Volunteers taking outsized role in Japanese language support

In this article they kind of bad mouth the volunteers. They are the best as they are carrying (as the complaining teacher said) most of the work load, and for free.

The problem is that these people aren’t being compensated and actively recruited to help even more.

Since theres not a lot of money to be made here it wont get support

I was taught Japanese at a community center by volunteers. I returned the favor by giving English lessons. Turns out you don't need special training to teach a language. You just need to have the right motivations.

Volunteers are not teachers...What we most need, especially in areas where there are few Japanese schools, is for local governments to take responsibility for absolute beginners,

He is right, government both central and local take money away from foreigners through tax, they can provide something that resemblance to language school facilities for these foreigners.

The problem with valounteers, they supposed to come and go while teaching language need one term commitment that's too much for valounteers also they don't have teaching skills and background. No teaching guidance unlike normal school.

They USE and depend on volunteers because they have no program.

Then they complain about the program set up and run by volunteers? There should be nothing but thanks for them, and I think, utilization of their skill.

Most of "students" who are paying up to a million a year to learn Japanese are here to work, since being enrolled in a language school here allows one to work 27.5 hours a week.

I bet learning from volunteers through free conversation makes one more fluent anyway.

Volunteers taking outsized role in Japanese language support.

Good job Japanese people. I wonder how many native English speakers volunteer their time to help Japanese people learn English?

There is "no guarantee qualified teachers will be at volunteer classes, which forces volunteers to take teachers' roles or leads some groups to conclude they can't take on people needing the most help," she added.

Funny, but doesnt the Japanese school system have the exact opposite? Non qualified "teachers" teaching a foreign language to Japanese, and nearly all "eikaiwas" too.

Do the same with the volunteers, give them a couple hours of training, throw a textbook into their hands, and let them go! Oh dont forget to insist on them NEVER using anything other than Japanese!

A lot of the teachers, when they found out I spoke English, they wanted to practice English rather than speak Japanese."

They are volunteers! Heck you should have done a trade off with them. Win-win for both sides, and like I noted, they are volunteers and it sounds like she is complaining about a service she got for free.

Good job Japanese people. I wonder how many native English speakers volunteer their time to help Japanese people learn English?

I know a few, and I have personally done it in the past as well. Problem from the Japanese side is that when it comes to "learning" or "education", it's hard for many to maintain the motivation to succeed if they arent paying for it. Many would rather pay, then learn for free.

If you’re in Japan out of your own free will, it’s your responsibility to learn Japanese at your own expense.

Turns out you don't need special training to teach a language. You just need to have the right motivations.

While motivation is the most important thing, you can often tell who is a trained / experienced teacher vs. someone who is not. And learning from someone with training and experience can provide faster and better learning.

Thanks to these volunteers, who give their time and their goodwill to make non-Japanese feel welcome in Japan. Many immigrants are in low-wage jobs and can't afford the time or money to go to privately run classes.

From my own experience of my first year in Japan, I attended this type of class and yes, the results were mixed, as you would expect with a virtually un-resourced programme and untrained teachers. Any country that is serious about sustaining its economy for the long term needs to put the resources in for immigrants to learn the language and integrate, and Japan is no exception. If it fails to improve, it is shooting itself in the foot.

They could for a modest investment create modern materials based on communicative teaching methods and designed for teachers with limited experience. MEXT (Ministry of Education) could centrally fund quality training sessions for a paid lead teacher in each local area, who could in turn run sessions for volunteers. They've already been doing this for elementary school English teaching for years now, so it's not as if they don't have the know-how to set it up.

But the biggest problem is not accepting that there is a need, and the willingness to finance it. Japanese as a foreign language teaching has for years been ridiculously underfunded, so that people keen to teach the language get disillusioned and quit, their skills totally wasted. It's very frustrating.

The volunteers want free English lessons as it costs about ¥2500-3000 an hour. I always get Japanese approach me and say they want to teach me Japanese, but the bring along their English textbooks and I learn no Japanese.

Language teaching in this country is terrible. Both English and Japanese. Period. I paid and learned nothing useful in 2 years full time language study. I learned everything I needed to survive working part time in a kitchen to support my studies. At least these people don’t need to pay for this service.

One can learn many languages free of charge. I repeat free of charge.

A few days ago there was a long article in "Japan Today" about the "Duolingo".

The said organization offers lessons in many languages free of charge. If one likes one can offer a donation to them.

Among other languages there are also Japanese lessons free of charge.

Since I am a neophyte in this nice country I am using it on a daily basis for a couple hours with excellent results.

Why don't you give it a try ? I also improved my English using it.

Yes, using Duolingo is great, even better with support from even just a semi-qualified teacher.

There’s only one way to sufficiently learn the Japanese language. You have to be newly born again here and learn it all by yourself at your Japanese home and during education from kindergarten to university. I guess you all won’t fit already the first prerequisite, to be newly born again here in Japan. So just give in and consider it what it is, impossible.

There’s only one way to sufficiently learn the Japanese language. You have to be newly born again here and learn it all by yourself at your Japanese home and during education from kindergarten to university.

So, you're telling us you've found it impossible to sufficiently learn the Japanese language?

It isn't hard. Even tiny kids speak it fluently with no effort, there's no reason a motivated adult cannot do at least as well.

It isn't hard. Even tiny kids speak it fluently with no effort, there's no reason a motivated adult cannot do at least as well.

Not only motivated, but who knows how to learn and stay motivated. If so, you can make use of lots of self study resources and do language exchanges with all those people who want to practise English. I study a European language and mentioned in my profile that I also speak Japanese. Loads of Brazilian wannabe Japanese speakers, and Japanese wannabe English speakers contacted me to do an exchange.

I think the government should get with the times and fund an online language exchange, language class programme that could cover the whole country and cost a fraction of in-person sessions. But that takes imagination, creativity and the ability to take their heads out from where the sun don't shine, so it might take a few decades or so before anything happens.

Many of these volunteers are very friendly and awesome.

Some aren't, as can be expected, but having free lessons by those willing to volunteer their time and patience is something I'm grateful for. It's also a good way to make friends.

There’s only one way to sufficiently learn the Japanese language. You have to be newly born again here and learn it all by yourself at your Japanese home and during education from kindergarten to university. I guess you all won’t fit already the first prerequisite, to be newly born again here in Japan.

Lol, sarcasm runs deep in this one!

So just give in and consider it what it is, impossible.

Sounds more like a Japanese excuse for not learning English!

As a volunteer English teacher, I insist that all my students do not wear the restrictive masks. A language cannot be learnt properly when the face and expressions are hidden.