Not all ALTs are the same.

ALT stands for Assistant Language Teacher. They are native English speakers who are required by the Japanese Education System to be placed in all Junior High Schools throughout Japan to help the native Japanese teachers in teaching English.

There are basically two flavours of ALTs. The JETs and the non-JETs.

A JET is typically a fresh-out-of-college graduate who hasn't figured out what they want to do in life yet or an individual taking a break from a career back home. They are hired directly by the government of Japan. They go through a long and arduous application and "screening" procedure and finally arrive to Japan and get placed into their new city after a few weeks of training. Every aspect of their life in Japan ... Read More

I'm sure a lot of the users on the site are either friends of English teachers or English teachers themselves. Those of you who are Englsih teachers have probably come to realize, too late in most cases, my own in particular, that life in a Japanese corporate entity is a little different than anticipated. I thought I had done a significant amount of research before my arrival here. Surprise, surprise, the reality of the situation is a little different. When I originally attended the recruitment drive on my college campus I was awash with altruistic intentions. The recruiters regaled the packed auditorium with tales of educators furthering the goals of Japanese students overseas. I was sold. I graduated and six months, as well as a fifteen hour flight, later I ... Read More

English Teaching in Japan is the new Occupation. I am but one of many soldiers of education. We see each other on the trains every day and recognize each other by our uniforms - shirt, tie, slacks. Rarely do we speak to each other unless to ask the routine questions, such as "Where are you stationed?" or "How many years have you been in the service?" On base, we retreat into our little pocket worlds where, except for little things like not wearing shoes indoors, Japan all but disappears. Here, only English is spoken and it is the Japanese who are, for an hour a week, foreign.

Outside the borders of base camp, however, it's a different story. After teaching our native language for 8 hours out of the day, we spend the rest stammering in Japan... Read More

I am officially an ALT! An Assistant Language Teacher that is. I have spent the last 6 days intensively training to become an English teacher in Japan. Do you know how exhausting it is to sing, dance and play games every day? My childhood flashed before my eyes ? Duck duck goose; Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes; Rock, Paper, Scissors; Old Macdonald had a farm…it was however, extremely amusing to see grown men sing and act out these songs!

I am both excited and slightly nervous about my first class of teaching English. Not only is it my first time teaching, I am doing it another country, whose schooling system and culture is very different to my own in Australia. I will be eating lunch with the children everyday, teaching them ... Read More

My previous job was as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) on the JET program, where I worked in Gunma prefecture at a Junior High School and two Elementary Schools. I spent a year experiencing everything from signing autographs, playing Aussie Rules Football and making speeches in Japanese at school assemblies, to witnessing punch-ups between teachers and students in the staff room, police visits to arrest students, and being told to personally DIE by a lovely female 2nd grade Junior High School student.

I had many expectations about my time on JET, some were met and some were never attainable. However, I learnt a lot about respecting Japanese people and culture, and accepting that there are many things that we as foreigners cannot expect to ... Read More