ELT World Japan

How do you deal with characters you can't read at first sight? How much time do you waste on looking for the information you need about just one
single character? The greatest difficulty most foreigners have to deal with when they learn Japanese is the writing system.
How many days, weeks or even months have you already spent looking up characters in dictionaries?
But there is good news: You can stop wasting lots of precious time. The handy "Kanji Reader" is a pocket device that can give you relief
and much of your time back. Just scan the character, and it will take no more than 2 seconds to understand the reading - and the
English meaning of the character.

2 minutes turned to 2 seconds

A Kanji Reader user writes about his experience  I  (by Sammy Makkawi)

I started being interested in the Japanese language when I learned about one of the Japanese traditional arts - calligraphy. I was moved by the
Japanese writing system with its thousands and thousands of characters. While attending lectures at a university, I started learning Japanese
all by myself. But it proved to be very hard to just learn the 100 most basic characters at the beginning. To find a character in a dictionary, it's necessary to search
by radicals and stroke numbers, which can easily take up to two minutes per character. And so it happens quite often that people forget where
exactly in the text they were or what the text was about. 

At last, I was finally relieved from this ordeal when I started using the Kanji Reader. I just move the pen-shaped device over words and
characters I don't know, and two seconds later I get the reading and the meaning. Now I can smoothly read books. The device contains a vast
amount of entries, so using this is exactly like using a normal dictionary. I went through the painful process of learning the language through
checking conventional dictionaries, which makes me understand the value of the device, thinking "why didn't this exist earlier?"

Looking up a dictionary in a blink of an eye - more than 3,000 characters on record

Just by gliding over the word, the reading and meaning shows up. Kanji Reader contains Sanseido  dictionaries, which have always been
popular in Japan. Adding to more than 3,000 characters, the integrated dictionary offers: around 83,000 entries in English-Japanese,
around 77,000 entries in Japanese-English and around 72,000 entries in the Japanese-Japanese dictionary (Kokugo).

A Kanji Reader user writes about his experience  II  (by Sammy Makkawi)

The Kanji Reader can deal with both horizontal and vertical writing. Switching between these modes can be done with one hand -
simply by pressing one button. I was not sure if I could really make use of this high-tech device, but I got used very quickly to the speed and
the angle at which the text needs to be scanned as well as in using the menu on the display. The more you use the device, the more
you can make use of it, and I'm already at a level where I enjoy the device as if it were a toy.

Unmatched usability thanks to single-handed operation

Switching between vertical and horizontal writing, various dictionaries, history function etc. can all be done with just one hand.

A Kanji Reader user writes about his experience  III  (by Sammy Makkawi)

I particularly like the history function.  Previously searched words are stored automatically, and the last 80 searched entries will be shown in a new order,
which definitely helps when revising them. Because of this function, I soon started to use Kanji Reader not only for characters, but also for
getting on with learning Japanese. The dictionaries correspond to Level 2 of the Kanji Aptitude Test, so I'm working towards taking the test. 


Using the history function to revise

Up to 80 of the last searched items are stored automatically, making it an ideal tool for revising words and characters later. 

A Kanji Reader user writes about his experience  IV  (by Sammy Makkawi)

Thanks to the compact size of the device, I always carry it around with me.  It has become an irreplacable item to use for reading books on the train,
or for scanning descriptions on products when I go shopping. When I'm reading manga for instance, I want to read in a relaxed manner.
With the Kanji Reader, I can easily translate words while lying on the bed enjoying the comic.
The device is also very convenient in business life. As everyone knows, the first meeting and the exchange of business cards is very important in Japan.
However, this can be a problem when you are not able to understand what is written on the card - how to read the name for example, or how to translate
one of the countless variations of department names the person is working in. Just by moving the Kanji Reader over the business card,
I can see what the person is doing and where he or she is working.


Special holder available (sold separately)

By attaching the special holder to (for example) a belt, the device can be taken everywhere easily. And it's very simple to take out the device
from the holder when you need to.

Other useful functions

* Scan complete phrases or even sentences

Entire sentences can be scanned, thus avoiding having to scan each word separately. The sentence is then translated word by word.

* All characters used in Japanese can be scanned    

1) The device can read all printed hiragana, katakana, all characters of the JIS 1 standard and around 20% of the JIS 2 standard.

* Handles a large variety of text formats           

2) Font sizes from 9 pt up to 22 pt can be scanned. Furthermore, all basic font colors can be scanned , enabling the device to scan
newspapers, magazines, books, catalogues, business documents and more.

