Why Your Japanese Teacher Should NOT Be a Japanese Person
Japanese as a 2nd Language is Best Taught by Someone Who Mastered Japanese as a 2nd Language
When I returned to the US after living in Japan, I applied for jobs as a Japanese language instructor.
Every application was rejected. When I asked why, a few politely informed me the reason was incredibly obvious — I wasn’t Japanese.
Uh…okay, yeah, I’ve looked in the mirror. I’ve checked my passport. I even did an ancestry test. Not a single strand of Japanese DNA anywhere in my genome. But I wrote a textbook on the Japanese language, passed the JLPT N1 exam, and completed a Japanese instructor training program. Doesn’t that count for something?
Nope! Students won’t pay to learn Japanese from a white dude; they believed only an authentic native Japanese person can teach the language. Here’s why they’re wrong.
I was once an ESL (English-as-second-language) teacher in Japan. I was hired because I was a white dude who spoke English as my native language. I was not a good ESL teacher. In fact, I was awful. I feel sorry for my students. Contact me if you want a refund on your tuition (make sure you kept those receipts!)
