Applying for 2019

[mothy]

Well there is the vague goals of "internationalization" and "promoting Japan abroad" for which I see little evidence that JET is to thank for any progress in those areas. However, I acknowledge those things would be hard to measure so there's a chance it's been successful in those things.

[mothy]

The whole, "they waste money elsewhere so why worry about this waste" argument is pretty silly to me.

[Jiggit]

Agreed, they're vague, but then again, that doesn't mean they're worthless. At least JET sends people out to the boonies to talk with kids who otherwise might never meet or at least really talk to a non-Japanese person for most of their formative years. It's a pity Japan attracts such a large proportion of weirdos who misrepresent the countries they're from, I suppose.

What I'm trying to say is that the goals of the Japanese education system clearly have little to do with providing students with functional English ability. So imagining some sort of alternative reality where they spend the money from the JET programme on giving better training to Japanese teachers is meaningless if the teachers are still restricted by the same system.

[mothy]

And I'm the jaded one.

[Jiggit]

Hey, you're putting words in my mouth!

I mean, I'm not saying Japanese education is different to or worse than other countries. How much Spanish or whatever did you speak on graduating high school? I spoke fuck all French, that's for sure. How much of what you learned at school do you use in life now, for that matter? School is basically about making kids into normal people who can interact with others and function in society. Second to that is getting them decent jobs at the end of it all. And I suppose every few kids in a hundred actually need or want to speak English some time in the future. That's not "jaded", that's realistic.

Now if you wanted to really be jaded you could say it's largely about keeping people off the unemployment figures for as long as possible...

[Popapop2]

Having not experienced the JET program and only reading about it, I myself can't speak fully to if its money well spent or not. Surely they are ways to make it better investment for the Japanese government, and I'm sure that they're are equally number of ways to improve the English education system in Japan. But the ways to judge and to reform are hard.

Perhaps Monty is recalling my jaded comment, which was purely in jest. I'm sure there just as many people who look back at JET with rose colored glasses, actually there are probably more people who look at it that way who've never applied.

An interesting debate though nonetheless.

[word]

Hey, you're putting words in my mouth!

word's what?

I mean, I'm not saying Japanese education is different to or worse than other countries. How much Spanish or whatever did you speak on graduating high school? I spoke fuck all French, that's for sure.

No argument here. I can barely remember any Spanish--handful of words, few conjugations, words have genders, etc. I only had the required two years, tho. A high school friend of mine took all four years offered, traveled to Spain for a few months, and is now quite fluent, so I'm probably just a dumbf*ck. I met plenty of my equivalents in Japan (and my friend's), so it's pretty clear I have no one to blame but myself. I encourage my Spanish-speaking students to use Spanish as much as possible in my classroom, though.

How much of what you learned at school do you use in life now, for that matter? School is basically about making kids into normal people who can interact with others and function in society. Second to that is getting them decent jobs at the end of it all. And I suppose every few kids in a hundred actually need or want to speak English some time in the future. That's not "jaded", that's realistic.

word

I do still think Japanese schools do a better job of producing Japanese citizens than American schools do of producing American citizens. FFS look at the average American.

[Popapop2]

Language learning and retention are hard.

[mothy]

I think good citizen and actually learning aren't mutually exclusive though, so in the end you still have to judge how well they're teaching the subject. The amount of demand for english training outside the classroom speaks to the failure of the system. Of course some people don't learn in every system, and need and desire plays into it. But when there's a whole secondary system of english education that has grown up into a thriving industry solely because the demand for learning english is so high- I don't think lack of need and desire explains this level of poor performance. And we're not talking about a couple of years of classroom english, so not sure the example of HS french or spanish in other systems is a good correlation. We're talking 6 plus years of classroom education. This all adds up to something having gone horribly wrong.

[word]

TBH I don't disagree; there are some valid points there. No school I attended ever attempted to implement Spanish instruction anywhere near the level that even sh*tty Japanese schools attempt English instruction (Texas, for example, which not only has many Spanish-speaking residents, but also borders a large, relatively wealthy, industrialized, largely peaceful nation in which the vast majority of the population speaks Spanish, only requires two years of foreign language during high school, and many schools offer stupid language choices like Latin or French).

