Why NOT to Teach English in Japan
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- čas přidán 28. 04. 2024
- Having taught English in Japan for 3 years, I felt ready to leave by the end of the job. But what happens when you teach for 10 years? Bad things.
⭐ BIG thanks to Pete for joining! / premiertwo
🍿 Behind the scenes Patreon: goo.gl/NWEoQm
⭐ MORE Teaching in Japan Videos ⭐
- What Teaching English in Japan was REALLY Like: • What Teaching English ...
- The Horrors of Japanese - English Textbooks: • The Horrors of Japanes...
CHAPTERS
00:00 | Why Teach English in Japan?
06:08 | The FIRST Job Teaching in Japan
12:21 | The Second WORST Teaching Job in Japan
18:30 | THE WORST EVER Teaching Job in Japan
25:12 | Hitting Breaking Point in Japan
28:27 | The FINAL Teaching Job in Japan
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NOTIFICATION SQUAD: Even though some of the stories in this video are more akin to a psychological horror film, I'd still recommend teaching English in Japan as a job. Both of us had our ups and downs, but it was worthwhile in the end. A big shoutout to Pete (Premiertwo) for revealing all in this video. Wishing him the best of luck over on his Twitch!
🍻 www.twitch.tv/premiertwo
Good luck to both of you guys!
I feel like you smell like beer
Not that you'd need to now, but had you ever thought about teaching in a different country other than Japan? Or if it wasn't Japan, where else would you think about?
Ok👍👍👍
Yep
my friend lived and worked in Japan for 10 years. The advice he gave me: "Japan is awesome if you dont have to work"
This. You could always try to find either a more forward thinking place to work, or an international place, though you’d have to keep in contact a lot with Japanese people outside of work to keep learning Japanese as best you can.
@@Kipviss honestly the way to go would be to live in Taiwan, it has a better working culture and is pretty great to live there, and Japan is just like an hour or so flight away..you can go to Tokyo and whatnot on the weekends for really cheap, even cheaper for the long-term if you rent those ¥40,000 a month apartments as kinda like your "vacation home"; I know a guy that does this and the math works out, he was paying like ¥60,000 a month on hotels in Japan going over on weekends, so he's just like "why not rent a place for cheaper that's relatively more comfortable and suits me and I can keep belongings there?". It's a nice setup, the place is right by a train station in the central part of Tokyo, really convenient.
@@chobai9996 renting aint easy tho for foreigners iirc because of the mindset that they can just run off abroad with unpaid rent and taiwan isnt really assuring long term with some assholes up north
He's correct
@@chobai9996 That actually sounds like a really good idea.
The pregnant lady sounds like she needed someone to care, and Pete just happened to be someone safe and kind. I've had a parent like that before who just needed a person there and interacting because the father could care less about the pregnancy.
It dawned on me afterwards that in reality it's quite a sad story!
Makes sense, good point!
It's "COULDN'T care less" NOT "could care less".
@@system3008 Why bother teaching English in Japan when you can do it in the youtube comments section.
@@system3008 How about "I DONT" care?
"You smell like Dad" is single handedly the best thing I've ever heard all year. It's something straight out of a comedy skit
My daughter says that.
Me: "I need a shower, I stink."
Her: "No, you smell like Daddy."
Heartwarming, but...oh god, what have I done.
I found it very sad. That means, that kids dad was drunk so often, the scent of alcohol reminded this kid of his father. That's why addictions like alcohol and nicotine often begin in early childhood, because the kids connect these scents to love warmth and comfort.
My mom taught school on US bases in Japan for many years. She was getting a tour of one of the local Japanese schools who had hired an American to teach the English class. An American from Georgia. So when she arrived, the teacher said "Say hello to Ms Nelson class". Entire class of little Japanese kids: "Hi y'all Ms Nelson".
Must keep straight face, must keep straight face...
I'm from Georgia, and I taught English in China for a year. But I made sure to keep "y'all" out of my lesson plans LOL.
Yeah that's is something😅
@@narutohuntmendemon6354 Hi Naruto. Small English tip. When you write "that's", it already has "is" in it, because you put "that" and "is" together to make "that's". So what you wrote was "Yeah, that's is something", which means "Yeah, that is is something". Both "Yeah that's something" or "Yeah that is something" is correct, but not together. Sorry if my explanation is not helpful.
@@circomnia9984 Wow. You should teach English in ....... Japan!
Being from Alabama and having lived im Georgia for 9 years I love this
I think one of the things that Chris undersells the most about himself is that he seemed to be a genuinely excellent teacher. The fact that the kids liked him speaks volumes to his personality and affable nature. But of course, that's literally the most British thing one can do so of course he never crows about it.
affability truly an important trait in this modern society we live in
Nobody is closer to represent affable than Chris. Prime example and standard of the world
Affable lol
They wouldn’t have called him VIP de Big if he wasn’t a good teacher
The students wouldn’t be calling him to club after school if he wasn’t one
He somehow managed to make these stories seem like the best and worst time ever at the same time.
I think that's how anything in life goes. If it's worth doing, it's going to be difficult
Hahaha that is an accurate description....I taught in Japan for 5 years, and it really was the best and the worst.
