Now Ye're Talking - to an English language teacher in Japan

ancapailldorcha

miamee wrote: »

Even from your post about things you miss, Japan sounds like another world altogether, it's definitely on my list of places to visit. You've mentioned already how safe it is so I assume it would be safe for a female, solo traveller? Even with blonde hair? :pac:

Japan is one of the safest places I've ever been. Our trip went extremely smoothly once there barring an incident where we inadvertently stumbled onto a few red-light districts. A friend of mine described it as "America without the social problems".

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Cheers! I was staying a hotel where a girl who was staying there, teaching English said that I should consider it as I'm 27 (which means I might still be eligible) and have a Masters. She said she spent most of the day chatting.

Perhaps she got lucky with her job. Or, more likely, she was just being a bit glib about what she actually does.

Or perhaps this is what she thinks her job is, but her employers think it is something different. :pac:

I've been involved in training new teachers, and in many cases the company sells the job to them by saying something similar to the above - just chatting, simple stuff, and so on. But the students are almost always hoping for (and paying for) something more substantial.

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

traco wrote: »

Pity this post didn't happen earlier as there is a large group heading out at the end of the month. They might have asked you along to a meeting for a chat and some language / culture pointers.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scouting-Ireland-World-Jamboree-Contingent/132532459032

Ah, well, this is something that Japan usually does very well - if they invite you, they'll look after you.

Not much advice I could have given them except take your shoes off inside and drink loads of water whenever you can.

ancapailldorcha

I'm an English language teacher, AMA wrote: »

Perhaps she got lucky with her job. Or, more likely, she was just being a bit glib about what she actually does.

Or perhaps this is what she thinks her job is, but her employers think it is something different. :pac:

I've been involved in training new teachers, and in many cases the company sells the job to them by saying something similar to the above - just chatting, simple stuff, and so on. But the students are almost always hoping for (and paying for) something more substantial.

It's quite likely that she was being glib. How hard would the work be?

RainyDay

Did you ever go to a Sumo tournament over there? How is it viewed by the masses - as a serious sport or a WWF theatrical farce?

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

celica00 wrote: »

This is brilliant!!!

こんにちは、元気ですか

I dont intend to teach English in Japan or anywhere else but I am currently studying Japanese (still a beginner).

I have a lot of questions, hope it's okay


1) How do experience being foreign in Japanese? I heard they older generation tends to be racist?

2) How long did it take you do speak/understand Japanese people with their slangs/accent's?

3) you mentioned that japanese people find it horrifying to eat rabbit. What else do they not eat but we do? In relation to food: how hard/easy is it for a vegetarian to live there?

4) I am going there for 10 days end of September. Any tourist traps that you can think of to avoid?

5) Do you mind if I ask many more questions since I'm a Japan enthusiast?


Thanks already

こんにちは。はい、元気です！

(1) It is important to point out that out of a population of over 125 million people, only something like 1.6% are foreign. And over half of those are Chinese and Korean, and are not immediately obvious as 'foreign.' Japanese people have had nowhere near the exposure to foreigners that somewhere like Ireland, or anywhere in Western Europe, has had. This might lead to a bit of suspicion or simply mystery about what the gaijin are all about.

Being foreign is often extremes - you are the 'cool' friend simply because it is cool to have a foreign friend, people can get away with lots of faux pas because 'it is difficult for the foreigner to understand Japanese culture', and if you make even the slightest effort to learn the culture or language, you'll be celebrated. (It's when people stop the rather condescending praise of your Japanese ability that you know it is actually getting pretty good).

On the other hand, I had an application to rent an apartment refused once as the owners/landlord simply did not want to deal with a foreigner. Perhaps they thought my presence would lower the tone of the place!

I am not sure that I'd say it is necessarily a generational thing either. Conservatives like Toru Hashimoto (controversial mayor of Osaka) are young, and elected by young people. Shintaro Ishihara (controversial ex-mayor of Tokyo) is old, but still got votes from a lot of young people. Recent disputes with both Koreas and China have stoked a lot of nationalism also.

(2). A long time. Partly because I didn't plan to stick around, so didn't see the point. It was only after I was going to get married and needed a better job that I started making efforts. And even now, some of the local dialects are a mystery to me, as are many slang expressions. But if you have a good grasp of the fairly polite Japanese, there won't be a problem.

(3). Blood sausage or black pudding is another one that some Japanese people found absolutely revolting. Some other things like rice pudding also. I think every culture has a perception of what constitutes acceptable food or not, and while the Japanese would view more things as 'food' those are a couple that they generally don't. Of course, not every Japanese person like all Japanese food either. There are plenty of people who find shiokara just as detestable as I do.
EDIT: I am not a vegetarian, but I heard plenty of complaints from people who were. There are a lot of stocks and sauces in Japanese food, and these will very often be fish/meat based. The staff, however, might easily consider a dish of vegetables in such a sauce to be a vegetarian dish. Vegetarians are rare in Japan, and generally not well catered for.

