Advice on being an ALT

I have just come home from celebrating my friend's birthday. She used to be an English teacher and we sat next to each other for a year. During that time we became friends, and although shse no longer teaches with me, I still see her every week because we study together. She studies English and I study Japanese, and we study with the same teacher.

Anyway we were celebrating her birthday and I was talking to all of the teachers we were with. This was an event which I had organised (a fact of which I am proud because there was a lot of Japanese involved) and which a total of 8 people turned up for (including myself). While we were talking, something came to mind. It is something I have been thinking about for a long time. If I were to give any advice to a new ALT coming into this job what would it be? Well here are my thoughts.

1. communication
This is undoubtedly the most importnat thing in my opinon. Your teachers are busy. EVERY day. You may be busy but I can almost guarantee they are busier. so it is up to you to speak to your teachers. Before you start teaching with them, talk to them. Don't ask them vague questions 'what shall we do' etc. These will get you nowhere. As with most things in life you need to be focused. What would you prefer, lessons based on the textbook, lessons based on world/local culture, lessons based on grammar, lessons based on conversation and listening skills?' Maybe not all at once but choosing two or three of the above options to offer as a choice usually works well.

Find out about their teaching techniques. Ask to see their worksheets and see if you can work in something to use with that. For example if the students translate the text into Japanese have a reading race. (this idea is taken from a very talented Miyako High school teacher, however since he doesn't know I am writing this I won't mention his name). What happens is that the students do rock, paper scissors. the loser reads one line of Japanese followed by the winner reading the same line of English. They stand up while doing this and complete the whole text in this manner. When they finish the entire text they can sit down. To add extra excitement to this add a threat. The third last / fifth last etc. students to finish will have to do a forfeit. (Try to avoid always making it the last students becuase if you have a class with signifcantly stronger and weaker students, the weaker will always be punished which is incredible demoralising). This is an example of how to work with the teachers, covering relevant material to the course and still make it fun for the students.

Before each lesson (at least a day before if possible) approach the teacher you are going to work with and talk about the lesson. If you wait for them to come to you, you might be waiting forever. This is something I always try to do (although I do go through stages where I get behind in my work and I end up talking to them an hour before the lesson) and it is something teachers have commented on that they really like. Just to reiterate, your teachers are busy, so approach them, don't wait for them to approach you. This is the same for taking holiday leave. If you ask your ALT coordinator if it is ok to take holiday and a week later you haven't heard anything back, it IS OK TO ASK AGAIN. If they haven't confirmed your holiday with you after a week there is a chance they forgot all about it. After all they are not the ones jetting off to foreign locations.

2. Learn Japanese
Really learn Japanese. It is not just your English teachers who want to speak to you, in all honesty most Senior High School teachers can speak some English but are nervous about doing so unless you show a willingness to try to learn Japanese. The same goes for your students. My students know I can speak some Japanese, but I still pretend not to at times. Most of the time, they play along. However if you study a foreign language you will be more quaified to advise the students how to study and what methods work and don't work. You will also better understand the problems that they may encounter when learning your language, because they will likely encounter the same problems except in reverse.

3. Be prepared to suck at everything.
Well it depends on the country you come from. However the main sports in my area are volleyball, basketball and baseball. 'Soccer' (although I really wish I could convert them to calling it football) is also pretty popular but definitely less so. So anyway three extremely popular sports which I have never played before. Before coming here that is. And what a humilitating experience it was. Volleyball: I managed to hit the ball into my own face. Luckily my sunglasses didnt break. Baseball, I refused to play because it was with my students from the technical high school and they are a bit difficult to control at the best of times. I didnt need the added humiliation. I don't think I could have faced the laughter. Now i regret it. Those students struggle everyday with English. They really hate it and for the most part they aren't good at it either. Thats why their main discipline at school is in other, more practical, areas. If I had played basaeball with them, they would poeeibly have seen that everybody struggles, even their teachers. For these students I think that is important, but it cant be helped, the opportunity passed. Perhaps on that note I would say think about what you might be passing up.

4. Adopt some of the local customs for classroom purposes. For example saying correct and making a big circle above your head with your arms makes it easy for the students to understand the meaning. (in japan they dont use ticks, those are for Nike only, they use circles) for some reason the sound 'ping-pong' works equally well, as does a cross for incorrect with the alternative of a 'boo-boo' sound.

5. Bring your own country to the classroom. MOST students in Japan hate being singled out (there are definite exceptions), so it is better to find an impartial way of choosing a student. For example i like 'eenie-meenie-mineie-mo, catch a tiger etc) You know, those chants you use as children to decide who will be 'it'. In fact some students even ask me to teach it to them after class. They have a version of it in Japan and it fascinates them to know that we have it as well.

6. Be yourself
If you are crazy and off the wall, be crazy and off the wall. If you get angry, find a way to vent it that doesnt involve shouting at the students. I have a friend who swears at her students in a language which the students don't understand. Therefore they obviously are unaware that she is swearing. However, rather humorously, it has resulted in some of them being genuninely interested in the language and asking her to teach it to them.

Why shouldn't you get angry? Because it will get you absolutely zero respect from Japanese students. In Japan the ability to control your emotions is highly valued, and while they dont mind if you are happy and friendly they do mind if you are scary and angry. If you are angry find a way to get their attention in a positive and easy to understand manner. For example all Japanese students know 'OH, my GOD!' and they will often say it to you. If you are Christian try not to get too offended, most of this kind of thing they are just using because they heard on tv and its easy to remember because it is said with emphasis. However you can also use it to show them they are doing something wrong without ruining the class atmosphere. E.g. 'Oh my god, you are soooooo noisy!' Usually they will laugh and then ask what noisy means.