Marc Helgesen talks about his greatest and most embarrassing moments as an English teacher, reminisces about the halcyon days of Japan’s bubble economy, and offers advice to those hoping to embark on their English teaching career in 21st century Japan. Check out Part 1 of this interview here.

What has been your greatest moment as a teacher in the last 30 years?

Wow. There have been so many.  Let me just share a simple one.  Last year, towards the end of the year, I asked a few of my fourth year students who had become bilingual in the course of their college life, to talk to their kohai (the younger students, mostly first and second year).  They started out in English but most of the Q & A about how they had done it was in Japanese so the younger students would understand.  Seeing my own students, who were really good at English, sharing with the others was wonderful. I felt kind of like a “proud papa.”  There’s a quote from Earl Stevick, one of the great thinkers in ELT.  He said, “Teach. Then test. Then get out of the way. “  That’s how I felt watching my successful students.

And your most embarrassing?!

How about two stories? One that is simply funny, the other a bit different.

Early on in Japan, I was teaching at an eikaiwa. We did “delivery teaching” for various companies and senmon gakko (trade schools).  One time I was teaching an elementary-level senmon gakko class.  It was a TPR (Total Physical Response) lesson:  Lots of “Touch your desk.”, “Point to the window” kinds of things. At one point, I said, “Point to the teacher”.  All these 18-year old women pointed to my crotch.  I looked down. Sure enough, my fly was open.  I turned around, zipped up and taught the word, “embarrassed.”

One that is more serious, I think.  Back in the early 90’s, my books were starting to take off. I was getting invited to more and more conferences.  One time, I was on a panel with a few real famous teachers and authors— one of whom my books were directly competing with.  At one point, he used his chance to speak to attack me for something he assumed I would have said in my session, based on my topic. (He hadn’t attended).  It very much came off like he was putting down the new kid.  One take-away for me was to always try to support the next wave of leaders, whether they are authors, teachers, conference organizers, etc.  In addition to being a good thing to do (karma – see the monk question), you look like a jerk if you don’t.  The second is that “the audience always wants the presenter to succeed.”  But you know how you always think of a good comeback line long after you need it?  I’m ready if I ever get attacked again: Smile and say,  “Nice shootin’, Tex.”

You started your career in Japan during the bubble era. Was teaching English during that period really as insanely lucrative as it is sometimes made out to be?

$1000 gift bags:
standard fare during bubble era Japan?

Not really – or maybe I was just teaching at the wrong place.  Salaries were never that incredible.  But I do remember one event from the bubble that sticks in my mind.  In the mid-and late-80’s, a lot of American universities opened programs in Japan.  This is how they thought they were going to deal with the fact that the baby boom was over in the States.  Didn’t really work out. Anyway, a lot of those universities had very rich Japanese partners/backers.  I was teaching for an American university program whose partner was a Japanese luxury golf resort.  Anyway, one time the boss of the golf resort wanted to take his teachers out for dinner.  We went to a fabulous restaurant – think this is the only time I’ve eaten fugu.  As we were leaving, we were all given a “gift bag.”  We left the formal and most of the teachers went off to our own nijikai (second party) at a beer place.  We opened the bags. We were each given 100,000 yen in department store coupons, just for attending the party.  Someone made the comment, “He must have some really weird tax problems.”  Anyway, don’t think that sort of thing happens any more.

Bearing in mind the current state of the Japanese economy, the issue of population decline, and the repercussions of the events of March 11th, what advice would you give to someone considering starting an English teaching career in Japan?

It is certainly harder to get a good, secure job in Japan than it used to be. And the population decline is worrisome, both for the education industry and for the country in general. The earthquakes – and keep in mind I live in Sendai and we are likely to get another really, really bad one in this cycle.  At the same time, why worry about something you have absolutely no control over?  So, yeah,  there are bad things. For many of us, the earthquake reminded us to take the time to notice the really wonderful things about this country. People helping each other. No one went crazy. Safety (of some types, anyway).  And professionally, there is a lot going on in Japan. So yeah, eyes wide open, I still think Japan is a good place to be.

If you could do it all again, is there anything you would do differently?

I wish my Japanese, especially my written Japanese was better than it is.

But, overall, what would I do differently?  Let me share a quote I just learned* from Tallulah Bankhead, a film star from the 1930’s and 40’s.   She was asked the same question and said, “If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, just sooner. “

*I heard this quote in a plenary Ken Wilson did at Korea TESOL.