Same experience here. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Yeah, but I'm not going to work my ass off to live on rice and eggs for 6 weeks. And steal toilet paper because I can't afford it. Fck that.
Bad experiences make the best stories
Pete is an incredible storyteller, I can't normally sit and watch these kinds of shows for long periods but with him this video felt like 10 mins!
True
chris's name is pete now...
a lot of credit is due to Chris's editing too
if you spend a year teaching wiggy waggy you'd become an excellent story teller too.
wow, i didnt realize this until i read this comment, holy smokes!!
I have no idea why youtube recommended this channel to me, but this is one of the most entertaining 30 minutes I've spent on this platform. Really well done, gents. Subscribed.
You have just discovered a gem among the rubbles.
You’re really going to love this channel. 😊
Yep. Another new sub, here too.
You wanted to hear the petter talk about not petting the students.
I think I have an idea how I found it. I recently used Google Translate to figure out what the possible meanings in a „build your name“-post are. It‘s a post which has each letter of the English alphabet correspond with a Japanese syllable.
There certainly were some funny results.
Pete should start a youtube channel, seems he has many interesting stories!
Bro why are you not verified yet
yea! I'd follow him!
Fancy sseeing ya here
Who? The guy that was interviewed was Petter.
He has a youtube channel it's PremierTwo.
The editing is amazing. The JET teacher joke had me in stitches.
Pete is such an amazing storyteller. The whole video is comedy goldmine.
Cheers man!
If anyone wants to see more of petter, checkout his twitch channel :)
@@gonna_cry like Chris, PremierTwo is one of the best and only channels I follow on twitch. Great streams every time.
It didn't look like Chris' style of editing tho! Am I wrong? In case, good that he's finally getting some help and possibly not getting burnout any time soon xD
@@AbroadinJapan Very entertaining. In a word affable. Keep it up.
I distracted the kids from doing the after school cleaning by playing with them and one of the teachers seriously lost his shit at me.
Remember English teachers: Do NOT mess with cleaning time. It's up there with a religious ritual, and messing with it is blasphemy and sacrilege.
rightly so. Japanese kids are polite and behave because they follow rules.
If the first random foreigner come and mess that up, i would be pissed too.
@@CloudStrifeCosplay GARFIELD!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS OR ARE YOU JOKING!?!?
@@CloudStrifeCosplay you forgot the /s at the end of your statement.
@@soujemn5 sorry i'm too stupid to understand your amazing sense of humor i suppose.
@@CloudStrifeCosplay im so confused, I agree with what you said - are they joking or agreeing with you too?
I won't lie, as someone who's not due to graduate (Undergrad) until they're 25, Pete saying how he's graduated late and still had this career is a massie comfort and inspiration to me!
Not even late friend
I’m graduating at 29
Bro I'm starting school and I'm 26 🤣
@Exodus Why would you want to go to germany if i may ask? I hear so many people that want to go and work & live in germany as if its the perfect country on the planet but it is far from it.
Meeanwhile me, realistically getting my masters degree in 2030 at age 30:
I find Pete’s optimism throughout his string of bad jobs really admirable. It’s not easy doing a job day after day, let alone such ones.
You have to admire him. He stuck out most of them. A lot of foreigners quit early if the job doesn't feel right for them. There were only 2 jobs I chose that were bad. I stuck them out though. Fortunately for the most part I picked the right jobs for me.
Yeah. So right. If it were me, I would've gone home and curse those circumstances.
The story about teaching the fetus is not a joke. I live in China, and you won't believe how early the mothers wanting to educate their children. There are actually materials and devices that you put on your belly so your unborn babies will hear and learn. Like Pete said: INSANE (and sad).
Is it is up there with the whole listening to Mozart thing?
As odd as it is, at least they are trying to educate their kids as well as possible. Too many idiots will do a mediocre job raising kids because they don’t care, or are not intelligent enough to be good parents.
why would it be insane or sad?... teaching kids about life etc is wrong?
Im more surprised that people treat kids like little retarded humans.
They are smarter than you, you just didn't give them the chance to learn.
@@chrisbg99 Yes, esentially. It has literally no effect since obviously fetuses can't hear, or if they can hear, they can't understand spoken language.
@@alexanderrobins7497 but it’s stupid to think a fetus brain is advanced enough to learn a foreign language when they don’t even have learned the ability to speak yet. „Ah yes I’m gonna teach my Unborn child colors in English even tough it can’t even see the colors it’s supposed to learn.“
As a teacher in the USA, I think EVERY teacher’s main sentiment about their own profession is regret. It’s a daily battle. 😅😂
You're not wrong. Daily battle, hourly battle, battle of minutes....seconds....🤣🤣🤣
Look I have seen so many people try and fail to do order of operations in these stupid memes like ONLY THREE PERCENT CAN GET THE ANSWER!!! and it's literally 2+2x3 and more than half answer 12 and for some reason there's more people answering 15, 10 and 16 than 8, I felt like I had no other choice. I had to go get a degree in math and education and make sure people know fucking PEMDAS.
