[ SECRET POST #2315 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2315 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 081 secrets from Secret Submission Post #331.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm with other anon. The minor looks good in some cases, but if you want to get work with a Japanese company or in Japan, they're going to value actual fluency over a note on your transcript. The JLP is tough, but it looks really good to potential employers, too.

You might also consider looking for something that would balance private and formal study? If you don't want the minor and want to focus on proficiency, you could always look for private tutors. I actually preferred those to larger classes, since they can focus things more to your personal strengths and weaknesses.

[silverau]

This is a very good point. I mean, the main thing I'm looking to get a job in right now is the JET program which doesn't require Japanese in the first place, but saying I minored in it is a way to show I'm interested in Japan, which is what they're looking for. After JET program I have no idea what I'm going to do or if I even want to stay in Japan, so I didn't think about it. But you're right that actual fluency is much more important and if I'm going to be interviewing with someone who actually speaks Japanese, I'm going to look like a darn fool if my skills are rusty. :/

The tutor thing is a good idea. It would help with speaking, which is a huge weakness for me right now. Thanks for the suggestions.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm an ex-JET, actually, and it was definitely really great experience. It's been 10 years since I was in the program (yeesh, that makes me feel old), and I know they've changed things up a bit, but I know people who've gotten in recently and were not minoring or majoring in Japanese or East Asian Studies of any sort. Honestly, for JET they want you to have an interest in the culture, but they're more concerned with your English and teaching skills. Unless you plan on interviewing for a CIR position and not an ALT one, in which case Japanese skills are a must-have.

I believe they've changed it up a bit recently, but they actually used to prefer people with minimal Japanese skills back when I was in the program, the logic being that less Japanese = more likely to only converse with students in English. That logic had some obvious problems, since placing someone with almost no Japanese in a rural area can lead to a miserable experience for both them and their school, but yeah.

I'd actually recommend talking to the people at your school who handle JET, going to a presentation on the program with JET alumni (a lot of universities have these), or finding some recent ex-JET forums and what not where you can ask questions and get suggestions about what they're looking for. Having Japanese when you get to Japan is very, very helpful in the day-to-day, but conversation and basic reading skills will probably be the most useful in a practical sense. I'd say definitely look into the JLPT if you think you might want to work in Japan in the future, too, but keep in mind that getting a non-teaching job as a foreigner can be pretty tough sometimes. Also, there are a ton of people who wait to take the test until they've been in Japan, so there is always that option, too, if you find out that it's not really something JET requires for the position you're applying for.

(And good luck with whatever you decide!)

[silverau]

Oh, awesome. Where did you go?

Hah, well they won't have to worry about me conversing with students in English either way. I have a horrible habit of lapsing into English even when I'm trying to practice Japanese. 'xD But I'm really good at English grammar and my major is TESOL, and I'm planning to do some volunteer teaching abroad things before I even apply for a paid job, so hopefully English and teaching skills won't be an issue.

Anyway, thanks for the info and thanks for the good luck. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Ishikawa. It's across the main island from Tokyo and fairly rural. It's also right up against the Sea of Japan, so it got crazy amounts of snow. The crab there was to die for, though.

Majoring in TESOL should give you a leg up! Having hands-on teaching experience, especially abroad, definitely won't hurt, either.

The teaching experience will also be useful if you get a spot in JET, since the program can be a bit balls at actually training people. When I was there, we had a 3-day training session in Tokyo with a bunch of different seminars about teaching, and then they just sent you off to your schools and you kind of just figured things out through trial and error. I think the logic was that schools differed (and the expectations for ALTs really could differ a lot between schools), so it was best to leave it up to individual schools and people's supervisors to get them acclimated. There were some schools with really pro-active English teachers that helped their ALTs out or that had more than one ALT, so there was already a veteran there to teach the newbie, but that wasn't always the case. In most cases, you just had to kind of hit the ground running. It was still a really awesome experience and I enjoyed it a lot, but it can be a bit overwhelming and/or frustrating trying to figure things out on your own as you go. So the experience with teaching and lesson planning, etc, would definitely be useful!

You're welcome. :)