(4). Hmmm...Yokohama Chinatown isn't worth spending a lot of time in, nor is Hakone in my opinion, as it has kind of gone overboard on the 'we're a tourist attraction' and is one of the few places that you actually feel you are being fleeced. Izu also, but in October there won't be too much going on anyway. Remember that the food is basically excellent everywhere, and you don't need to pay a lot of money to get very very high quality meals.

(5) Feel free to ask as many as you like!

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

miamee wrote: »

Since Japanese is world's apart from English - well I assume so with no knowledge of Japanese - does that make it even more difficult to teach or did you start off teaching people who already had a basic understanding of English?

Even from your post about things you miss, Japan sounds like another world altogether, it's definitely on my list of places to visit. You've mentioned already how safe it is so I assume it would be safe for a female, solo traveller? Even with blonde hair? :pac:

Apart from kids, every adult has had at least 6 years of English teaching. This teaching is, unfortunately, notoriously bad and outdated grammar-translation style stuff in many cases, leaving Japan below North Korea in proficiency levels.

There are yearly attempts to remedy this with new ideas, new books, but they never have much of an effect.

So, the levels can be extraordinarily low. In a language school, the lowest level of textbook might be focusing on grammar like 'There is a pen/There are two pens', and some students will struggle even with that.

As with any student, once you gauge their level, you get a good grasp of what they are likely to understand and tailor your language accordingly. If a student doesn't understand the grammatical difference between 'I opened the door' and 'The door opened', then telling them something like 'open can be both a transitive and intransitive verb', while correct, is just noise to their ears. It's difficult at times, but you get used to it (if you make the effort to tailor and refine your language).

I am possibly somewhat unusual in that I prefer teaching lower levels to higher levels - there are more concrete concepts for them to grasp, and progress is quicker, which makes everybody happy.

For a solo female traveller, even with blonde hair, Japan is as safe as it gets, and 999 times out of thousand, you'll be treated with great courtesy wherever you go.

But don't forget that there are opportunistic people everywhere. Don't neglect basic precautions just because Japan has a reputation as a safe country.

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

It's quite likely that she was being glib. How hard would the work be?

The thing is, it is not really a hard job at all to do fairly well.

If you work on your own knowledge of grammar and work on your explanations/examples, you'll have a lot of the teaching covered.

Then, if you take some time to analyse the kind of language (vocabulary and grammar) students will need to complete a given activity, prepare them properly with that language, and give them meaningful practice with that language, you're basically doing a good job.

So it is frustrating to see teachers who don't bother to do even the basics right, and just go through the motions.

miamee

Thanks for that - the blonde hair comment was probably unnecessary on my part. I've done plenty of travel alone so I know my basic precautions. It sounds great

ancapailldorcha

miamee wrote: »

Thanks for that - the blonde hair comment was probably unnecessary on my part. I've done plenty of travel alone so I know my basic precautions. It sounds great

I'm confused. Blonde hair?

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

RainyDay wrote: »

Did you ever go to a Sumo tournament over there? How is it viewed by the masses - as a serious sport or a WWF theatrical farce?

I never went to a sumo tournament. I seem to be the only foreigner who hasn't been to one.

I simply don't have any interest in it, and I've never been one for doing something just to say I've done it. I've never climbed Mt. Fuji either, for the same reasons.

Sumo is a serious sport, and absolutely viewed as such. It's not coordinated in the way that WWE is, although it was rocked by a match-rigging scandal a few years ago, as a result of which, it was free to attend for a while, as the sport in general atoned for its errors.

ancapailldorcha

I'm an English language teacher, AMA wrote: »

The thing is, it is not really a hard job at all to do fairly well.

If you work on your own knowledge of grammar and work on your explanations/examples, you'll have a lot of the teaching covered.

Then, if you take some time to analyse the kind of language (vocabulary and grammar) students will need to complete a given activity, prepare them properly with that language, and give them meaningful practice with that language, you're basically doing a good job.

So it is frustrating to see teachers who don't bother to do even the basics right, and just go through the motions.

Know the language basically. That's fair enough. I'm likely making it look a lot more intimidating that it is. I've seen ads go on about innovating during lessons, coming up with novel plans and such. Sounds quite difficult and probably more than it actually is.

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Know the language basically. That's fair enough. I'm likely making it look a lot more intimidating that it is. I've seen ads go on about innovating during lessons, coming up with novel plans and such. Sounds quite difficult and probably more than it actually is.

To give an example of a fairly basic lesson idea: take an example like comparisons.

A is ___er / more ___ than B.

That's what today's lesson is to cover. And you have say 4 students.

How do you go about it?