@@lucykitsune4619what's PEMDAS? i was taught BIDMAS in the UK (Brackets, Indices, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction)
@@benhancock6253 prolly googled it already but its Parenthesis Exponents Multiplication Division Adding Subtracting basically same exact thing but worded differently because its USA vs UK with words as always lol
@@lucykitsune4619 PEMDAS isn't even an effective method of teaching the order of operations.
case in point: the number of people that have & continue to interpret the acronym as literally being done in the order of the letters.
It's difficult to believe you could have found a more endearing, interesting and all round good-guy than Pete to add to your friends on this channel - how do you do it Chris?!?
I hope we get to see him often - his storytelling and attitude to life just lifts my spirits...
24:00 most incredible plot twist i've ever heard
patterrz, just a shy of petter
Such an interesting story, really cool to listen to and will definitely be watching Pete on Twitch
... ITS YOU
SUPRISE! I am the funniest YTer evah!!!! Just kidding, it was no surprise. Everybody knew already. HAHAHHAHA!!!! That was an amazing joke (it was real talk though). WAWAWAWAWA!!!! Good afternoon, dear ryan
who are you
@@thepaladin1508 it's just axxl lmao he's been at this for years
haven't heard your name in years
I taught English for 5 years in Japan from 1999 - and I have so many crazy stories. It was terrible and wonderful all at the same time. I think you need to do it when you're young before you realize how crazy it is.
Same. That's about the same time I was teaching in Japan.
How old were you when you started? And did you have a job when you decided to go?
I was 26 and I had a job lined up before I went.. so not super young. The company also owned my accomodation so I paid them rent
I may just be a masochist, but Pete's crazy stories about going through rough times just made me want to do it even more (speaking as a 20 year old who moved to Hawaii without knowing anyone and eventually put it all together). Thanks :)
I LOVE your spirit and attitude!! You go boy!!! 😁👏👏👏👏 May all of your beautiful masochistic dreams come true!! ✌️😊
That's cool. Do it while you still have the energy for it :D
That’s a problem in its own way. So many English teachers come over just for ✨the experience✨, who then don’t teach the children properly or largely disrespect the culture.
@@Annie640 Are you implying that Henry Vans is that kind of teacher? I do not see anything in his comment that says so.
I hope you catch all pokemon of the Alola Region:D
The 3ds game was beautiful
Alola :)
Chris is a good interviewer, doesn't feel the need to add in his own experiences all the time and just lets the guest talk. Hope to see more of Pete in future episodes
LOL whatttt
Seriously this is the story of the first 5 years of an average immigrant in any country. Some are lucky or have the resources to skip it, but you could probably write the funniest/wtf book in the history if you just went around and gathered stories of people during their first years in a new country as a young adult.
Ive migrated to like 4-5 different countries and havent had such incidents yet, I guess Ive been lucky.
But last week I just leased this fucking expensive flat for one year after searching for weeks for a silent place in a bustling capital city.
I found this super quiet spot in front of the most peaceful park and was like huh the little noise there is will come from the inside only haha no traffic and no people outside so no worries.
After visiting it like 5 times I was like ok yeah this is amazing. Now that am living inside realize from half the half flat you can hear all the neighbours fuffin conversations non stop and this monstrous child sounds half his day screaming like a badly behaved retard.
I just wanted a silent place, but hos shit ao noisy starting at 6am gaah am still frustrated about this bull.
I agree whole-heartedly!! You don't even need a language barrier for that to be the case. My first TEFL job was enough of a circus, all by itself, that people wouldn't need to hear any more. There are FAR too many details to include all of the nonsense, but relaying the start and end should be enough. At 26, I left small-town Canada for London, England, to teach EFL & ESP to high-profile, French business executives. Teaching was one-on-one, 4-day, 14 hour/day contracts (including clients' meals and one West End show). When I got there, the company wasn't quite ready to take its first clients, so, for three months, I did odd, unpaid office tasks, with a home-to-office round-trip taking SIX HOURS of walking (as I couldn't afford public transport). By the end, I had become my boss' personal masseur (I trained as a massage therapist before), and for all of her houseguests. I was also would come over to hers to talk business, but invariably would end up her buddy for smoking ever-escalating classes of illicit drugs. She approached me to help launder drug money for a Jamaican gang. And I lost my job because she - on the back of inheriting a lot of money - had an "I don't need to work for you any more" argument with the company's owners, and bragged that she had hired me, keeping my ponytail (which they forbade) a secret from them. ...And all of that took only ten months. TEFL is not for the faint of heart!
Agreed. But what you got here is an American and British white man. Translation, members of the most privileged group on the planet. To them, these are "horror" stories in terms of what life threw at them. They can't imagine what it's like when you're not a white dude with English as their native language, you don't have a powerful passport and you can't just go around the world and make money off of "teaching" people your mother tongue... In fact this video really made me want to see the proper horror stories that non-white, non-Western immigrants in the US and UK have where they can only dream of getting a job as a teacher.... But yeah these two came to Japan for fun and games, not to actually work....
@@yolokorea7557 The level of salt in this comment is incredible. You even put scarequotes around "teaching". Truly a comment that has it all.
@@yolokorea7557 I LOVE your casual racism.
My nephew taught English in Japan. He married a local girl and has a little girl. They all moved back to the states.
BTW, I came across you through Sharla’s channel (I’m a subscriber). I told my grandson about you. He’s already a subscriber to you and he loves you. You have helped him in learning Japanese language. He’s taking courses in college.