Marc Helgesen is professor in the Dept. of Intercultural Studies, Miyagi Gakuin, Sendai. He is the author of over 150 books, textbooks and professional articles on ELT and has done teacher training workshop on five continents. He is Chair of the Extensive Reading Foundation. Beginning Summer 2013, he will teach a course on Positive Psychology in ELT in the grad. school at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies.

Don’t forget to check out Part 1 of this interview!

In this interview, Marc Helgesen talks about the changes the English teaching community in Japan has witnessed over the last 30 years, the importance of “positive psychology” in language pedagogy, and what it’s like to be a Buddhist monk for a month.

You started teaching English in Japan in 1982. Since then, what have been some major changes you have witnessed, both for better and for worse?

Hmmm. So many changes.  The biggest thing, for what we do, is that English is more real now. Everyone has the internet so they can – if they want to – connect with English speakers everyday.  Back then, trips abroad were expensive and rare. Now most young people assume they will go aboard, for vacation if nothing else, with some frequency.

In terms of the profession, I’d say at the university level there has been a real increase in professionalism. Early on, degrees in TESOL were rare. Now most universities won’t even consider people without at least an MA TESOL or related.

In the eikaiwa (PLS/ private language school), I think the biggest trend as been toward chains. Eikaiwa’s have always been businesses, but there used to be a lot of small schools with a dedicated teacher/owner who was trying to make a living while also making a difference (and a few other teachers, most of whom only stayed for a few years).  Now the chains are mainly businesses.  I know some have trainers who work really hard, but most schools seem less than concerned about qualifications.  This is in contrast to some other countries in Asia where PLS teachers at least have a CELTA/DELTA or other training certificate.   By the way, don’t get me wrong. I think a lot of the best teaching in Japan goes on in eikaiwa schools. But overall I don’t have a lot of confidence in the chains.

One other thing I have to mention is Extensive Reading (ER). It has become HUGE in Japan and many other parts of Asia.  This really has been a grassroots, teacher driven thing.  On the gaijin (foreigner) side , back in 1997, Rob Waring put together a special issue of the JALT Language Teacher on the topic.  The same year he, Julian Bamford, myself and a few others did the first ER colloquium. That has continued. On the Japanese side, similar things have gone on – the “read a million words” movement, etc.  Anyway, ER has been growing. Foreign publishers have traditionally counted on coursebooks to provide the bulk of their income. I know of one major publisher for which readers recently passed coursebooks in terms of revenue.  And coursebooks are still big for that company.  I’m approaching this not in terms of sales (I don’t write readers) but am delighted to see the growth.  And I’m happy to have recently been chosen chair of the Extensive Reading Foundation (www.erfoundation.org), an organization which tries to promote ER.

English Firsthand, the textbook series that you co-wrote, has been incredibly popular in Japanese schools and universities. Are you currently involved in any further publications?

I’ve been very lucky to be able to focus on Japan and Asia. I think a lot of popularity has been that focus.  And we are continuing to develop it. I’m lucky that my editor, Mike Rost, has always had the attitude with every new edition, “What are we going to do that hasn’t been done before?” So that let to us being maybe the first coursebook to put the CD in the book. We had one of the first websites, etc.  Right now we are looking at how to handle technology. An LMS (learner management system).  Also, the whole publishing industry is trying to figure out what will happen with ebooks. No one knows but it is exciting.

So we are still developing the English Firsthand series.

Something else that I’m spending a lot of time on trying to create a link between English Language Teaching and Positive Psychology (The Science of Happiness).  I should emphasize that Positive Psychology is real science (controlled experiments, replicable studies, etc.) and not the “power of positive thinking” which is more like a philosophy.  Anyway, I’ve written a lot of activities that combine positive psychology with (I hope) clear language goals.  I’ve got a website where folks can download them free.  It’s at www.ELTandHappiness.com.  At last count there were over 50 activities, articles, posters, etc.  Is there a book in there someday?  Maybe, but at this point I’m happy to get things into teachers’ hands for free.

In 2007, Paul Knight claimed that Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was “the current dominant methodology” in teaching English as a foreign language. The English Firsthand series also seems to be written with the CLT approach in mind. Do you think CLT still dominates in 2013? Will it continue to do so for the foreseeable future?