I do think there should be some tough conversations taking place within the Japanese educational system regarding accountability in regards to English education. I don't blame JET, nor anyone who wanted to try something like JET, but... yeah, you make some good points.

[Jiggit]

But the English education outside the classroom isn't teaching anything different in the school; it's still just teaching kids how to pass tests. And as long as those tests don't change to require students to possess functional English communication skills, it is a waste of time for schools to teach that. At least, as long as Japanese people continue to possess the opinion that tests are the ultimate determiner of a person's abilities and the University one graduated the ultimate measure of their value as an employee.

What I'm saying is you could fire all ALTs tomorrow and pour the money into funding education of Japanese teachers, and it wouldn't make much of a difference so long as the other systems didn't change. I've known plenty of young, enthusiastic Japanese teachers who have lived abroad, speak great English and took courses in education at Uni. They still teach the same basic kind of grammar/reading focused lessons as the crap teachers who barely speak any English

[Popapop2]

That's true lasting problems won't be solved overnight, but I have read somewhere that perhaps after 2020 the Japanese government will start making cuts to JET since they had the ramp up for the Olympics. Perhaps afterwards they'll seek to return it to the levels of the 2000s or perhaps try to make it more efficient. Or perhaps in attempts to make it more efficient it will only go to make matters worse.

[Popapop2]

Well the US application portal just launched today. Due date is November 17th.

[Popapop2]

If any one would like to get out their reading glasses and read over my SOP I would greatly appreciate it. No pressure though if no one wants to, I'm sure I can find others to do it as well.

[par92186]

So I haven't posted since I left Japan in 2015/16. But liked this question, so I'll throw some skin in the game with a repsonse...

Personally, I enjoyed my time on JET.

If I had to grade the overall experience...

JET Application Process: D
JET Interview: C
Placement: B+
Housing: D
School: B+
JET Friends: A+
Social Life & Events in Prefecture: B+
Japanese food (meat eaters): A


For context, the JET application and Interview process were brutual. I mean 6+ months of b.s. nearly made me wash my hands of the whole mess - but I invested too much time to give up. You shouldn't give up either.

I was placed in Shizuoka-ken and had a small tribe of great friends. My job placement and housing definitely was a downer compaired to others, but I only stayed a year and just grinded it out. I was already going on my third year living overseas before JET, so this was the tail end of my ESL teaching career. I knew I was out after the one year contract.

My school was a an academic high school with some amazing students! I didn't get along with some of my JTE's, but I did what I could to not make waves and worked my tail off to earn the respect of the other Japanese teachers - this was a lot harder than I thought, but worth the effort in the end. Fortune favors the bold.

JET is all about what you put in and how open-minded and flexible you are. Japan is not your home country. Don't treat it or expect it to be that way. Seek first to understand a problem and find solice in knowing you're not the first to go through it.

There are times were you will be lonely, cursing the heavens for even thinking of applying, but then you'll have beautiful random acts of kindess that will remind you of why you came in the first place. Those are the moments you'll remember and miss the most when you leave - I can assure you of that.

Be mindful. Be prepared. Be flexible.

...

ps: don't be a dick. JET can be your best friend or worst enemy. People gossip - so don't be someone's excuse to throw your ass in the under the bus.

[Popapop2]

Thank you for sharing your experience, it was very enlightening and I always enjoy listening to them all - good and bad.

[Popapop2]

Well I've done it. I've finished everything I needed to do, got my references, documents, and the lot. I've now submitted my application. yey. I'm glad I don't have to do anything for a while now.

[SomePeopleJustSaySnow]

Good luck Popalyp. I don't know who or what you are, but you've managed to write more than two coherent sentences in a row. That alone makes you a better pick than my first co-ALT, and she somehow got it.

[Popapop2]

Hahahaha, thank you. I hope to get in and show them I am at least competent. And of course, I would like to be the newest ITIL JET ALT.

[mothy]

ITIL JET ALT.

JILT IT LATE
TJ IE ALL TIT