Know your students - what kind of things are they likely to be interested in talking about. Pets? Cars? Holidays?

Then, what kind of adjectives will they use for those comparisons. Cute, easy to feed, quiet / fast, cheap, safe / relaxing, beautiful, hot.

So you can go into a lesson and say 'ok today we are talking about comparing pets and these are the words we will use' or you can go in and ask them what they are interested in, and then get them to choose one or two topics between them. So they choose holidays (get them to choose specific locations for their holidays, hopefully quite different from each other) and....restaurants. Then you get them to think about the kind of words they will need to use, and you'll get something like I've listed above, as well as a new (and fairly predictable) list of adjectives for restaurants. You'll supplement these lists with new words which will be useful for them.

Some explicit focus on grammar, so they know when to use more___ and when to use ____er (make sure you the teacher know when to use them!)

Get them into pairs, pairing up those with fairly different ideas of what constitutes a nice holiday, and they'll have a go at convincing each other that their own holiday idea is better.

The most important point in a lesson like this is to get them to understand what an actual conversation sounds like, which means how to start, respond, and end a conversation - otherwise they're just going to be chanting the comparisons back and forth at each other in a completely unnatural way:

A: I think Kyoto is more beautiful than Okinawa.
B: But I think Okinawa is warmer than Kyoto.
A: But I think Kyoto is closer than Okinawa.
B: But I think Okinawa is cheaper than Kyoto.

and that is what you don't want - an over-emphasis on the target language at the expense of sounding natural - and this is one way a lot of teachers fall down on their teaching.

If you get them to start a conversation properly:

Opening:
So, what should we do about (our summer holidays)?
Do you have any ideas for (our summer holidays)?

Suggesting:
How about (Okinawa)?
I was thinking about Kyoto).
What do you think about (Okinawa)?
How does (Kyoto) sound to you).

Agreeing:
That's true, but...
I see what you mean, but...

Disagreeing:
I don't think so. I think...
Really? I actually think...

Concluding:
Ok, maybe you're right. Let's...
Actually, that's a good idea. Let's...

All that, combined with the grammar itself, will make for a much more natural conversation, and all the sentences can be used just as well for any other conversation about restaurants, pets, etc, by just changing words in brackets -s they should go ahead and have much the same conversation, but try to convince each other of something else.

From the start, the students have had input regarding the content of the lesson in terms of topics to be talked about. They're using known and new vocabulary relevant to those interests. They've spent a lot of time practicing and then producing English relevant to those topics of interest.

That's a satisfactory lesson. And it isn't difficult to prepare or teach.

Vojera

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I'm confused. Blonde hair?

Blondes and gingers sometimes have issues travelling in areas where those hair colours and complexions are rare. There are some beliefs, especially in South East Asia, that to touch the hair of someone fair will bring you luck, so some Western travellers are overwhelmed by local attention. My own friend (who is ginger) found this a significant issue when travelling in China and one person offered her boyfriend money to "buy her time", all because of her hair colour.

Links234

Vojera wrote: »

Blondes and gingers sometimes have issues travelling in areas where those hair colours and complexions are rare. There are some beliefs, especially in South East Asia, that to touch the hair of someone fair will bring you luck, so some Western travellers are overwhelmed by local attention. My own friend (who is ginger) found this a significant issue when travelling in China and one person offered her boyfriend money to "buy her time", all because of her hair colour.

Yeah, you wouldn't really get that in Japan, dyed hair is fairly common, so people wouldn't really look twice at you.

Source: Am blonde, nobody even made a comment about my hair

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

Vojera wrote: »

Blondes and gingers sometimes have issues travelling in areas where those hair colours and complexions are rare. There are some beliefs, especially in South East Asia, that to touch the hair of someone fair will bring you luck, so some Western travellers are overwhelmed by local attention. My own friend (who is ginger) found this a significant issue when travelling in China and one person offered her boyfriend money to "buy her time", all because of her hair colour.

I have red hair but nobody ever offered to 'buy my time'.:(

I have heard from a couple of people who have been in Japan for years that they did have a child or two a long time ago come up and touch their hair, and, in the case of one of them, his black skin also.

I'd say it was out of pure childish wonder at somebody who just looked so different.

ancapailldorcha

What's the dating culture like over there?

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

What's the dating culture like over there?

There is more of a dating culture in Japan than in Ireland I'd say - it's more understood that it is a 'date' rather than just 'let's do something together'. It's a bit more...formal, or organised, maybe.

Dressing up to the nines is imperative, and there will always be a plan, and I mean a plan above and beyond heading to the pub for a pint. It might be a trip to the beach or to some nice sightseeing area, where the two can suss each other out.

By the third date, it's probably accepted that they are now a couple if they plan on having another date. Often this is quite explicitly confirmed by both parties by deciding whether they are in fact tsukiau, or going out/going steady.