* Various dictionaries available

Kanji Reader contains Sanseido's English-Japanese, Japanese-English and Japanese-Japanese dictionaries. The Japanese-Japanese dictionary is
particularly interesting for advanced learners of Japanese.

* English user interface

While some electronic dictionaries do not offer English user interfaces, the Kanji Reader is equipped with a fully functional English user interface.
No Japanese at all is required to operate the device.

1)    Except for multi-byte symbols such as ~ etc.
2)    Please note that certain combinations such as red on white, white on red, blue on black and black on blue cannnot be used

LEARN MORE HERE: http://www.eltnews.com/store/item.php?id=229

Commentary from David Paul of ELT News:

The current government guideline is that reading and writing should not be taught in elementary school English classes. Having been very involved in training teachers when English was being introduced into elementary schools in Korea and having also been a consultant and trainer for the Ministry of Education in Thailand, I think I’m in a position to offer an opinion on this.

The guideline is very understandable, but it is misguided. There is clearly a danger that reading and writing would be taught in the way that was used when the Japanese teachers were students at junior high school simply because those methods are familiar. This would be difficult and demotivating for many children. It is also true that teaching reading and writing requires training.

Training elementary school teachers to teach English is actually surprisingly easy. Having trained tens of thousands of teachers over the years, I can say without hesitation that it was much easier to train Korean elementary school teachers with very limited English ability to teach English than it is to train most native speakers of English who are not professional teachers of children. This is true even
though I speak almost no Korean and I was sometimes training hundreds of teachers at the same time. The Korean teachers had a deep sense for how children learn things and quickly latched on to the basic principles involved. It was a question of showing them how methods they used for teaching other subjects could be applied to the teaching of English.

Reading and writing can be a lot of fun and taught in ways that are achievable for all children in a once-a-week class. Without reading and writing the children cannot retain much of what they learn and cannot use the time between lessons effectively. It really comes down to method, and I’ll write more about that next week.

David Jones discusses the realities of trying to educate the Japanese populace in the ways of the English language in these compelling guest article.

When I was growing up my German-French family were constantly reminding me how nasal and strained the English language sounds, and I guess, compared to the flamboyance of Italian, the intensity of German or the emotion of the French language I’d have to agree, English is pretty mundane. It must be an irritant to them now that rightly or wrongly, the whole world wants to learn English. The Japanese, especially young people, are convinced that speaking good English is their passport to a successful career. What is more, they are being encouraged in this by the government.

But in Japan teaching English has not been an overwhelming success so far. The vast majority of the population, having been tortured one way or another with English classes throughout their childhood can scarcely make a sentence in the great international language. It is a credit to the Japanese character that after so much abuse the average citizen still tolerates foreigners in their land. Would it really be surprising if one morning someone ran amok in an Eikaiwa once all those suppressed memories of incomprehensible textbooks and characters mysteriously called Meiling, Bob and Yuki having bizarre and un-natural interactions re-emerge into the language-challenged adult’s consciousness? Or the blind torture of infinite ‘listening and repeating’ to sounds that have no relevance and are often reminiscent of the final cries of a dying animal. When finally these repressed memories bubble to the surface and the individual explodes into one uncontrolled act of self defense can we really condemn this act? To many, this resistence would seem not unreasonable, justifiable in fact, and could in all possibility start a national movement for restitution from the sadistic autocrats that reside in Nishi Shinjuku at the Education Department. And who will argue that the endless hours, months and years of English drills and paper tests have seriously improved the mental well being of so many generations of Japanese students.

Having established that teaching English is a crime we must seek the main culprits in this attempt at cultural genocide. To what extent can the humble Mova instructor, assistant language teacher, language consultant, those who constitute the army of twenty two year old university graduates arriving totally untrained be held responsible? Aren’t they just out to pay off the education debts in their own country by making others suffer (albeit mentally rather than financially). Are they not innocents naively bumbling around the Kanto plains screaming in a pitch so high as to be almost non-human but simply chimp like ‘Oh my God’ at everything they see, as if they are constantly in the center of some personal tempest, even when that tempest revolves around something so mundane as to be nauseous? And given the maturity of their thoughts, what sincere prosecution lawyer would ever seriously consider them psychologically fit for trail?

