How to teach English
As Usual It Comes Down to Money (Pictured: a beautiful Japanese mask) I think unfortunately there isn`t enough money ear-marked for education in Japan (like so many countries). A lot of money is spent on the military here--Japan is consistently in the top five in spendingannually. You can check this out and verify it right on the internet. How to Teach English in Japan Is all about teaching English in this very interesting andexotic country. Learn about how to get a great teaching job, where to buy food, how to get a good apartment and
Weapons instead of Education As well Japan is a major producer of weapons. Surely there is tax money available from some of these companies for education. Most public schools here are not even air conditioned! Yesterday it was 34 degrees celsius and about 70% humidity. Pretty tough to study in conditions like these. The kids are actually on holiday right now, but you get my point. There is so much money wasted here on government projects. For example the public works programs are often not necessary but done anyway,as if they aren`t done, each department will lose funding for the next year, so every public works department in every city, does its` darndest to spend all the money in their budget every year. In my town they thought it was a great idea to cement the river! I`m not joking! They wanted to make it look like some kind of European canal. It actually doesn`t look bad but the cost must have been horrific and environmentally I cringe at the idea of fish and cement. The other problem is they have to repair it after every second typhoon. I wonder if they had left it natural if it wouldn`t have been cheaper to maintain? If education is ever given the priority it deserves, Japanese people will speak English well. I digress again, but I also think that how people are educated has to change. It isn`t that we need older (less energetic) experienced teachers. We need to change the focus of education from being able to pass a government test, to being able to speak English well, and to be able to think flexibly and creatively. Japan will need new ideas for the future. Perhaps this last point is the most important one! From How to Teach English to Facts about Japan From how to teach English to Japan Living (home)
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