Oh my god. I was the replacement for Peter... I taught those kids for four years. Was part of the "clean up" crew. Saw the same photos that were in the video in the 31 student school. Insane! 😅
Yay! Can we get more of Pete??? I love his storytelling and his positive energy. While Connor is obnoxious fun, Pete is warm fuzzy or cheeky fun.
100% would love to see Pete more on this channel. Pete with his comedic optimism and Chris' comedic pessimism are a well balanced duo
@@johnbocanable American and British personalities meet
You should hop in to their podcast for more pete
You can listen more of mr pete on chris' podcast on spotify! abroad in japan, fantastic banter
@@hourbit7385 they're not taking about British Pete, they mean the Pete from this video.
And honestly, British Pete sometimes ruins the Abroad in Japan podcast with his political interjections.
It’s impressive that Chris is able to help foster other people as well. He clearly doesn’t boast about it but he really does a great job at spotlighting other people and helping them grow
One of my favourite things about him. You can tell he really makes an effort to uplift other people in unpatronising ways.
the davie504 of english teachers
Immensely entertaining storytelling from Pete. Pete, have you considered becoming a f/t comedy performer in stand up or sketch, you're a pretty funny dude.
Petter is actually really good at storytelling.
I was just about to say "Thanks for the stories, 'Petter'...." lol. Glad I'm not the only one.
@@DrStoooopid It had to be done lmao 😂
He will never live it down!
This man has spent more years teaching than I have spend doing literally anything.
Living???
@@EhCloserLook are any of truly living
Honestly, in a society so overwhelmingly restrictive and inherently harmful “is anyone really living” is a serious philosophical question.
Probably the one thing modern culture doesn't really value... respect for time served.
@@mongoose1628 Jesus Christ Susan
Hey Chris, podcast fan here. Glad to see more people getting to listen in on Pete's crazy stories. Cheers!
I thought I was going crazy at first like “is this a re-upload?” 😂
@@DonkeyMuscles Reupload with visual images. lol Not that I'm complaining. Pete's story needs to be watched and listened by more people.
Does his podcast have more stories? :O
Guess I need to check out the podcast more
@@chris-hayes Tons and tons of them, they release it twice per week
I did 5yrs teaching English but used it as a way to stay here while learning about another industry I wanted to work in. The gamble paid off and now I am self employed, in the middle of my 15th year in Japan, working in Japanese horse racing which was my (best case) endgame all along. Anything that helps you achieve your goals is worth it in the end. Even if some are quite soul crushing…
That's super interesting! Which segment of horse racing is self-employed?
@@KukaiTorihe is a self-employed racing horse
Pete is really great entertainer, I had to watch the whole video since he made his stories so alive. Smart guy! And nice of you that you gave him space and time on your video since not everybody can do so.
Remember, it's fun to travel and vacation in Japan. However, working in Japan is a completely different story.
Pro tip: If you want to live in Japan for an extended period of time and enjoy it. Have lots and lots of money.
Or work for yourself online/in such a way that you can work anywhere.
@Lord Ass this problem is more when you're doing bank stuff and yeah that's when It gets annoying
That’s a pro tip to almost everything.
@Lord Ass He means be an entrepreneur, have an online business or something similar so you won't depend on anyone for your income source
The other option is to have a very valuable skill that foreign companies operating in Japan are in need of.
I've lived in Japan for over 20 years, and have been at the same school for almost 18 years. I really love my job, and I love my school. I love the huge amount of freedom I have in teaching.
out of curiousity what company did you go thru? i saw some discourse in the comments on which is the best
@@icarenotreally I didn't come through a company. I came to Japan on a spouse visa. I worked some language schools for a few years, and eventually got a job at a private junior high and high school.
@@kirinrex same as me, taught English at cram schools since 2009 and got recommended for a private high school ALT job in 2019. Still doing it as of now. I teach at 3 schools, 2 cram schools and one private high school here in Saga Perfecture. Been in Japan since april '96
@@carlosa7598 I worked in Fukuoka Nova in 1998-2000 some of the best years of my life! I visited Saga many times too.
@@NurseNelson you can always visit again. Now we are having the Nagasaki Bullet Train line. It will be completed next year in September I believe. Take it easy back there. Stay safe😄🚄
Taught high school for 5 years, how they let me even do it, is just astonishing, was the 90's so I guess they were looking for anyone, I went in there full black suit, no tie, open collar, I'm a young guy so style was always my thing, I also still go to the gym and workout heavily. At the time my hair had blonde streaks at the ends (semi-long hair) and literally every kid called me "Onizuka-dono!" or "you scary guy". It was some fun/cool times with the students, the work in and of itself is trash, you do it to inspire kids, not relax...which is what I ended up doing anyway...just during class, with the kids....again, this is the story about the job...not how I lost it.