The Japanese, true to their stoic and resolute character, have calmly withstood the cultural onslaught of the barbarians; the high nasal tones of countless Australian making closing blurted announcements before vomiting on the last train out of Ueno, the soccer obsessed German hating English with their noses pointed heaven-ward in arrogant disgust at anything they can’t attain, the laod bombastic Americans smug and secure in the existence of a God dedicated to maintaining the military might of the U.S, might not always being right but consistently being persuasive, and finally the second tier English speaking nations who jump on the band wagon and thus also have to be tolerated. The Japanese already oppressed by traditional social convention as much as by ultra-liberal social elites have shown great resilience and even humor in facing down the Gaijin challenge – because there was resistance!

And that resistance has been in the shape of Japlish, a form of expression so hopelessly messed up that it plays with the Gaijin mind and on the Gaijin mind. Slowly the reader retreats into confusion and panic as they are unable to distinguish veracity from the horrible reality of a preposition free world, where subject and object rapidly swirl into ambiguity and where conjunctions are voluntary. Japlish is the embodiment of everything good about Japanese society and culture – ultimately subtle and patient, classically simple and intelligent, yet unintelligible by anyone other than a select group. With Japlish the Japanese are able, forever politely, to raise their collective finger in the air and wave it at the Gaijin horde smiling and conveying silently what they think of the English experimentation.

My thanks to David for sharing his views.

Read more articles on teaching English in Japan here.

Click here for the latest TEFL Japan news.

American-English is among the most well-known languages all throughout the world. This is a result of America’s popularity within the global market, ranking high as a huge earning country. Other than its economy, the nation is also famous for its culture, politics, and history. Tourists travel to the United States, wherein their popular destinations usually include Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the beaches of Miami. These are just some of the reasons why there are a lot of individuals who want to study the language. Japan is among the countries which have seen the great need to learn English.

There are other types of foreign languages which are being taught in Japan. However, most of the 5,000 language schools within the country are bent on teaching their students English. What is more, the ministry of education realized that it would be better to start language training at an early age. This way, when the kids reach middle school, they are more fluent with English. Hence, the reason why this is included within the grade school curriculum. In turn, there are lots of opportunities to teach English in Japan. Along with this need is the requirement that the applicant must be a native speaker of English.

If you plan to teach English in Japan, especially in a small language school, you are required to obtain a legal working visa. You also need to meet various qualification standards. Plus, you need to have previous teaching experience. Since, some of the schools within the country are located in outskirt areas; you will be provided with free accommodation or your own car.

Among the cities of the country where you can teach English is Kani. You will be teaching at a school which is found close to Nagoya. You will not find this job difficult since you will only be handling a small class. Furthermore, the environment is comfortable and cheerful. The English courses here are personalized, so that the students will be able to learn more easily. You will earn 250,000 yen to 288,000 yen every month. Your salary will depend on the quality of your credentials and your previous experience.

If you would like to teach English in Japan, you can learn more details when you log on to esljobjapan.org and for more general information on teaching English visit esljob.org.

About the author

Beverly Maniago has earned her AB Mass Communication major in Journalism. She loves writing articles and web content. Being a full time writer, she produces quality articles and press releases for different clients and companies.

Many thousands of teachers have attended this one-day certificate course and many thousands have come away excited and re-energized about teaching English to elementary school children. All courses are on Sundays starting at 10:00 and finishing at 5:15.

January

18th – Nagoya

February

1st – Tokyo,
8th – Osaka,
15th – Kanazawa,
22nd – Fukuoka

March

1st – Nagasaki,
8th – Sendai,
15th – Hiroshima,
22th – Kagoshima

April

19th – Sapporo

Topics covered

* How do children learn?
* Using games effectively
* Building reading and writing skills
* Developing communicative skills
* Integrating songs
* Lesson planning
* Developing international attitudes

A general introduction to child-centered learning. All sessions are interactive. Methodology is underpinned by theory, but the emphasis is on how this theory can be applied to the teaching of elementary school children in the Japanese classroom. Participating teachers will receive a certificate.

Trainer: David Paul Author of ‘Teaching English to Children in Asia’, ‘Communication Strategies’, ‘New Finding Out’, ‘Communicate’, ‘Songs and Games for Children’, ‘Discover English’, Discover the World’, ‘Discover the Universe’. Founder of David English House and of ETJ. MA, Cambridge University.

Fees

The fee for one day is 12,000 yen (9,000 for members of ETJ)

* Membership of ETJ is free and you can join on the day.