I think CLT is dominant in Europe and the USA, but don’t think it ever has been in most of the EFL world – and keep in mind I strongly believe in CLT and think that is reflected in my books. But western-published ELT books probably account for 20-30% of ELT books in Japan. The vast majority are those thin books from the Japanese publishers.  Most are either not communicative or not very communicative.  Also, even among western-published books, many are used in different ways. I remember once talking to the editor of a best-selling text from a foreign publisher. She said, “I think it is popular because it is whatever you want it to be.  If you are communicative, it is a communicative book. If you are audio-lingual, it is  ALM.”  My response way, “Sort of sounds like a book that doesn’t believe in anything.”  I believe in CLT but don’t think it is the only game in town.

Tell us why you decided to become a Buddhist monk for a month. Is it an experience you would recommend?

It was a fantastic experience. I spent a month in a temple in northwest Thailand on a program called “monk for a month.” I ordained as a novice monk.  I had the same lifestyle as the Thai monks except that the dhamma (teachings of the Buddha) was in English.  It was highly disciplined: up at 4:00 for chanting, walking alms (collecting donations from laypeople) barefoot, rain or shine, meditation, study, no food after noon.  Interestingly, a lot of the things I thought would be tough weren’t (and vise-versa).  No food between noon and sunrise the next day – no problem.  No beer –and this was a hot summer in Thailand – not and issue at all.  Those beautiful, flowing saffron robes – a total pain to wear. There are very specific rules about how to wear them. Kind of like kimono in that sense.  The chanting in Pali (the language of the Buddha) and not understanding what I was saying — that was frustrating. I found it interesting that my brain would sometimes match sounds for Pali into Japanese, even though the translation had nothing to do with the meaning:  bhagavato, arahato (“hato” that’s pigeon!)  samma (“Samma” – a fish!)  san buddhasa (“san buta” – Three little pigs).

One of the issued for me was hair. I had figured out how long it would take to grow my hair back.  I learned what an “attachment” (in the Buddhist sense of the word) it was. So now, 2 1/2 years later, my hair is still very short.

The program I went on no longer does temple stays in Thailand. But they do have a “monk for a month” program in India.  And they have a “Muslim for a month” program with Sufis in Turkey. Both sound fascinating (http://monkforamonth.com/).

If folks are interested, there’s a PechaKucha (short, 6:40 minute) presentation I did on my experience at http://tinyurl.com/marcmonk.

Marc Helgesen is professor in the Dept. of Intercultural Studies, Miyagi Gakuin, Sendai. He is the author of over 150 books, textbooks and professional articles on ELT and has done teacher training workshop on five continents. He is Chair of the Extensive Reading Foundation. Beginning Summer 2013, he will teach a course on Positive Psychology in ELT in the grad. school at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies.

Don’t forget to check out Part 2 of this interview!

Is extensive reading alone sufficient for learning vocabulary, or should it be used in conjunction with other techniques, such as decontextualized vocabulary learning?

Self-study vocabulary flash cards can be used as a complement to a course of Extensive Reading

It can—perhaps should in adult L2 contexts—be used in conjunction with other techniques. I’m a big fan of self-study flashcards, myself. As long as we bear in mind the relative strengths and weaknesses of any particular technique, there’s no reason to exclude something that works well for many people.

As for “sufficient,” well, one of the strengths of ER is to build and reinforce vocabulary knowledge, particularly of very frequent words. Paul Nation, a pioneer of research into vocabulary acquisition, argues that a word needs to be encountered 20-30 times in context before it is well and truly learned. When we consider that there are millions of words in English, and billions of collocations of those words, and then we look at how many total words most students read in a language course—not to mention in a lifetime—then we get a sense of how tough it really is to develop a wide vocabulary.

One piece of good news is that a vocabulary of the 3,000 most frequent words in English is sufficient to read authentic material fluently. Unfortunately, not all words are created equal; the word “man,” for example, is far more frequent than the word “invisible.” To run across “man” twenty times, one needs only pick up any random short story; to run across “invisible” that many times, one might need to read several novels, or a thousand newspaper stories.

So, if you can set up an ER program that is supplemented by a well-planned focus on discrete vocabulary practice—say, sets of flashcards which cover the less frequent words in your students’ level—then you’re getting the best of both worlds.

What motivated you to adapt Choose Your Own Adventure books for learners of English?

Well, I’m a former ESL learner myself, as my family moved to Canada from Brazil when I was eleven. I was a voracious reader in Portuguese, so when I started learning English, one of the first things I did was hit the school library and start looking for things to read. One of the things that caught my attention was this strange paperback series written in the 2^nd person, where the reader is the hero, and makes choices leading to a variety of endings. I found the stories very addictive. And I wasn’t alone—at 250 million copies sold, CYOA is tied with Sweet Valley High as the 5^th best-selling book series of all time. That’s higher than the Chronicles of Narnia or the Star Wars novels.