They might have given you that nickname in reference to the manga "Great Teacher Onizuka", where the main character is called Onizuka and he's a high school teacher with blonde hair. it was coincidentally released in the 90s. that's pretty funny if so haha
@@carlosrendon1618 i think he knows it lol. he was in japan teaching getting called Onizuka, there could have been only ONE reason really. XD
@@CloudStrifeCosplay i was just saying since the manga doesnt seem that talked about here in the US but i guess in japan it would be a different story lol
This was great, it's great to see Chris and Pete's chemistry together, Chris doesn't have to carry the video the whole time to be entertaining, Pete is very entertaining himself and their interactions make the video even better. Hope they do more videos together soon!
Whoof, what a rough time! I've had the most cushy experience in Japan-- started as JET, municipal with only one elementary school, then got hired directly by my city when they phased out JET, so I didn't even have to switch schools. Just finally switched schools today after 3 wonderful years, still in the same city. I cried all day yesterday leaving my students and teachers! I absolutely love what I do, I'm finally working a job that is fulfilling and rewarding, I'm learning things all the time, all my colleagues both in school and in the city are wonderful, and I'm actually happy. If you're into it and taken care of by your organization, it can be a great job. Though I start teaching at a preschool as well this year, so I don't know if my career will remain poop-free!
Good for you. I wish you luck in your future.
Aw man that’s awesome! Well done and good luck!
I've taught Japanese children online while their parents were beside them, but this is the first time I've heard of teaching a child while they were still inside their mother.
Actually, this is not as far fetched as you might think. The bones of moms serve as conduits for sounds. Some moms have their unborns "listen" to Mozart.
the mother: my goals are beyond your understanding
@@davidbaca329 sure, but she could have taken some conversational CD and just put the headphones to the belly, would be as effective while not tormenting others
There's a lot of science to back that children start learning in the womb, but very unlikely they could pick up hand signs. What may help is them hearing the verbal rhythms of the language.
Some rich Japanese people will hire English speakers read books to the mother’s pregnant bellies. No joke.
love the camera placement. feels like your including the viewers as a friend in a conversation rather than just telling a story.
This was just hilarious, I was in stitches the whole time. Insightful story too. We all take different paths and that’s great. Love how Pete owned his story and made light of the really hard parts. Thanks Chris and Pete!
I’m leaving at the end of May to teach in Toyama. I’m super nervous 😬 Especially since I’ve been waiting 2 years to leave. I can’t believe its happening now.
Best of luck Ani !
Best of luck to yoU!
I've only made one video in Toyama I think and it involved the local dish Black Ramen. Be sure to try it for yourself! czcams.com/video/Velugtjkc74/video.html
Best of luck to you ani
Im happy u still want to go to japan even ur 2yrs late in ur appointment or somethin haha
@@AbroadinJapan thank you! I’ll definitely have to try some!
Every single year during primary school and Highscool in Japan, I have always had either a British English teacher or an American English Teacher which sometimes made learning how to write difficult because I soon learned there are different ways to write certain words and pronounce them. What did not help was these teachers would often be reassigned or quit the following year so adapting to how the teacher wanted their material presented varied 😅
Well I guess you were a great student or they were great teachers still because your English is very good!
There's a saying that speaks to what you've written: "The USA and UK, two nations divided by a common language".
Getting taught any language by multiple people who have different accents is a nightmare.
@@turtle7459 Not even just accents, writing even. Colour vs Color, and with English as loosely-ruled as it is, I can imagine it can be hard to tell what's a regional difference in spelling and what's actually two different pronunciations - if not just two different words.
Just remember: American English is better. No superfluous u’s. Yeah, it’s common for there to be a high turn over-it’s seldom to do with students though-often it’s the management which people can’t stand.
I love how you guys all support each other out there in the foreign land.. Pete is so much fun, he certainly has the talent for entertaining and telling the stories 🙂 Great video!
I taught at the lot in Japan - all pretty dire - the best was the private classes. Well paid - often you get paid for one hour the same as a one day at an eikaiwa - you often get a nice cup of coffee and snack - at home - and you make your own lessons. The only downside was the travel but I had a bike and I got to visit areas I never normallly would have.
It might be just his character in generell, but listening to his stories it sounds like went through some very tough, but probably humbling times in his live. So to see him now be that calm and able to laugh about his past makes me really respect the man. If you're reading this Pete, i sincerely hope that you'll be happy with your experience on twitch and that the decision to leave your job turns out well for you. See you at Japan's westmost point
I want to be an English teacher too in Japan. Let me give you some help.
It should be "his life", not live. This is because life is a noun, his life. "Live" is a verb, to live. For example, living or have lived.
I is always capitalized, in every sentence, so it is not "i".
Generell is a misspelling, it should be general.
"It might just be" sounds a bit nicer in the context of that sentence. I don't know how to explain why.
Comma after "stories"
You can remove "now" it sounds nicer without. I don't know how to explain why.
Keep on practising your English you can do it! 🙂 It's a very hard language. I am lazy too a lot of the times to write it correctly.
It is hard to explain WHY you need to apply all of this grammar, the rules and mechanics behind it. It is a completely different thing to speak a language than to teach it.
English is not my first language, it's my 3rd. I also struggle from a mild form of dyslexia. It's gonna be hard to find a job in Japan, because the government there only wants US, Australian, South-African or British passport holders to be English teachers. And I'm Dutch, so I might not meet all the requirements. But I'm white so probably they will look past that cuz of my skin colour 😃
@@anthonygreenfield123 you can always go to the U.K. first and become a dual citizen and then apply to teach in Japan. Problem solved. Also I'm trying to learn Dutch and quite frankly I find it harder than Japanese so props to you lol.
