Repeat, In English

When I first learned that I truly was going to go and live in Japan everyone around me said "You can easily get a job teaching English."

Ugh… that wasn't the case.

Part of me thought the same way. Native English speakers can at least have conversations with Japanese people. The only problem was how to find those people. I learned that Japan has changed drastically over the past several years. As more and more foreigners come to live in Tokyo, English-speaking jobs became more competitive.

From a friend who has lived in Tokyo for ten years, she told me when she first came here random Japanese people would come up to her and ask her to talk to them in English. The Japanese love western-related things, including the people who speak the language. To have an American teach you English was a great achievement to most in Tokyo, especially if they were blond hair and blue eyed. Then she told me as more and more foreigners came to live long-term in Tokyo, less and less people decided to take on private tutoring or turn to schools with certified teachers. This led to many college-students without degrees scrambling to find work elsewhere.

That is the period I live in now. For the first six months I had no chance for work. Thankfully I saved enough money to live on during that time but it worried me that unless I could speak Japanese and English fluently. I wouldn't even be able to get jobs that were labor-related. Now I have learned some Japanese while living here, it's impossible not to, but never enough to hold steady conversations with.

It wasn't until I turned to the internet were job prospects came into light. Craigslist was helpful but not reliable. Though back in America I have enough experience to do almost anything I put my mind to it the Japanese barrier came blocking me while in Tokyo. I thought to try again with English tutoring issuing my service profile online.

For a month nothing…

Then for some reason when I came to my school break I got three offers for trial sessions. Three! I don't know where they came from but I was happy that I could be earning money again.

Now how does someone without a teaching degree tutor English to someone who speaks Japanese but you can't? Easy, one- the Japanese person needs to know some English already. Two- you simply meet up and just have a conversation with the person. You can learn any language in the world but without practice one cannot harness the special techniques. More often than not tutoring equals just having conversations.

For example, I currently meet up with a businessman once-a-week so we can talk about CNN. He watches daily but half the time he doesn't understand most words or phrases, especially when it concerns American news. He works as a programmer so English is an important skill in his career. Although I watch CNN from time to time, I actually have been doing research to help improve his vocab when it comes to US politics and economy. It's like relearning highschool stuff, who knew it would come in handy one day.

My advice when it comes to teaching English, be flexibly in conversational skills. You can't have an interest in everything but know enough to start a conversation that can progress from there. That and be greedy. I know that sounds horrible but if the person is willing to pay for a cafe drink, or transportation, or a trial fee take it as it comes to you. Trust me, it's better than just giving it out for free. That's what having friends are of to have just a conversation.