Anyway, fast forward twenty years to when I had become a teacher looking for material that might motivate my students to read. I ran across the recently re-launched CYOA series and ordered a set for my students. They loved it, even though the language was far too tough for them. So I got in touch with the publisher, Chooseco, and asked them if they would be interested in having me write graded reader adaptations of some of their original stories. They were interested, but only if we could partner with a larger publisher. So I approached McGraw-Hill, who amongst the large publishers had little in the way of graded readers, and the rest is (soon-to-be!) history.

Do you have any other advice for teachers regarding extensive reading?

Yes. First of all, visit the Extensive Reading Foundation’s website. They have many ER resources for teachers, and links to many more. As well as Paul Nation, mentioned above, I also recommend Rob Waring’s website. Stephen Krashen has also written a lot on the principles underlying ER. Finally, Thomas Robb’s Moodle Reader site provides an excellent quiz database for thousands of graded readers, which helps to keep track of how much students have read.

Many thanks to Marcos Benevides for taking part in this interview.

Marcos Benevides is a Japan-based teacher and ELT materials writer. He co-wrote the reading coursebook Fiction in Action: Whodunit (Abax, 2010), which won both the Duke of Edinburgh and the British Council ELTon Awards. He also co-wrote Widgets: A task-based course in practical English (Pearson, 2008), and is currently the series editor for the newly launched Choose Your Own Adventure graded reader series from McGraw-Hill Education. He teaches at J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo.

A vast range of "graded readers" are available for learners of English

What exactly is “Extensive Reading” and how does it differ from other kinds of reading?

I like to think of Extensive Reading as the reading branch of Communicative Language Teaching. If you believe that authentic, meaningful, and plentiful opportunities for language use should be a key component of language learning; that learners should have a degree of autonomy in selecting topics to engage with; that an explicit focus on linguistic forms and features is only part of the picture; and that teachers have a role to play as facilitators as well as experts in the classroom—then ER provides solutions for reading that perhaps you have already been employing on the speaking, listening, and writing side of things.

As with CLT more broadly, the primary aim of ER is to develop fluency rather than accuracy. Fluency in reading means the ability to read something at a good pace, without (often) needing to stop to check a dictionary, or (often) going back to re-read for missed information. Once someone can read fluently, they can truly enjoy reading—which causes them to read more, and thus to continue improving. So ER aims to kick-start that virtuous cycle in language learners.

However, just as the only way to develop fluency in speaking is to speak a lot, the only way to really become a fluent reader is to read a lot. It’s a bit of a catch-22. When you can’t read fluently, reading becomes a chore; this means you don’t do it as much as you should, which then means it’s tough to ever become fluent. ER solves this conundrum by having learners read things that are easy and interesting for them, so that they can start out by reading relatively fluently—for their level—right from the very beginning.

The readings can be anything at a language level that each individual feels comfortable with. Second language learners often start out by reading children’s books, for example, because they are both easy and plentiful. And that’s great. However, most adult learners are not particularly interested in children’s stories, so they don’t always fulfill that very important interesting requirement. For this reason, most ER programs use “graded readers,” which are books adapted to various reading levels, from beginner to advanced. That is, graded readers use restricted vocabulary and forms, but not simplified content. Although some series are targeted at younger learners, most are written to be enjoyed by adolescent and older learners.

There are all sorts of graded reader collections out there, including Oxford Bookworms, Macmillan Readers, Cengage Footprints—literally too many to list here. Some focus on adaptations of classics, such as Great Expectations or The Great Gatsby. Others offer movie adaptations, such as Spider-Man or Titanic. Most also include some excellent original stories written specifically for language learners. And the genres are as varied as in any library—romance, detective, horror, science fiction, biography, history, even travel.

How can language teachers utilize Extensive Reading in the classroom?

The most common way ER is implemented is as out of class readings. A typical example would have students selecting a graded reader from a library, reading it outside of class, then either filling out a simple book report or taking some kind of comprehension quiz. Assessment should interfere as little as possible with the enjoyment of the reading itself; if you have learners reading a book just to pass a test, it undermines the idea of reading for pleasure.

