Facts About The Japanese

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Miliang Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shangluo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I have decided to write a summative task on this subject because I have some experience and observations in the area. I have observed that many Japanese have extreme difficulty pronouncing many English words correctly. The pronunciation difficulties causes some Japanese people to be reluctant to speak English, due to embarrassment, which compounds the problem. I...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yanping Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shangluo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Why do Japanese tend to have trouble with pronunciations of the English language? In the English alphabet there are 26 letters that represent not just one sound, but multiple depending on how it is used or its placement in a sentence. This is called phonetics. Phonetics is a difficult but important subject of learning to grasp and understand in order to pronounce...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhaocheng Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Linfen Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Japanese and English are two languages that branch from completely different language families. Due to these dissimilarities, Japanese learners of English often have trouble in the classroom. One common area of difficulty is pronunciation. For a multitude of reasons, pronunciation problems arise in the Japanese EFL classroom. One reason students might have...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Bashan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Hanzhong Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Classroom management is one of the most important aspects of teaching and is the key to students’ successful learning. Consequently, how to effectively manage and run classroom becomes the central theme and sometimes the biggest concern for English teachers, especially when facing young learners. There are a variety of settings with different scenarios but since I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several challenges Japan faces when it comes to learning English as a second language. Japanese culture is a bubble. Everything, including their ad signs, TV, games, government, studies, work and even the internet is filled with one language; Japanese. In a world of globalization, where your goods and services can come from literally any part of the globe. Japan is one of the few remaining homogenous cultures where English is still seen as an optional language. As the global economy becomes more global, the English language will likely become less optional, but essential. In addition to the cultural issues, Japan's English curriculum in the school is largely unchanged from the ‘60s according to my Japanese cousins and uncles still living...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Anle Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stop in French. Almost all drivers in North America would know that this means stop because it’s the same octagon red stop sign. In Japan it’s very different, stop signs are triangular with Japanese script on them but, beneath the Japanese, you can...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stopped in French. Almost all drivers in North America would know that this means stop because it’s the same octagon red stop sign. In Japan it’s very different, stop signs are triangular with Japanese script on them but, beneath the Japanese, you can find English subtitles which read ‘stop’. In fact, if you travel anywhere in Japan, the majority of signs and announcements related to travel are offered in Japanese and English. English has been taught in Japanese schools since the American occupation after World War Two. However, according to an EF English Proficiency Index in 2017, Japanese English proficiency is 35th out of...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Classroom management is one of the most important aspects of teaching and is the key to students’ successful learning. Consequently, how to effectively manage and run classroom becomes the central theme and sometimes the biggest concern for English teachers, especially when facing young learners. There are a variety of settings with different scenarios but since I currently teach in Japan, here I would like to focus on the class setting in which all students are Japanese, i.e., of a single nationality who learn English as a foreign language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yumiko F. The typical size of my classes are four to six people and many of the young learners’ classes consist of children of different ages, ranging from the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yangbǎi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Bazhong Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. To begin with, I would like to outline the main differences between the western education system in contrast to the Japanese education system. In general, Japan is a very conformist country as the Japanese way of thinking could be expressed as group thinking in contrast to the western way of individual thinking. From early childhood on Japanese people are taught...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Majia Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Baoji Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. After working as an assistant language teacher(ALT) in Japanese elementary schools for three years, I have come to know some of the problems Japanese learners of English are facing. Three of the problems I noticed would be discussed below. First problem is certainly the lack of similar sounds in Japanese language itself. This should be quite obvious. As it is the case...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is causing many problems in Asian countries which can be seen just by the high demand for English teachers - including ESL teachers. One of the countries is Japan, a country with a good economy and a society well known for their kindness and politeness, but unfortunately also for the low number of English speakers. There are many reasons why English is likely to pose problems in Japan but there are many possibilities to improve the English lessons to offer lessons that help Japanese students to achieve a higher English level. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eileen Cathrin B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. So why is it that Japanese students struggle...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhaoan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yan'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. There are several pronunciation problems that students of English will face in Japan; however, I will focus on two. The first of these problems they face, is the fact that Japanese doesn't not have some of the same sounds in its' alphabet as English does. For example, Japanese does not have a hard R sound; instead it has a sound that is a mix of R and L. So, when...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Bǎihe Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Chengdu Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Even though English is a mandatory subject in Japan, most students end up High School without even a basic level of English. Some facts about this is the measure done by TOEIC that ranked Japan 40 out of 48 countries, and on the TOEFL they score as one of the worst countries in Asia. Teaching English to Japanese native speakers may be a challenging experience with a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several pronunciation problems that students of English will face in Japan; however, I will focus on two. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brandie K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first of these problems they face is the fact that Japanese doesn't have some of the same sounds in its' alphabet as English does. For example, Japanese does not have a hard R sound; instead, it has a sound that is a mix of R and L. So, when students from Japan go to say rice, for many it will come out sounding more like lice. This can cause some confusion as not everyone will understand that this is due to a lack of having this sound in their language and therefore they...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas So, you’ve just finished a delicious meal of sushi at your favorite sushi restaurant in Tokyo. The waitress comes by and leaves the check at your table, you place your money inside, hand it back, and she shortly returns with the receipt. You proceed to place a generous tip on the table to thank her for her wonderful service, and you show yourself out of the restraint, back to the busy streets of Tokyo. Can you spot something that you shouldn’t have done in this scenario? