of us along with the milk and sugar, bowed politely and left.
As he began the interview and we stirred our coffee I distinctly noticed that his English was far from perfect with a thick accent. First he asked if I had any experience and I replied that I didnft as I had been in Japan for about half a year and had never taught English before. He then asked if I had a degree and I answered that I didnft. He inquired how it was then that I was in Japan. Was I with my parents? I said that I was in the military. This didnft seem to faze him at all and he continued with the interview after asking me what I did on the base and how long I was to be in Japan. I told him and said that I would be in Japan until the end of 1975. When the question of age came up I told him I was 21. He looked at me strangely and said that I didnft look 21. I insisted that I was and he never asked for any identification thank goodness as it wouldfve been pretty embarrassing. He then asked if I could speak Japanese and I replied that I had been taking a basic course on base for about two months now. I was informed that, if hired, I was not to speak Japanese during class. It was to be English only, and that was fine with me. At this point I began to think that maybe I would be hired and tried to conceal my excitement.
After some more questions, he then got up and went to the bookcase behind the sofa and pulled out a few books and placed two in front of me. He said that these were the books that I would be using in class. (This is when I realized I really had the job.) One was of the advanced basic level and one was Basic English. He proceeded to go over with me how I was to teach the class and told me that the lessons would be taught with me reading from the book and the students repeating after me or filling in the blanks while reading along. It seemed simple enough and he stressed the importance of the students having correct pronunciation. Each class would be about 50 minutes long and would be compromised of adults, high school and/or college students with no more than 7 people in a class.
The interview lasted about 30 min and I was amazed that, at the end of the interview, he asked me if I could start the following week at the beginning of the month. Of course I told him I could. The pay would be 2,000 yen per hour for two hours a day, two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday, and my transportation costs to and from the job would also be paid. There was no contract or anything! We shook hands, confirmed the date, the 7pm start time, and I left the building with a big grin on my face. I was now a teacher! How about that!
As I headed home on the train I glanced through the books and thought to myself that this was going to be a piece of cake. Anyone could do this. I was excited as all get out at the pay and an extra 32,000 yen per month and being a gteacherh. Heck, that was still enough to rent a small apartment off base which is what I really wanted to do but couldnft afford on the measly military salary I was being paid and party too!
I showed up on time the following week and the rest is, as they say, history. Of course I was nervous that first day as I had never spoken in front of a group of adults before, but thinking I was the gteacherh and they the students I had to show them I was serious and good at what I was doing. In a way I felt important for the first time in my life.
Teaching English conversation was as easy as I thought it would be and I became a natural at it taking my job seriously and continually striving to come up with ways to improve my own ability and that of my students. It wasnft long though before I soon found out that the Japanese had a mental block to learning the spoken language and were extremely introverted. I also learned that in their schools emphasis was placed on reading, writing, and grammar with almost no emphasis on speaking. It was frustrating and I blamed myself at first that hardly any of my students improved their speaking ability much. Thankfully though, over the years many did and, even though they were not as many as I desired, I received a lot of satisfaction in knowing that I was able to help some become better speakers of English.
It was during this first stint as a teacher that I decided that this was what I wanted to do in the future. I wanted to stay in Japan and be a teacher. While continuing to teach English regularly while in the military, things eerily fell into place for me and I got out of the military 3 years later (after extending for a year), taking an in-country discharge, attended the foreign language division of Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) under the gGI Billh (which paid for 90% of my tuition at the time), and eventually opened up my own English school. All in all I taught English in Japan for 15 years and it truly was a most satisfying and rewarding experience for me and one that I look back on with fond memories. Also, it allowed me to live and work in a foreign country that I now call home.
To think that a shy, wild kid from the inner city with basically no future before him save for the military would ever make it in a foreign country as an 18 year old teacher is something even my own teachers back in high school a year earlier would never have believed. If I didnft make that phone call that day I wonder where my life would be today. I shudder to think about it. That one call, on a whim, opened up a whole new world for me and changed the course of my life.
Looking back on that first job as a teacher and knowing what I know now, I am sure I was only hired because 1) He didnft have to sponsor me or provide for a visa, 2) I had no experience, but was a native speaker and he could pay me cheaply as I later found out that the rate for teachers at that school was 2,500/hr and, 3) I was close to the school and may just work there for a while. But thatfs ok with me as I got an ginh, gained experience, became a damn good teacher, and eventually found much higher paying and more rewarding jobs in the course of year.
One final note, teaching English Conversation, while it worked for me, is not for all as some are just not cut out for it and many find it tedious, repetitious and/or just plain boring and frustrating regardless of the high pay. Also, a lot of teachers get burned out on it these days with the long hours and the large gschoolsh taking advantage of both students and teachers, but there are still some decent schools that pay well and are very satisfying to work for.
However, it is something that I would recommend to anyone wanting to experience Japan while getting paid whether it be English, French, Spanish, German or whatever your native language may be. Even today, as long as you have a four-year degree, a pulse and a decent appearance, youfre hired. If I could succeed at it, anyone could! You can take that to the bank!
PS: I never did get awarded the job as a journalist and was reassigned after a year on the job. Although I had my immediate superiors vouching for me that I was a good reporter and qualified and therefore, should be awarded the title, the Colonel in charge of the Public Affairs Office, who was gold schoolh, insisted that, to be a good journalist, I must attend school and receive formal training. He would get me into the school, but that would entail my being reassigned and leaving Japan permanently. I refused and was reassigned as a clerk-typist at the base hospital until my enlistment was up when I received my discharge in-country and drove out the gate to a whole new life as a university student. In the long run, I think it was a good choice on my part and their loss.