The pressure on young people, and girls in particular, to get married and have kids, is tremendous compared to Ireland. I don't have the statistics, but I would not be surprised to find that the average age of marriage is about 5 or 6 years younger than Ireland.


It is probably more conservative in that it would be more understood that it is the role of the male to initiate a date than western Europe say, but in recent years, a new breed of Japanese male has emerged called soushoku danshi, which literally translates to 'herbivore male', indicating their lack of agression/initiative when it comes to women. Rather than get married, have 1.6 kids, and work 14 hours a day for the next 40 years, there are more who want to just get by as 'freeters' - work a few part-time jobs and devote more time to their own interests.


Combine this with more women wanting to focus on their careers, and the result is a massive ticking time bomb of a hole in public pension funds that makes people even more reluctant to get married and subject their future kids to paying an ever-increasing tax burden.


As for foreigners,the white English-speaking male is probably the most desirable of all foreigners over there, but of course the very big hurdle is that so very very few people speak any English at all. A bit of basic Japanese will (obviously) help out immensely.

Phoenix Wright

How is the pay in Japan compared to other countries where similar programmes are common? In your opinion, what are the chances of getting a job in ESOL teaching abroad that pays€45,000-€60,000 (equivalent) a year?

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

Phoenix Wright wrote: »

How is the pay in Japan compared to other countries where similar programmes are common? In your opinion, what are the chances of getting a job in ESOL teaching abroad that pays€45,000-€60,000 (equivalent) a year?

45,000 euros is just over 6,000,000yen at current exchange rates. 500,000yen a month.

A contract position (1 or 2 year contract, renewable up to maybe 4-5 years in total, but definitely no more than that) at a mid-level university would probably bring in 450,000-500,000 a month. Maybe 550,000. I do not think it is possible to make that kind of money any other way, unless you run your own private language school.

Here is one such job, and requirements:

Open Positions for full-time non-tenured Language Lecturers in English (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)

The applicant should:
(1) be a native speaker of English.
(2) possess an MA in TEFL/TESL or the Humanities/Social Sciences.
(3) have a minimum of three published works.
(4) preferably have previous experience of teaching at university/college level.
(5) demonstrate a sense of dedication to the teaching of English as a Foreign Language.

[Remuneration]
To be determined according to the university's established pay scale

The following application documents/materials should be sent by post to the addressee below:
(1) A CV (in English or Japanese) with a recent photo
(2) A list of all publications to date (in English or Japanese)
(3) Two copies each of three major publications
(4) A sample syllabus (or teaching plan) to be written in English, for a one semester university English writing course (comprising fifteen 90-minute lessons)
(5) An essay of approximately 1000 words in English, outlining all past teaching experience and proposed future methods for teaching, in the case of selection for the position, at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

To earn the kind of money you are talking about, this is what you're looking at.
Also, Japanese employment law dictates that if a person has been working full-time for 5 years, the next contract offered to them must be a permanent position, not another 1-year contract. So nobody gets to stick around for more than 5 years, and usually only 4.

The other way to go about it is to work part-time at a number of different universities. If a person is hired directly, rather than through a recruitment company that takes a chunk of their salary, and teaches 4 lessons a day, 5 days a week, they could come out with 500,000 a month. More if they work evenings and weekends. Some universities pay even for months when the part-time teacher isn't working, some only pay for teaching months. Requirements for these positions are much less strict, and there are plenty who have no teaching qualifications at all.

There are teachers who do live like that - they don't want the meetings, office hours, project supervision, and so on that comes with contract work. They might have 20 lessons a week at 5 different universities but if they can choose their own textbook for ther classes, you can almost guarantee they'll have the same book for every day of the week, and only need to plan a couple of lessons, to be taught at all the universities.

One other advantage of this lifestyle is that there are no contract limitations - you can go back year after year.

Finally, there are some teachers who have a full-time contract position (which usually stipulates 4 teaching days and one research day) and use their 'research day' at one university to work part-time at another university. That's another way to increase income.

Tombi!

My knowledge of Japan is limited to films and some reading online so most of my questions are about stereotypes.

Do kids there (as in around 7-8 onwards to secondary school age) actually study martial arts a lot or is that just "every Japanese person knows martial arts" thing?

Is video game culture/arcades really as big as I think? In a lot of shows/reading/documentaries I see huge neon lights, dance dance revolution machines, arcades and whatnot in the cities. I imagine it's a bit like any major city in Ireland, you've got your main "town" and then a bit of everything else.

I read that a lot of Japanese people, at least in major cities, love using their English. Did you find that to be the case?