Having said that, there is a wide range of ways teachers implement ER. At my university, for example, we encourage teachers to give 15 minutes at the start of each weekly lesson for silent reading in the classroom. This has several incidental benefits; for instance, it gets students to settle down and start thinking in English; it encourages them to carry their graded reader around with them, which increases the chance they may pull it out and continue reading on the train before and after school; and it also allows teachers to keep tabs on student progress by asking them how they’re enjoying the books, which genres they prefer, etc. We still expect that students will read mainly outside of class, but some in-class reading helps to keep everyone on track.

Some programs set up reading circles where three or four students read the same book and then have discussions about it. Others include a listening component, since most graded readers come with a CD or downloadable MP3s. There is a wide range of activities that can be added to the basic reading requirement that can enhance the experience. As long as the students are reading at a comfortable level for them, reading a lot, and reading books that they select themselves, then it’s ER. Without losing sight of these goals, teachers can of course tweak things to suit their own situations.

Is it possible for teachers to measure or assess Extensive Reading?

It’s possible to measure overall language gains from ER over time, but not from lesson to lesson. That’s another way in which ER is similar to a communicative approach. But yes, there is a solid body of research that supports the effectiveness of ER.

However, teachers must bear in mind that ER is not meant to be implemented as a series of lessons followed by quizzes and tests. While there can be book reports or quizzes in ER, the purpose of these is always to show that the book has been read—and never to test for specific language gains or deep understanding. So for example, questions such as “What is Juliet’s cousin Tybalt’s nickname?” or “What does the word ‘dagger’ mean”? are not very good ones in an ER context. It is possible to read Romeo and Juliet, enjoy it, and yet not to have learned these particular items (the answers are “Prince of Cats” and “a kind of knife,” by the way—maybe some of us didn’t remember, either!)

Good comprehension questions might include, “Where do Romeo and Juliet meet?” (at a party); or, “What happens at the end of the story?” (they both die). Likewise, a good book report lets teachers know that the book has been read; if that can be done in two or three short sentences, so much the better.

Marcos Benevides is a Japan-based teacher and ELT materials writer. He co-wrote the reading coursebook Fiction in Action: Whodunit (Abax, 2010), which won both the Duke of Edinburgh and the British Council ELTon Awards. He also co-wrote Widgets: A task-based course in practical English (Pearson, 2008), and is currently the series editor for the newly launched Choose Your Own Adventure graded reader series from McGraw-Hill Education. He teaches at J. F. Oberlin University in Tokyo.

For more information about Extensive Reading, plus details of an innovative graded reader version of the Choose Your Own Adventure series, check out Part 2 of this interview!

An employer’s time is short.  They are not likely to be HR or personnel professionals and they scan CVs rather than read every word. They don’t want to have to read between the lines, wade through pages of irrelevant experience or guess what type of learner you taught at XYZ language school.

So, if you organise your CV so it can be scanned quickly for the relevant information, you’ll be doing your prospective TEFL employer a huge favour   - and help your CV to stand out above the rest. Read on and also have a look at my Suggested CV template for fictional TEFL newbie Robert Passmore.

Get that job! Make your CV work

How to organise your CV for success

1)      Do you need to trim your CV?
Make your CV no longer than 2 pages – yes, it really does need cutting if it’s creeping onto 3 pages. Their time is short, remember.

2)      Prioritise relevant TEFL information
Ensure all TEFL related experience and qualifications are uppermost, most recent first.  Get them nodding and ticking ‘yes’ against their criteria as early as possible as they scan your CV.
I know this is hard to do if newly qualified but in this case, detail the key elements from your TEFL course. Include type of students and levels taught, course books used and even any particular elements of praise from a reference letter.

3)      Group your EFL experiences together
Unless all your experience is in teaching, resist the urge to list your various positions chronologically.  Instead, put your EFL experience first (begin with the most recent) under a ‘Teaching experience’ header and less relevant experience under an  ‘Other employment’ header. Ideally ‘teaching experience’ should be longer than your ‘other’ category. You can achieve this by including more detail about your teaching – see 2 above.  Why?  Well, this will encourage your prospective employer to see you as an EFL teacher first and foremost and it displays all your relevant experience at a glance.

4)      Include something of your personality – but keep it professional
A smiling headshot photo is a good start. Also,  why not comment under key parts of your CV  about your last teaching job, for example. Teaching is a people profession although do remember that employers tend to be quite conservative so don’t include anything too whacky.