@@Eruanne My country does not accept dual citizenship unless I marry a person from that country, I would have to renounce my Dutch one. Also getting dual citizenship takes like 5-10 years minimum. Too much hassle just to get a job.
Dutch is easy to learn, the grammar and everything is the same. Just the pronunciation is difficult to master.
I might marry a Japanese though. One with big boobs, if I marry a Japanese I can work without having to apply for a work permit in Japan.
@@anthonygreenfield123 before you marry one, take into account the fact that things get pixilated when Japanese girls take their clothes off.
While I feel I don't personally want to teach English in Japan, I think it might be a good learning experience for some people as long as they keep in mind that it's
a. not a job a lot of people will be able to climb up the ladder with (i.e. promotions, pay raise), and
b. not meant to be taken as a long-term gig since the people who hire these teachers expect them to leave eventually.
Have you consider teaching kids in inner cities ghettos in US? If you can help 10% of them graduate without pushing through failed students, its a huge accomplishment.
@@Pepe-dq2ib I'd rather teach in Japan
I think point a is true for plenty of jobs. It's true for my job for example and I have 0 problems with it. b is generally true, even though some foreigners did become full time teachers in Japan, but 95% of people leave after a few years and these English teaching companies in Japan are built on constantly changing their teachers. It's what keeps the prices down unfortunately.
I do not think that's the case because staying 5 years at a job means they don't expect you to leave eventually and tbh that was a pretty important job.
@@Pepe-dq2ib people don't do it for the job or the people but for the opportunity to live in Japan longer than 3 months.
Having seen Pete appear in several of your other videos, i'm happy to now get a better insight of who he is and of his personal journey in japan. The guy is truly hilarious and brings an extra level of joy and laughter to the channel. Not that the channel aint already amazing. You know what i mean.
I came back from teaching in Japan before the pandemic hit. I am having nostalgic memories because I miss my preschoolers and the fun of living in Japan..... but then I remember the hours and stress of the job! It was really only stressed because of the unspoken rules and work culture. That's the biggest issue if you do try hard at teaching English in Japan. You got to learn how to be satisfied with your own work because your boss and colleagues will never be satisfied with you.
This video reminds me that Japan is what you make it. I hope I have the chance to try again now that I'm a bit older and know better.
I really enjoyed this video and it was fun seeing a side of Japan we don't normally see :D
It would have been interesting to hear about the time at the private school. It's a shame that that subject got glossed over so quickly.
Check out the podcast with Pete (not davidson) he also talks about many of the experiences in detail, just without the whacky editing skills.
god damn is there any channel you DON'T show up on?
@@Scottagram he's becoming a bot
@@8.ui13 I just watch a lot of CZcams and I do mean a lot
The babysitting part is exactly how Sora the Troll(Japanese youtuber) described his gripe with teaching English in Japan. I think he also taught for around a decade as well
Wherever u teach u will always be babysittin
@@craigman7262 True! I worked in the UK with reception aged kids and had to change diapers daily.
@@craigman7262 Even teaching college these days is glorified babysitting.
@@cyberdragonzekrom6790 teaching has always been just over glorified babysitting don't pull that these days bullshit when it's been like since since time immemorial
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle No, college (and upper-level school, to a degree) used to be actual places of learning - mathematics, science, philosophy, history, statecraft. For college, I would say even through the 40s. But not since the Weimerican Cultural Revolution, now they're just j-left propaganda mills.
I teach Red Cross in Canada ... Chris, you are well balanced in your opinions & feedback following your teaching English experience. I really appreciated this episode with Pete's added feedback. Well done guys!
It's nice to hear about your teaching experiences.
I've been teaching English for nearly 9 years in Japan and I've found it hard and frustrating but rewarding at times.
Chris your content is great and very informative and hilarious keep up the good work.
In the early 80s I was an exchange student to a major Japan University. The program, for me, lasted three years. During that time I taught English (illegally) 15-20 hours a week. Easy easy money. Time of my life. But at the end of three years I declined an invitation to extend another year. I was about going crazy, too. After three years I was dreaming in Japanese and usually the dreams put me in situations where I needed to speak English but only Japanese would come out.
I have no regrets about those years.
Would you go back?
No, I don’t think so. I am not a traveler of the world. I like living in places, but not traveling so much.
This vid was basically a huge shoutout for Peter and I'm here for it, enjoyed seeing him in previous vids and will definitely check out his twitch. Man's done a solid work grind and is happy with what he's done. much respect
@@PS-eq6xe Its a streaming site that allows you to talk to and interact with people, typically, while they play games live. Not as exciting as youtube videos but great to get to know people more personally.
@@PS-eq6xe well you watch them play games, while you talk to them through chat. People play any game you could think of. I noticed Peter's twitch plays lots of old Atari and arcade games.
I really did like this episode "Tales of a English teacher in Japan" Petter should turn his experiences into book... I'll buy it !!
On a more serious note , I do like single person vlogs on informing on facts and culture in Japan which Chris you do well. I also like the adventure vlogs where you team up other friends and vloggers add a extra dynamic to the whole adventure, keep up the good work Chris.