Did the fact you can speak Japanese help in getting Japanese people to trust you? In terms of "the gaijin speaks Japanese, I'll be more helpful to him)?
If so, would you say it applies to people who speak little Japanese beyond a few polite phrases (as in tourists)

Are manga/anime fans viewed as odd? By "fans", I mean really hardcore into the stuff. I was told by a friend of mine that (Japanese parents, lived in England) that when he went on holidays, he noticed that a lot of them were considered oddballs, kinda like nerds but a bit more "disgust" thrown at them.

Have you ever visited a hostess bar? If so, could you describe (within the rules of course) how it was? I know you mentioned them being run by criminal gangs mostly but I've always imagined them as some sort of bar but with nice women that give you company, non sexually. Kinda like how on a night out you meet some people and hit it off.

Speaking of alcohol, is there really a large amount of alcohol abuse (not alcoholics, mind you) for low ranking white collar workers?

Sorry for the amount of questions but cheers for doing this.

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

My knowledge of Japan is limited to films and some reading online so most of my questions are about stereotypes.

Do kids there (as in around 7-8 onwards to secondary school age) actually study martial arts a lot or is that just "every Japanese person knows martial arts" thing?

Is video game culture/arcades really as big as I think? In a lot of shows/reading/documentaries I see huge neon lights, dance dance revolution machines, arcades and whatnot in the cities. I imagine it's a bit like any major city in Ireland, you've got your main "town" and then a bit of everything else.

I read that a lot of Japanese people, at least in major cities, love using their English. Did you find that to be the case?

Did the fact you can speak Japanese help in getting Japanese people to trust you? In terms of "the gaijin speaks Japanese, I'll be more helpful to him)?
If so, would you say it applies to people who speak little Japanese beyond a few polite phrases (as in tourists)

Are manga/anime fans viewed as odd? By "fans", I mean really hardcore into the stuff. I was told by a friend of mine that (Japanese parents, lived in England) that when he went on holidays, he noticed that a lot of them were considered oddballs, kinda like nerds but a bit more "disgust" thrown at them.

Have you ever visited a hostess bar? If so, could you describe (within the rules of course) how it was? I know you mentioned them being run by criminal gangs mostly but I've always imagined them as some sort of bar but with nice women that give you company, non sexually. Kinda like how on a night out you meet some people and hit it off.

Speaking of alcohol, is there really a large amount of alcohol abuse (not alcoholics, mind you) for low ranking white collar workers?

Sorry for the amount of questions but cheers for doing this.

No, not every kid does martial arts. Not that many actually do, I think. Sports clubs are an integral part of school, especially after primary, and the teams are often a big deal. I know somebody who became a junior high school teacher just so he could be a table-tennis coach. Baseball is by far the most important sport, but kids play a wide range of sports. Martial arts is just one of these. I think at that age that most kids would practice martial arts ouside of school, but I'm not sure.
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I have no interest in video games/arcades, but there are definitely more of them there (proportionally) than in Ireland. Video games not that much, as so many games can be played online with friends from a home computer/console. Arcades are popular, and there's a wider range of games too - horse-racing games with actual plastic and metal horses jerking their way round a track, digital fishing games, boxing games that track your movement, very elaborate coin drop games (where one pushes another than pushes another and maybe some drop) - these will also have a digital aspect, such as one coin that drops in the right place might trigger a digital slot machine, and if it hits three 7s or fruits or whatever, the machine pumps out dozens or even hundreds more tokens. Maybe these exist everywhere, I really don't know. Lots of slot machines too. You can usually leave your tokens there until you go back again.

I went there rarely but one time I won a whole load of tokens on the elaborate coin drop game - I mean buckets of tokens. I took them to the counter, but they were worthless. It was only later that I learned there is usually an 'independent' business nearby which takes in tokens and hands out cash. But, nothing to do with the arcade, you understand!
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You do get a lot of people trying to use the few words they have on you. It's fine with me - they were often happy to buy me a drink while doing so. It was only an issue if they stuck around too long/their English was really bad, and it ended up like a lesson. Some other foreigners had no tolerance for it though, which is fair enough really. There was sometimes a lot of false modesty in it too, pretending they had only a few words while trying to impress their mates/girlfriend.

I think that it probably helps them to take you more seriously - you've made an effort, and they respect that. I'm not sure if it is an issue of trust, as much as respect. Also, they can simply understand you and your position a bit better too, which can't hurt. It's quite possible that people who felt the Japanese didn't trust them when actually it just wasn't clear to people what they were trying to say, and, almost without exception, they will not ask if they don't understand.