Other things to remember

Include a great covering letter with your CV.
Opinions differ on whether you should include a 3 bullet point profile or summary at the top of your CV to give the employer a flavour of your personality and skills. Personally I favour these if not too banal since it can underline your CV message;  something like:

‘ Experienced and qualified EFL teacher with particular expertise with young learners’

might be one of your profile bullets, for example and can be adapted with a different emphasis  depending on the job.

Finally, do check your CV for errors as the best organised CV in the world may be discarded due to elementary spelling, grammar and punctuation inconsistencies.

Have a look at the sugested CV template (the first link near the top of the article) which is designed for a new teacher with minimal experience. As a former EFL employer, this is the kind of CV I would like to see – but do you agree with the organisation and information included here?

Do you believe that the critical period hypothesis is applicable to learning a second language? Would you support the proposition ‘the younger you start, the better’ when it comes to learning a second language?

I feel that the critical period hypothesis in regards to SLA has some interesting ideas about language acquisition but research has shown that older learners tend to be more successful in becoming fluent due to various factors such as learner motivation and language environment. That being said, I do believe that providing a child with and English rich environment will enable them to “code switch” between languages and thus further their proficiency in both English and Japanese. My school will only accept children who can use and understand Japanese because I believe children must have an understanding of how language works in order to make the study of a second language meaningful to them. Therefore, there is a limit to how young a child can be before starting to learn a second language. Also I feel that, when a child starts learning a foreign language while they are still acquiring their mother tongue, they seem to be more receptive to foreign sounds and intonations only because their mother tongue has not fossilized in their minds yet.

What is the best thing about living and working in Sendai?

I feel that Sendai is the best balance between the country side and the big city. The city is large enough to finds various kinds of entertainment without having the feeling of being too crowded. It also has great surfing, skiing and other outdoor sports that are accessible without the need of driving for hours to reach them.

Have you taken part in any volunteer relief work since the tsunami?

Sadly, no I have not. I opened my school four days after the earthquake and on the weekends I was quite busy cleaning my apartment and packing. By chance, I had already planned to move to another apartment a month before the earthquake struck so I was preparing for the move. Moreover, I was in the middle of writing a 4000 word paper on the Lexical Syllabus for my M.A.

Is the declining birth rate in Japan affecting your business? Do you expect it to do so in the future?

I have not had any trouble from this trend nor do I expect to have any in the future. I try to market my school as one where serious learning takes place and the parents are required to provide some learning support at home. It has been my experience that the children from families where the parents take an active role in their children’s education are the ones who achieve the best results. For this reason, I would rather cater to smaller families with highly motivated students than take on children from larger families where the parents are far too busy to review the lesson materials at home.

Is there anything else you would like to say about living and working in Japan/Sendai, or teaching very young learners of English?

I would like to say that working in Japan requires a certain amount of doggedness. On a day to day basis, there are always ups and downs however, on a long term basis there is a lot of subtle pressures and stress that can accumulate before one is aware of it. As for teaching children, this stress can be even more overwhelming so a positive attitude and a solid understanding of teaching methodology and child psychology are essential.

Thank you very much to Mario Passalacqua for the interview.

Where were you and what were you doing when the earthquake hit?

I was just about to start a lesson for 3-4 year olds. The children were happily running around in the lesson room and their mothers were busy chatting. When the earthquake began every one stopped and watched the building sway. As the swaying grew in intensity I realized that this was not an “average” earthquake and quickly escorted the mothers and children outside. We waited outside and watched the whole city shook for what seemed to be at least 20 minutes. We saw very little damage occurring so we were unaware of the true extent of the danger. Luckily, we were far enough away from the tsunami that struck the lower parts of the city.

How is your life in Sendai changed since before the earthquake and tsunami?

I am very grateful to say that my life has not changed since the earthquake. Of course the week after the earthquake, we had to live in a state of “constant readiness” in case of another large quake. Many stores were closed and the city itself was a shadow of its former self. At that time, I felt that the quickest path to recovery was to open my school and give both the students and the mothers a chance to resume a normal life. Everyone seemed grateful for the opportunity to forget about the stresses of aftershocks and the uncertainty of nuclear fallout. I believe this enabled me to not only retain my student numbers but also has helped me to gain more students during the summer months, a time where usually there are no new student enrollments.

What advice would you give to English teachers thinking about living and working in the Tohoku area?