Pete is quite the inspirational character. Props to you both for pursuing your dreams in Japan!
I appreciate the visual edits to give people the idea of what's being talked about, like the map with the pink dots and all.
It's like a podcast with edited visuals. Top quality
"After I graduate college... at 26." I felt that. I'm 28 and due to the covid pandemic now have to keep going to college till I'm 29. I should have finished when I turned 27. But due to the heavy lack of classes and other life events, couldn't. I understand your friend. But I also know that there are people older than us that are still going and for that, I'm thankful that I'm not one of them.
never late for education yall
As a soon to be PhD student I can relate. I won't be finished until I'm around 25 to 26 either haha, it's painful
@Haung Jo That sucks. But I wish you luck. As long as you don't give up you're never defeated.
@@ericclappedthem Just make sure you don't mess up the first time. Got an Associates of Arts and a Bachelors degree in History. And while I don't regret that History degree one bit, I know that finding a job with it has been nigh impossible. Perhaps, after I get this Associates in Science Computer Networking degree, and land a job and live a bit, I will think about getting a masters in it or something close. But that will probably be a ways away, and if I can complete my goals without striving for another higher-level degree, I'd do that. College doesn't really compare to living and working. But it does enable you to do both better.
Same, been on and off and gonna be 27 while being a super senior, I feel you on that one.
My attention span is very little but Pete’s story telling ability has me laughing, crying, in shock and everything! 10/10 interview 👌
Great content and channel! I taught in Osaka for almost two years, for Aeon. This was back in the late nineties so it may have changed by now, but at least back then they were great - they trained us for a week in Okayama, then we went to our branches all over Japan. Our apartments were provided and subsidized by the company (not fully, so we paid some rent, but it wasn’t the full amount). We were paid about $30k a year, which back then, single with few other responsibilities, was plenty to travel around on the weekends and go out at night.
Taught English in Tokyo at two different Eikaiwas- very different experiences at both but both were positive. I recommend AEON 英会話 as an entry company - they sort your apartment and visa, and have a decent training program and their course structure for students is easy to learn to teach (although a little repetitive). Experiences vary a bit depending on where you are located (which you have a limited degree of choice over). Just be prepared for long hours and having to occasionally 'sell' materials to students. Ultimately though if you just turn up on time and get good feedback from students, and don't cause troubles, youll do fine.
I recommend ECC over Aeon. Interviewed for both, worked for ECC cuz I didn't have to sell anything. No tablets in class but it was pretty chill.
@@maiwei How did you find working at ECC? Have a job there and will be going over to teach English once entry/ visa problems disappear and all get sorted by the company.
Oh thank you. I'm only in 11th grade but would love to do this for my career, it would be great to make an impact on many and teach them another language while having fun.
@@WesticlesUK Keep in mind the company has changed since I left, but like any Eikaiwa, ECC was very inconsistent in many ways. The people can be very hit-or-miss. Many students can be great, others not-so-much. Sometimes you get schools very convenient for you to get to. Sometimes they are really far and you have to travel over an hour. Some schools are pretty chill. The bigger/busier schools tend to be more hectic and the staff tend to be more on edge. Really depends.
What sells better, cigs or manga?
PETTER is a good story teller, and VIP de BIG is a good host, talking is minimal, and doesn't really overshadow what PETTER is saying.
Cheers. Keep a watch for da body VIP de BIG.
agree this much
VIPdeBIG sounds cool
Honestly this is one of the funniest videos I've watched lately. Seriously you had me laughing so hard--that petter joke nearly sent me--though it must have been no joke living through those horror stories. Kudos to your friend for surviving! Would love to see more of you two on this channel
Pete seems like a really nice guy, I wish him the best in life!
Being as old as dirt I hardly ever hear, read or see anything that makes me laugh as I've heard, read or seen everything before. And frankly, the current crop of comedians are so nasty and brutal that their humor leaves me humorless. That being said I laughed out loud at Pete's stories and had to explain to my family as to why this normally serious old guy was busting out laughing like a 5 year old. It made my day.
This is such a humbling comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed the stories and appreciated the humor. I can’t help but laugh at myself or some of the more amusing situations I’ve found myself in over the years
this is actually so damn sweet
I taught in Peru for 12 years and I can honestly say these experiences are uniform worldwide. You don't get into great jobs without sifting through some garbage ones, unless you're British it seems. What you've suffered Pete is worse than I've experienced, but I find a lot of the same things echo true. I had bad bosses that stiffed me out of checks, crap "schools" that worked me to the bone, and outright scams to boot. Now I've started my own business and things are good. Takes time to reach a happy place but it's worth it in the end. Thanks for sharing.
Wow peru sucked for 12 DAYS, i can't even comprehend 12 YEARS there....
Well, I wanted to be a teacher in Japan, but the thing I am most affraid of is the language barrier. Well, probably for a few months at least. Now I am turning 34 and I think that this dream is slowly fading away. I admire your courage to do the first step. Honestly, I don't even know where I should start.