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Most Westerns won’t be able to, as this scenario is perfectible acceptable in the Western part of the world. However,...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Shengrenjian Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yuncheng Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. INTRODUCTION In order to learn a new language, a student should be exposed to it and understand the meaning of it. In addition, the learner should be able to practice and produce it (ITTT, p. 1). Japanese students deal with a variety of issues while learning English. To begin with, the Japanese language has a different writing system, grammar and syntax (FIS,...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Anren Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Chengdu Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I began learning the Japanese language when I was in middle school, around age twelve. Many of my peers thought it strange to decide to choose to learn a foreign language as a hobby; most of my peers at that age were interested in typical pre-teen things: going to the mall, visiting friends, going to local football and basketball games. Looking back, I think my choice...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Yueyang Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Linfen Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Taking a language class can be intimidating because students tend to feel nervous and lose self-confidence in the learning process. I’ve become aware of this through my experiences as both an English teacher in Japan and as a student learning Japanese. Creating rapport through personalized activities is a great way to ease nerves while learning a language and to...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Beiji Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages (which became today’s Spanish, French, Italian, etc). But Japanese (as most Asian languages) was formed from entirely different roots. These fundamental differences mean that the method of learning these languages has a lot to do with memorization and repetitive practice of the Chinese symbols and the words they represent. Which means it is difficult to find any common ground between it...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas For the past four years, I have worked in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) of English. Before this, I had limited experience operating in a conventional classroom, teaching young learners. I trained adults who were self-motivated and designed curricula for vocation institutions. Now, outside of my expertise, here I am teaching at a junior high school – my base school and an elementary school. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Aeika P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The city in which I live is very rural, farming and fishing are traditional careers; and while there is an increase in tourists numbers, more international...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Leiya Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Weinan Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I have had the opportunity to study several foreign languages, some in a formal setting, some self-taught. Through my personal experiences learning other languages I have developed some insights into language learning. I would like to describe some of my experiences, and some of my thoughts on what I have learned from them, and from this course. My first experience in...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Lǚyi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Binzhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Change is coming to the way that English is taught in Japanese public schools. The changes to curriculum by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) increase the teaching of English at all levels of schooling. The goal of this change is, in the words of Ikuko Tsuboya-Newel, founder and chair of Tokyo International School, “The...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In the wake of the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Japan, there has been an increase in elementary school level English classes. As an assistant language teacher half into my fourth year, I have had the rare chance to work the entirety of my time in one elementary school where I have had many great memories. However, being present every day I began to notice that some students were struggling or in some cases, not even trying when it came to English class. Talking with my peers and colleagues from other elementary schools as well as my own, there are some common problems that many students seem to experience in an English class. These problems include learning in a counter-productive environment, inconsistent exposure to the language, and a lack of...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Baihe Muchang? Are you interested in teaching English in Aba Zangzu Qiangzu Zizhizhou —? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Foreign language experience Speaking a second and third language, I believe gives me the knowledge to choose this topic. Originally learning to speak an Asiatic language had allowed me to think about my native language as the sounds it produces along with intonations and the subtleties within English. That being the Japanese have a syllable...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Puxi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Ankang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Japan is a country facing rapid change. Due to an aging population and a scarcity of workers, Japan is opening its borders to foreigners, many of whom speak English. This, along with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, has led to an increase in demand for English teachers. I currently work in Japan, and have had the experience of teaching English to high school Japanese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have had the opportunity to study several foreign languages, some in a formal setting, some self-taught. Through my personal experiences learning other languages, I have developed some insights into language learning. I would like to describe some of my experienc| ITTT | TEFL Bloges, and some of my thoughts on what I have learned from them, and from this course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kim T. My first experience in language learning began at age fourteen with French; by the time I graduated high school I had studied French, German and Spanish as part of my curriculum. The method in use then was ALM, so as a result, I learned language patterns very quickly. However, the only listening materials available were...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations Teaching Ideas Japan is a country facing rapid change. Due to an aging population and a scarcity of workers, Japan is opening its borders to foreigners, many of whom speak English. This, along with the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, has led to an increase in demand for English teachers. I currently work in Japan, and have had the experience of teaching English to high school Japanese students for the past year. Over the course of this year, I’ve learned of many problems that students in Japan face when learning English. Of those, the top three problems for students in Japan are pronunciation, shyness, and large class sizes. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Kaavya P. The phonology of the Japanese language is such that every sound ends in a vowel, save...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been teaching in Japan for over 12 years in three different locations ranging from the southernmost part of Hokkaido to the southern island of Kyushu, where I presently reside. The youngest students I have had were children not even two years of age, whereas my older students were in their seventies. This is a very common situation for those who teach here in Japan; a country where the English boom occurred not too long after they rebuilt their nation following the Second World War. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The Japanese are in love with western culture, especially that of the United States. Due to this, they...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Lingzi Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Zibo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. One of the most important aspects of any language is pronunciation. Learning the dynamics that makes up pronunciation in any language is crucial as it can be one of the determining factor of whether the message you are attempting to communicate verbally in a particular language is clearly understood by the native speaker of that language. According to the Cambridge...  [Read more]