The Tohoku area is very beautiful and very easy to settle down in. However, it is still considered to be a rural area. Thus, there isn’t many things to do here if you don’t like the outdoors. Another aspect is that there aren’t many schools here so if you burn your bridges at one place your next employer will be sure to find out about it. Lastly, I feel that a good understanding of Japanese is important. It has been my experience that those with limited Japanese skills tend to feel uncomfortable here and usually only stay one year or two whereas those who apply themselves to the learning the language tend to stay much longer.

Some English teachers left Japan, while others left the Tohoku area after the earthquake and tsunami. Can you take us through the factors you considered in reaching your decision to remain in Sendai?

Well making that decision process was an emotional roller coaster. When the earthquake first struck everyone was in a state of shock. Due to the lack of information, we were unsure of just how safe we were. The aftershocks kept coming and it wasn’t until 2 days later we heard about the radiation. That’s when we started to consider leaving Japan. The only complications that remained in my mind was what to do about my school and what to say to my wife’s parents. Once I mentioned these concerns, my wife started to question if she really wanted to leave her family behind. Then the Canadian embassy started calling and offered me and my family a bus ride to Tokyo. However, when I found out that this was a one way ticket I began to question the logic fleeing. I read the media reports in earnest and felt that we were far enough away barring a nuclear explosion. Since that was not physically possible at Fukushima I began to feel a little safer. As everyone began to leave the city, I felt that those who stayed would be an invaluable asset in the rebuilding process. Finally my thoughts turned to the business end of things and thought that if I closed my school even temporarily I would lose students and that if other schools would close, my school would be remembered as the only one which kept its doors open and provided a service to the community even in the toughest of times. In fact, I opened my school 4 days after the big quake!

You specialize in teaching very young children. Do you think training courses such as the CELTA or Cert TESOL adequately prepare teachers for working with such students? What do you like or dislike about teaching very young learners of English?

First of all I greatly respect teachers who get CELTA or TESL certifications. Any training is better than none. However, when teaching young learners many other factors come into play besides grammatical knowledge and teaching pedagogy. Teaching young learners requires a combination of knowledge in developmental psychology, early language acquisition and classroom management. A good children’s teacher must be able to assess the children’s moods, motivation and skill levels on a constant basis because the children themselves are ever changing. This brings me to what I love and hate about teaching young learners. Since the children’s attitudes and motivation levels are constantly changing, I must continuously improve or fine tune my teaching skill and methodology. Though I really like this challenge, there are times where I feel I am not doing enough because a game or teaching material that worked well the day before utterly bombs the very next day. When this happens classroom dynamics break down and a good lesson can turn into a bad one in seconds.

Click here for the second part of the interview

The English teaching industry in Japan has, to some extent, been marred by the lack of professionalism of native English teachers. In your experience, do you think some native teachers need to adopt a more professional approach?

Yes, I think so, from my experience. When I was working at another branch, we had a cover teacher, but that teacher, the day before work, had drunk too much, and when he entered the school, the smell was so bad, I couldn’t stand it! A mixture of alcohol and yaki-niku! [fried meat] The classroom was really small, and it was winter time, so we had to close the door. It was terrible – disgusting! I tried to say something nicely, but he didn’t notice. In other cases, during the lesson, teachers have complained to the students about how busy their schedules were! It’s unprofessional to mention those kind of complaints to the students.

Recently the Japanese government enacted a new law making the study of English compulsory at elementary school. For new teachers wanting to come to Japan, do you think teaching children will become much more important?

There is still a balance between children’s and adult’s lessons. They don’t have to focus just on teaching children.

How about teachers who don’t want to teach children at all? Would it be hard to work in an average English conversation school in Japan?

Yes I think so. The language school business in Japan has a tendency to focus more and more on young learners.

At your school, what was the ratio of children to adult learners?

About 65% or 70% were children – so it was the majority. From the age of around two to Junior High level.

For someone who has worked in an English school for a long time, and is also an advanced speaker of English, what do you think are the three most important qualities for a teacher?

A positive personality, patience, and a cooperative attitude with administrative staff.

How important is Japanese ability?

I think, of course, Japanese ability, especially listening ability, to have that ability is better. At my school, for example, the company’s policy was to give lessons in English without any Japanese. But, sometimes, especially when kids fight with each other, if the teacher can at least understand what they are saying, maybe it’s easier to organize the whole class.

So, for discipline reasons, Japanese is useful?

Yes. Also, not only discipline. Sometimes, native speakers don’t realize that the students haven’t understood the lesson. Even one or two words of Japanese will help the students to understand. The teachers don’t have to speak in full sentences – just the keywords.

