There was a geisha show down the street in a theater! Now it really feels like Kyoto.
Remember when I said I didn’t know anything about TEFL certification?
I did some research today!
If you’re interested, happy searching!
thepwnisher said: Funny enough, I am in the process of becoming a JET. Do you have any pointers you could give me? Also, I am following your blog now. Yoiichinichiwo!
Yoiichinichiwo! Haha! I’ve never heard of that!
Umm, pointers! Well, have you applied? Have you already been accepted. Where you are in the process is pretty important! ^^
Well, I’m kinda not so good at giving lots of advice all at once but I’ll give you what I can think of now and expand upon this later.
If you’re in the Pre-Application Stage:
- If you haven’t already, start learning some Japanese. Even though your intention is to teach English, you’re still living in a country where most people do not speak English.
- If you’re still in college, make friends with your professors so they can write your letter of recommendation! Have at least two people who are not related to you in anyway and not family friends: JET wants people who have known you in strictly academic or a professional setting.
- For the application, think about how you will be an asset in Japanese schools and how the experience will help you in the future. I had to talk about that in my “Statement of Purpose” essay section of the application.
- This is certainly not required but I think it helped me: Having experience or at least interest in the field of education. I told JET I took early childhood education classes and that I wanted to be a teacher even after JET. Maybe do volunteer work to get something under your belt? Not sure how easy that would be but I’m just throwing it out there
- If you tell them you can speak Japanese in the application, they’ll ask you to speak a little in the interview. Naturally, I panicked because I’m always awkward speaking Japanese. They asked me what were some differences between Japan and America that surprised me. You know what I said? RECYCLING. It was all I could think of. But otherwise, the interview is really not so scary. It’s terrifying maybe for the first minute but the people are previous JETs and one Japanese official and they’re all cool people.
If You’re in the Post-Acceptance Stage:
- Get excited, you’re going to Japan!!! XD
- Make a list of the things you’re gonna want to bring, gradually start packing soon, and consider what time of the year you’re coming. If you’re coming in summer, it’s STUPIDLY hot so BE PREPARED. You’re required to have some professional clothes but think light clothes. Because you will be sweating. Have your family send you cool weather clothes later. It’ll save you space on your baggage.
- Keep learning Japanese!
- Talk to your predecessor! Fortunately, my predecessor is a boss and gave me like a 50 page hand out about everything I need to know about my town, my schools, how classes go, and various life essentials. Saved my butt, he did. Mind you, not all preds are as useful but make the effort to talk to them!
- Start learning about culture…you should probably do this before you get accepted too. While some things you can get away with by being foreign, making an effort to learn makes people respect you. It impresses them too.
Hmm, like I said, if I can think of anything else, I’ll post about it. Good luck!
p.s. Thanks for following~