That really applies to people living and working there - they would have very little expectation that a tourist could speak any Japanese and would be delighted to hear anything beyond the most basic set phrases. But perhaps I don't fully understand what you mean by trust.
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Although people who are not interested in manga/anime (like me!) might just class everything as manga/anime, they are incredibly varied genres and different sub-genres have their own fans and critics. Certainly, they can be viewed as a bit strange when they seem to be a bit obsessed about it (there is even a word for them, otaku, which is supposed to be pejorative, but is sometimes used proudly for self-identification). But not as much as here in Ireland, where the understanding generally is that comics and animation are for kids and what are you still interested in that for, and what's wrong with you? In Japan they're for everybody, and there isn't really any stigma attached until there seems to be an obsession. It would also depend on the content though - some of it is fairly sick, with youngish girls being sexually dominated and similar. While all the porn DVDs/images are hidden in the adult section, all the manga is out front and centre.
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I have been to a hostess bar only once. I'd only been in the country a few months, and it was a nightmare. I was out drinking and bumped into a student, who suggested we go, so we did. I ended up paying for both of us, so we got put a booth in some basement bar with two girls, one for each of us. They poured our drinks, lit my cigarettes (I smoked then) ad would have chatted flirtaciously with me, except neither of us spoke more than a few words of the other's language. It was agony,and the hour dragged on forever. Looking back on it, it must have been even worse for her, as she would have been under pressure to be a good hostess. They were probably desparate for somebody who had a few words of English to push at me. She couldn't say anything other than her name and where she was from.

I was delighted to get out of there, and never went back. But hostess bars range from places where sex acts are likely to places where the girls need to be up to speed with the latest business and political stories. In business negotiations, a trip to a hostess bar is guaranteed, and the seller will treat the buyer for the night (an incentive for them to buy from that seller). The girls' job would be to help generate a positive atmosphere beneficial to the seller, and be able to comment on the general conversation. Those places can make an absolute fortune.

In between are places where guys go to talk to somebody and enjoy the attention from girls who offer a sympathetic ear. There are also host clubs, where guys get extraordinarily well paid to sit and offer a kind ear to women who want to enjoy the attention of a handsome young man. It's all business though, once the time is up, off you go, and the next crowd come in. Generally, sex with clients is officially frowned upon though, as it's apparently bad for business. You want to keep them coming back for more I suppose.
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There is very visible alcohol abuse. Drunks, and I mean practically comatose drunks, lots of them. Again, there is a safety aspect to it - you can get plastered, fall asleep on the street, and you'll still have all your belongings with you when you wake up. Very rare to see girls like that though - mostly guys who were drinking with other guys. There are lots of drinking games which seem specifically designed to get people plastered. And as about 25% of the population lacks an enzyme that helps process alcohol, they get pissed on half a pint, or a glass of wine.

And for low-ranking workers, well, if their boss says lets go drinking, then drinking they go, and that's that. Many times I've seen a bunch of young guys sitting miserably at a table in a bar, waiting for their boss to wake up. Once he wakes up, he'll go home, and once he goes home, they can go home too.

Vojera

Are the concepts of honne and tatemae really that big a deal? If so, does it get frustrating when you know people aren't saying what they really think? And as a Westerner, do you get a reputation for being a bit "out straight" with things?

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

Vojera wrote: »

Are the concepts of honne and tatemae really that big a deal? If so, does it get frustrating when you know people aren't saying what they really think? And as a Westerner, do you get a reputation for being a bit "out straight" with things?

Yes, a big deal, although I don't always agree when the Japanese go on about as a uniquely Japanese cultural attribute (But I say nothing, because of tatemae:pac:) If I am frustrated that they aren't saying what they really think, they are equally frustrated with me for putting them in a position where the facade becomes a bit more obvious.

In a place where so many people live in such close proximity to each other, and the need to save face is so important, steps for avoiding conflict are important. But a lot of it is based on a shared cultural understanding, with things left unsaid but where the implications are clear.

But, to Mr. and Ms. Foreigner, the cultural understanding is not shared, and the implications are not clear, so Mr. and Ms. Foreigner have to be a bit more explicit than is normally the case, and get a reputation for saying things and being 'direct'.

Just as an example, if a guy asked a girl to go to a movie with him on Friday night, her answer might be "Friday night........" spoken slowly in a rising intonation, with a pause after it. Now, this is clear as day - she is saying 'no'. But to a foreigner it isn't clear as day at all, and sounds like she is still thinking about it. Instead of responding with something like 'maybe some other time', the foreign guy will just be waiting for her to answer. So she will be forced to be quite direct and say something like 'sorry, but I can't/I'm busy' and now the foreigner understands, but she feels a bit put out about having to be so blunt to the 'direct' foreigner.

I think that every culture has something like that - we all, to a fair extent, try to avoid conflict, losing face, embarrassing somebody, although the Japanese take it a bit further.

Although, an Irish engaged couple inviting a whole load of people to a wedding even though they don't really care about those people, and those people feeling obliged to go to the wedding even though they don't care really care about the couple, is pure Irish tatemae.

It is possibly linked to the uchi-soto culture of showing respect to those outside your own close circle of family/friends - this respect need not be sincere, but it works to maintain proper social harmony.

Vojera

Thanks! I hope you don't mind if I wreck your head with more questions.

When we're hearing about things like hikikomori in the west (and the fact that such a word even exists) and the immense pressure that is on young people to succeed, to get into the best schools, etc., I imagine that stress on students is a huge problem. Did you see any attempts to tackle this issue? In your position as an educator were you ever told to look out for signs of students having a hard time with all that was expected of them?

Or even among older people, is there any attempt to deal with the stereotypical salaryman who lives only to work?

I've also heard that (like Ireland) there used to be an expectation that women would not really work once they were married. Has this mostly dissipated now?

celica00

Thank you so much for answering my questions earlier (and with so much information, that's so great!!)

I have more questions

1) Do they really not like tattoos on people? I heard that this is still a gang/prison thing and they are still conservative about it?

2) I suppose this questions depends if you are interested in those kind of things but did you ever get involved in the car scene over there? Visited a motor/car show etc?

3) Another car question: is it easy to rent a car there and just go and drive (except for Tokyo maybe)

4) Would you go back again to Japan considering you know now so much about their culture and how it is to live there?

5) Do Japanese people come to Ireland/Europe as well as tourists and do they ever talk about it and if they like it or not?

6) last but not least: do many people speak English in Japan? And could you casually as well start conversations like here or is this rude? (since they have many ways of being polite and not sure if talking in English is polite enough?)

Thanks again

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

Vojera wrote: »

Thanks! I hope you don't mind if I wreck your head with more questions.

When we're hearing about things like hikikomori in the west (and the fact that such a word even exists) and the immense pressure that is on young people to succeed, to get into the best schools, etc., I imagine that stress on students is a huge problem. Did you see any attempts to tackle this issue? In your position as an educator were you ever told to look out for signs of students having a hard time with all that was expected of them?

Or even among older people, is there any attempt to deal with the stereotypical salaryman who lives only to work?

I've also heard that (like Ireland) there used to be an expectation that women would not really work once they were married. Has this mostly dissipated now?

Yeah, there is huge pressure on a lot of children. To get into a good company on a well-paying job, you want to have graduated from one of a small number of of good universities. To get into these universities, you either take a horribly difficult entrance exam, or you go to the associated high school that feeds directly into them, no exam needed. To get into the high school you need to get into the associated junior high school, and so on, and younger it goes still.

I don't want to simplify what I'm sure is a complex condition, but yes, hikikomori is often an extreme reaction to that kind of social pressure.

Like many things, i think the Japanese government wants to be seen to be tacking the problem as much as it actually wants to tackle the problem. If the government can point to a report it commissioned, and a 5-point plan it created, then it has covered its ass in terms of criticism. Like many things, it's viewed as a family issue, to be resolved (or just hidden) within the family.

The university I worked at was not a very high standard - if we compare it to CAO applications, it would often be the lowest/last on the list. The last resort. (That would be true of all the faculties apart from the education faculty - the university had a reputation for producing good teachers, especially at junior high school level).

So those students were not really all that stressed - they had, to a certain extent, already missed the boat. Any expectations that might have been weighing on their shoulders had, for the most part, been lifted. There were students who struggled to do the work/felt under pressure, but not of the kind I mentioned earlier.

The stereotypical salaryman who lives only to work is still admired (and hopefully emulated) by a fair swathe of the population. Producing more workers with similar attributes is important to keep the economy going. Raising children and running a household is very much the woman's job, so he should do his job and go to work.


In recent years, economic realities have brought about some changes, but it is still generally true to say that the other side of this is that if you do get a job, the company will pay you reasonably well for life. You have a job for life. You have a decent pension after you retire. Mortgages are way lower than Ireland. If you are willing to join the salaryman rat-race, you may not get rich, but you wont, for the most part, have any serious financial worries in life. That is quite a motivating factor.


When i worked in a language school, I heard plenty of housewives say that they dreaded their husband's retirement as they had gotten so used to him being out of the house basically all the time, and didn't know what they would do with him around so much.

No, I wouldn't say it has dissipated that much. A man's job is still to go out and work and provide money for the family, and the woman's job is to raise the family. That would still be far more entrenched than in Ireland. The idea of a stay-at-home dad and working mother could bring real embarrassment, or even shame, to the husband and his side of the family.

There was a book I flicked through in a book shop a few years ago. It was a collection of editorials, or columns, or something, from a well-known magazine or newspaper or something like that. One of the pieces was about a man who worked 7 days a week, leaving home at 5.30 and returning home after 11 every single night. In it, when he talked about his hopes for the future, one of them was that he would see his kids awake more often. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

eviltwin

My 18 yr old is a huge fan of all things Japanese and wants to go backpacking for a year, she speaks the language well enough but like most students wouldn't have much money or many skills....is she mad to even consider it?

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

celica00 wrote: »

Thank you so much for answering my questions earlier (and with so much information, that's so great!!)

I have more questions

1) Do they really not like tattoos on people? I heard that this is still a gang/prison thing and they are still conservative about it?

2) I suppose this questions depends if you are interested in those kind of things but did you ever get involved in the car scene over there? Visited a motor/car show etc?

3) Another car question: is it easy to rent a car there and just go and drive (except for Tokyo maybe)

4) Would you go back again to Japan considering you know now so much about their culture and how it is to live there?

5) Do Japanese people come to Ireland/Europe as well as tourists and do they ever talk about it and if they like it or not?

6) last but not least: do many people speak English in Japan? And could you casually as well start conversations like here or is this rude? (since they have many ways of being polite and not sure if talking in English is polite enough?)

Thanks again

(1) Tattoos are a statement of who you are (gang member, etc) or just a statement of general toughness. More recently, they are kind of a sign of a rebellious nature - rebelling against the social norm that you should not have one. Yeah, people are fairly conservative about them, and getting one would be a source of real disagreement in a family.

In lots of places you'll be forbidden entry if one is visible (especially if you don't make much of an attempt to hide it). This could go for Japanese and foreigners alike. In public baths and hot springs this is often strictly enforced.

(2) I have no interest in cars (this AMA seems to be me saying I have no interest in a lot of stuff!) so I can't really comment on that, sorry. Those places/events exist, and there are loads of people interested in them. I know nothing about them though.

(3) Yes, it is possible to rent a car even on an international license, and Japan is a fairly easy place to drive around in,even in Tokyo. Places are generally well sign-posted and in English too. Outside the cities, there may be a bit less in English, but it will still be easy if you just compare the kanji on your (hopefully bilingual) map to the kanji on the road signs. Roads are excellent all over the place. Most motorways have tolls. Bear in mind though that the train system is so amazing that most people, even on weekend getaways, tend to use the train. Also, there will be traffic jams in and out of major towns/cities at peak times.

(4) There is every chance we will go back there in the future. It will all depend on where I can get a good job, and that is obviously one place where my experience will be an advantage.

(5) The Japanese love travelling. Love it. They tend to do it in package tours a lot - 40 or 50 people together with a guide, rather than strike out by themselves, although this is more true of older people than younger. If there is an actual list of the most common foreign destinations for Japanese tourists, then I'd guess that Hawaii, Australia, California (especially San Diego for some reason), Paris, England, Guam, Korea would be somewhere on the list.

Ireland doesn't feature high on that list at all. Most people think it is part of England, or simply do not have any idea where it is. There are of course some who do -maybe through interest in music, literature, or similar. I worked at a school in Matsumoto for a period of time, and on my first day a student came racing over to me, so excited to meet somebody from the land of Sharon Shannon.

Generally, people will have positive things to say about their foreign trips, but those to say mainland USA or England will usually have them complaining about the bland food and poor transport.

(6) No,very few people speak English in Japan. It's not like Malaysia or Singapore where most people leaving school can have a conversation, even if it is quite basic. In Japan, very few people can do even that. You could try and strike up a conversation in English, and they might want to join in, but simply not have the language level to do it. I don't think it has much to do with politeness though.

I actually think that for some people who can speak English, they view it as a way to escape temporarily the social norms of Japanese and say what they actually feel like saying. The 'outsider' status of most English teachers helps also - we won't be popping up elsewhere in their lives. The example I mentioned in an earlier post about the women who said they feard their husbands' retirements - there is no way they would have had the freedom to say this to anybody except the closest of friends, and their English teacher, with whom their relationship is kind of 'outside' the rest of their life.

I'm an English language teacher, AMA

eviltwin wrote: »

My 18 yr old is a huge fan of all things Japanese and wants to go backpacking for a year, she speaks the language well enough but like most students wouldn't have much money or many skills....is she mad to even consider it?

Not mad at all. It's a great idea, and I'm sure she'd love it. As well as speaking the language, Japan is a good and safe place to do this.

She'll need proof of a certain amount of money to get a working holiday visa, something like 4 grand, so the embassy knows she won't go broke there.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it's possible to just arrive, get a place at a cheap hostel, and look for bits of work here and there. She would be close to the bottom rung of the ladder, but there is always work for English language teachers - I provided a link earlier in the thread. If she wants to work a bit here and there, something like a 120-hour TEFL course before she leaves would help her up the ladder a bit, but at 18, I'm not sure if she would qualify.

Of course, she could get the working holiday visa and just not work at all, and just go backpacking. I don't know what kind of cash you'd need for a year of that though.


Or she could just go on a holiday, and if it is under 90 days she doesn't even need a visa - it is also technically possible to have this extended at an immigration centre so that it doubles to 6 months in total, but I do not know if it is merely a formality or not.