Jinx88 comments

Ive been an ALT on the JET Program for 6 months and I really resent the insinuations by multiple people that graduates come here and use it as a taxpayer-funded holiday. Personally I care deeply about teaching, so much so that I did a one-year TESOL teaching course before I came here so I would be adequately prepared. Most of the JETs in my prefecture put a lot of effort into their lesson planning and genuinely care about their jobs and making a positive impact on the students. Its only a few who use it as a free-ride, but from my experience these people are the exception not the rule. The confusion lies in the purpose of JET - its supposed to be a program aimed at internationalization and English exposure but it is assumed that we will teach English. Exposure, certainly. But how we teach effectively when we are only given limited time with the students? I teach at a high school and plan/deliver all my own lessons but I can hardlyteachwhat is needed when I only see the students once a month because Im rotated around schools, classes etc. I only teach one lesson out of every four and I was specifically asked to teach lessons outside of the curriculum. Its unfair to blame me when the students get bad grades as I was never given the chance to help teach the curriculum. Also municipal JETs are only allowed to stay for 3 years then must move elsewhere so most end up leaving. So the Program loses a bunch of semi-experienced people who may otherwise stay if they were offered to recontract with the same CO for another 2 years. The JET Program should be for 5 years in all cases to get the most out of the people who really want to be here. They should also be more strict about who they renew. Those who are clearly using it as afree rideshould be kicked out and there should be more evaluation of our performance throughout the year. There should also be more clarity about what our role as JETs is. In writing, its internationalization but in practice were expected to teach English and this is what everyone assumes. As teaching is the main goal of JET there should be more focus on this in the interview, orientations, and in the way were utilized by our COs.

To the last person who commented: Actually I lived in Australia my whole life up until moving to Japan last summer and for me summer here is a lot worse. The temperatures in Australia are way higher but it`s dry heat. The humidity in Japan however is crazy high, when I arrived in September the daily humidity levels were above 90%. Even the most avid heat-lovers are reduced to a sweaty mess within seconds of stepping outside an air conditioned room. And I agree with everyone else about the naysayers - who says someone needs to be an expert or a doctor to post a simple article about summer in Japan? Not all the readers of this site are well-versed veteran ex-pats like you, this article is clearly for newcomers who are unsure what to expect, so get a grip.