How important is grammatical knowledge? Not just for teaching children, but for adult students?

It is important. Especially in Japan, in our school days, we first learn reading and writing, we just focus on grammatical things, so some students ask questions about grammatical points such as “why is this sentence correct”. If they do that, I think the native teachers should answer those questions. But if they lack the grammatical knowledge, it’s hard to answer.

Do you personally like to have a grammatical explanation of new language?

Yes. Also, personally, more than the grammatical point, I like to know in what situations I can use words which have very similar meanings – for example, “opportunity”, “possibility” and “chance”. I don’t want to focus too much on grammatical points – more importantly what situations I can or should use certain words as opposed to other similar ones.

Many thanks to Aki for the interview.

What do you think is the biggest cultural difference between foreign language teachers and Japanese members of school staff?

Maybe not only I, but all other Japanese staff working for language schools feel that the big difference is the value… for work

What do you mean by ‘value for work’? Do you mean ‘work ethic’?

‘Work ethic’, yes. Now I understand that, for teachers, maybe private life is more important than their jobs. So, they’d like to completely separate ‘on’ and ‘off’.

Yes, ‘work life’ being separate from ‘private life’ is a very common concept in Western culture.

Of course I understand and respect that way of thinking.. But.. Maybe Japanese people have a really strong responsibility and are dedicated too much to work, so even when I take a day off, if something serious happens, maybe the other school receptionist would call me immediately without hesitation, even though I am off. Then she or he would like to know what to do.

How is that different to the way that a foreign teacher might react in that situation?

Of course it depends on the teacher, but sometimes when I wanted to contact a certain teacher as soon as possible, I would say that I was sorry to bother them, and some people were OK, but others were kind of.. “Why are you contacting me on my day off!”

So work life overlaps into private life for Japanese people? There’s no barrier, or there’s a very thin barrier?

Yes.. Of course now, the situation is getting a little different, especially with the younger generation, who have exactly the same way of thinking as foreign people, but still I think that deep in our hearts, we have that kind of tendency.

You mentioned that the younger generation is adopting a more Western perspective towards work. Do you think that’s a positive thing or a negative thing?

I think a positive thing, because, in my experience, a lot of stress from my work affected my health – while I was working I didn’t think so – but with retrospect, I should’ve divided into private life and working life completely. Then, maybe, I would still be working for the same company. [Aki has since left the company in question]

The average salary for a native English teacher is ¥250,000 per month, or for private lessons, it’s around ¥3000 per hour. For Japanese administrative staff working in English schools, how does that compare?

I think the basic hourly wage for a new member of staff will be around ¥900 per hour, as a part-timer. As the member of staff becomes more experienced, the salary will increase by a little, but not by much, just, I think, by around ¥20 or ¥30 per hour.

Do you have to speak good English to work at an English school?

Well, actually, it depends..! I’m not going to speak ill of some other staff, but not all of us are good speakers of English..!

Is there a minimum qualification in English that you need to work at an English school?

For my company, the job advert said that basic English communication skills for daily conversation were necessary, but it didn’t mention any specific TOEIC or Eiken [Japanese test of English language proficiency] scores.

In your opinion, do you think that one of the benefits for Japanese staff working at an English school is the chance to use English?

Yes! Everyone wants to speak English.. that is why many people want to get that kind of job!

Does that make up for the salary in some respects – the chance to use English?

Yes – especially at my company, married housewives tended to work as administrative staff.. They are not the breadwinners. The husbands are usually the breadwinners.

What percentage of the Japanese school staff, in your situation, were male?

Male school staff are very rare. Less than 5%. I knew only three or four out of about one hundred and fifty.

Customer service is very important in Japan. How does it affect your job as an administrator at an English school?

In Japan, students are customers. We have to look after them, even if they don’t mention any specific complaints. We have to… ‘entertain’ them.

You mean you act as a kind of ‘host’?

Yes, yes, yes! Like a party hostess or something like that!

Do foreign staff also do that?

Some people do that, but it really depends. I think Japanese students understand the difference with the cultural background. I think they don’t expect native teachers to do that kind of thing. They only expect Japanese staff to do that.

So it’s kind of a different set of rules for foreign staff?

Yes. But for Japanese staff, the most important thing is for the teachers to give good lessons to the students. So, even if we notice that difference, we don’t think ‘it’s not fair’. We just accept it. The most important thing is to keep the students.

Click here for Part 2 of the interview

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