Reserving a place

Please Email Rie Totomi Rie@DavidEnglishHouse.com stating which course you would like to attend. After you register you will receive a map showing the location of the course.

Well, the strength of the yen is definitely hurting overseas students studying here. Many are finding it very hard to make ends meet. The problems in the export industry are also making it hard for some families to afford school fees. This seems to be having a particularly strong effect on the Japanese-Brazilian community – many families are no longer able to send their children to the Brazilian schools in Japan.

What will the effect be on English language schools? Nobody will really know the answer to this until the new school year starts in April. Some are predicting a drop in students as families are forced to make economies. Others are saying that children’s English education will be one of the last things that families cut back, but the number of adults studying English may well drop.

One view is that language schools may benefit from the crisis. This is because those who are laid off and those unable to find jobs often have money to spend and will be looking to improve their skills. Improving their English ability could be high on their priority list.

Teaching in Japan has been well covered at the ELT Times website, the first online TEFL Newspaper. The blog features several articles.

First up we have ‘Japan & ESL Teaching Contracts – What You Need to Know Before You Sign‘ by John Paxton:

‘If you’ve spent any time at all browsing through forums on teaching English in Japan, you’ve probably run across more than a few horror stories. Topics range from working hours and conditions way in excess of what’s in the contract, to horrible living conditions and exorbitant rent. Some of this is avoidable if you take a careful look at your contract and ask the right questions before you take a teaching position. One of the most important part of the contract are the contact hours.’

The innovatively titled ‘Teach English in Japan‘ is also penned by John Paxton:

‘If you’ve recently graduated from school and are at a crossroads in the start of your career Teaching English in Japan might be worth looking into. Believe it or not the English language learning industry is a multi-billion dollar one that employs over 65,000 ESL teachers.’

Scott Hillkirk is another who tells of his experiences in ‘Teaching English in Japan: Lost in Transition‘:

‘Experiencing culture shock is natural when you move abroad – here’s what you can do about it. The moment I stepped off the plane in Osaka, Japan I was already bleary-eyed and bone-tired. I had spent the trip flying across the world in a half-sleep because my seat on the plane was so uncomfortable it felt like a tee-shirt wrapped around a stadium chair.’

‘Teach English in Japan: Where to Find Jobs‘ is an article by Kevin Ramsey:

‘Ways to Teach English in Japan: There are a few ways to obtain a job teaching English in Japan, however most ESL (English as a Second Language) and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers find employment in one of the following ways…’

Last up we have the optimistically named ‘Teaching English in Japan is Easier than ever‘ by Judy Wellsworth:

‘In Japan, the necessity for English-speaking citizens has lately risen to epic proportions. With this increase in demand, finding a job teaching English in Japan is easier than ever for foreigners who wish to head abroad. Are you considering teaching English in Japan? If so, there are a few key things you should know before you begin your job hunt. Teaching English in Japan is an adventure makes sure it’s not a stressful one.’

Check out more articles on Japan here.

This Saturday/Sunday is the big weekend for English teachers in the Tokyo area. The ETJ expo combined with the Tokyo English Language Book Fair (TEL) is highly recommended for any teachers interested in attending useful presentations, looking for new teaching materials, or just meeting other teachers.

The Tokyo Expo / Tokyo English Language Book Fair

Bringing Together ALL English Teachers on Saturday and Sunday November 29th/30th at Toyo Gakuen University (near Tokyo Dome)

Presenters include:

Alastair Graham-Marr, Andrew Boon, Christine Watson, David Harrington, David Paul, Grant Trew, Jason Good, Kevin Churchley, Mari Nakamura, Ritsuko Nakata, Setsuko Toyama, Steven Gershon, Terry Yearley …. and many more.

ETJ (English Teachers in Japan) now has 8,000 members around Japan. Go to the Expos and find out why so many English teachers support ETJ. Attend presentations, browse the displays of teaching materials, meet and share ideas with other English teachers. Details of upcoming expos as follows:

Sunday November 16th (9:00-18:00)

KANSAI ELT EXPO

Seifu High School, Osaka

Sunday November 23rd (9:00-18:00)

TOHOKU ELT EXPO

Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University, Sendai

Saturday November 29th / Sunday November 30th (9:00-18:30)

TOKYO ELT EXPO

TOKYO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING BOOK FAIR (TEL)

Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo

(near Tokyo Dome)

Sunday December 7th (9:30-18:00)

KYUSHU ELT EXPO

Seinan Gakuin University, Fukuoka

Get more information here: