Japanese and JET

My history learning Japanese goes pretty far back. It certainly feels like I’ve been studying languages in some form or another all my life. I took French all through high school and got pretty good at it, too. The French teacher used to lavish praise on my accent. 

So how did this lead me to JET? It’s actually pretty interesting. Well, to a linguistics geek like me. As anyone who has learned a decent amount of another language knows, you find out more about your native language than you’d ever expect in the course of foreign language study.  It certainly was the case for me.  French may be quite similar to English, but English and Japanese are worlds apart in most ways. In order to really be able to understand the differences, I had to pick English grammar, morphology, syntax, etc. apart as well. I had to learn the functions of things like participles, clauses, tenses so that I could then apply those terms to what I was studying in Japanese. 

I found I liked the ins and outs,  and the technical aspects of English so much, that the idea of teaching English as a second or foreign language appealed to me.  When I learned about the JET program, it seemed to be a perfect marriage of opportunities: I would have the chance both to teach English, and continue learning Japanese.  

In order to give myself every advantage in the selection process (which has over time gotten more and more picky, I hear), I decided to major in East Asian Studies (with Japanese as the language), and to minor in Linguistics. I still don’t find much as satisfying as drawing a grammar tree for a sentence.  In addition,  I also went through an intensive TESOL certification course in New York in 2009. It’s called the CELTA, and I highly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in teaching English.

Evidently those preparations were sufficient, since I am now here in the land of the rising sun.  Still, I know lots of people get chosen who haven’t gone to the trouble of tailoring their education to suit being an ALT (alternate language teacher). But for me, since it really is what I’d call my passion, the effort seemed warranted. Since I figure I’ll continue doing work within this field when I go back to the states, it’ll stand me in good stead in the long run.

But for now, I’m feeling quite content where I am, in the city of Anan, in the prefecture of Tokushima in Japan. And on that note, I think I will make my next post about this city of mine, my daily life, my school, and whatever else seems pertinent.

Here's some pictures of stuff around Anan just to whet your appetites!

Mata kondo.