I say you should go for it! I heard that you don't really have to speak Japanese to teach English because you would be speaking in English the whole time, but you should still try to learn the language. I suggest trying to learn the basics of Japanese, and you'd get better at it once you start teaching in Japan. Nothing's too late if you're dedicated
I wouldn't worry too much about the language barrier. The whole point of being a jet teacher is to expose the students to english and not use too much japanese. I would just make sure the place you go to work for can guarantee you salary and visa
Go for it while you still can! Many schools forbid you from using any Japanese whatsoever with the students in the classroom. So you'd only be speaking English during the workday. Outside of the classroom, it's actually very possible to get by with somewhat limited Japanese! Good luck!
You can apply for many programs that don't require a great understanding of Japanese. I started teaching in Japan three months ago and I'm still at an advanced beginner stage. As long as you know greetings and some very basic phrases, you should be fine. It helps tremendously if you make ALT friends who can speak Japanese.
@@inkyh2o701 did you need a bachelors for your program you went with? I want to teach as well, and im considering getting my bachelors, cuz ive always been told its necessary. thx!
I love this story. This is about the tenth time I listened to it. Pete is someone who is so much more than most people. A Ronin with no fear. Arigatou Sensei Pete.
From watching AiJ I have deduced that Japan is either:
1. A wonderful land of incredible sights and experiences.
2. A crazy land of bizarrites and marketable engrish.
3. A alarming and scary land of horrors and aggravated nature.
4. all of the above
As someone who just arrived in Nagoya a few days ago it’s all of the above, simultaneously beautiful, scary and bizarre.
Great for tourists and vacation. I prefer to keep it that way. Stay in your home country and get the best job you can. Maybe every so often, visit japan. Keep the magic, magic.
All of the above
I love how much he matches Chris's self-deprecating energy. When he said "i was hoping for that" i burst out.
This is so interesting. Pete should make a podcast channel because I would actually listen to it. He’s a really good story teller.
I made it 9 months teaching English in Osaka. Then moved to Tokyo to be a lifeguard, best decision ever!! Love my job!!
yeah? I want to visit Osaka more than Tokyo as a solo traveller next year, should I fly direct to Osaka or fly into Toyko and get a JR pass?
I just can't believe how much ESL in Asia has changed over the last 30 years. I was in Osaka from 1995 to 98. No kids classes. Or very few. I think in my first year I had two sisters that were 9 and 10 years old. But I could see where it was heading. I had such a great experience teaching 20 somethings, housewives, and sometimes professionals. My schedule was nuts. Midday to 9pm Monday to Friday but the pay was amazing. I recently subbed for someone for a week or two in Korea. I'll never teach English again after that. Kids are not for me at all.
Yep. Teaching english in japan was an amazing gig until the mid 2000s when the few big companies took over and the pay+work went to shit.
Stories like these is why young people really hate boomers or older folk. Imagine if you stopped teaching when it was great and then someone taught today and said it was awful only for you to say "You're wrong, i taught and it was amazing. You kids are just entitled."
@@dericmederos1514 I guess that's why it's so important to listen and emphasize with other people, regardless of your own experience
Same lol. Convinced me not to renew my contract with a private school
@@dericmederos1514 Nuance is also important. The original commenter didn't say that ESL or EFL teachers are entitled or some self-righteous bullcrap.
They shared their experience and sympathized with the reality of today. Taking your hate out on a innocent and innocuous comment is not okay.
Much love and respect; and have a wonderful day/night wherever you may be.
Despite all of Pete’s hardship, I never laughed so hard watching an abroad in Japan video! Glad he’s on to better things ^^
i would listen to an hr long video of pete talking this mans too fun and cheerful to be around
Pete is terrific fun. I love the conversation between the two of you!
“You smell like dad” that’s actually one of the funniest things I’ve heard
Tbh this was where I was like Pete is the man, one of the more entertaining dudes out there, thanks Chris for showing him to us.
It's super interesting to listen to Pete's stories! He seems very nice and I appreciate his honesty. I wish him all the best for his Twitch Channel or any future project. 😊👍
Pete forgot to mention his non-teaching gig for the NHK show “Cool Japan”.
Do you have any links to those videos?
Bro no way. I have to watch Cool Japan every two weeks as an assignment for my university class! lol I can't wait to find him
Wow! That’s where I recognize him from. Have watched Cool Japan for years now.
I want to teach somewhere in the world, and your insights into Japan's teaching situation is very valuable to me. Thanks Chris!
Thanks for the video.... most teaching experiences are not so horrific. Sometimes it takes people 2 or 3 jobs to find their feet in Japan, especially in the Eikaiwa (cram school) sector. Sounds like this guy experienced a horror story. From personal experience, teaching in rural japan is extremely rewarding. The people are so grateful and generous. It takes the right type of person to appreciate it. Don't be too put off by this video. It is an account of an extreme experience.... on the other hand there are plenty of real stories out there like the ones he describes.... it's just not the norm.
best of luck to Pete! hope you guys do more travel vids, show us the most southern place in Japan next!
This video seriously felt like 10 minutes at most. Loved it, great to see Pete again, and it's pretty relevant to my life at the moment. I've always dreamed about being a teacher and have been wanting to finish my degree for it but honestly the teaching situation in the US is rather dire. Teachers are hated, disrespected, and treated badly all around while not being paid enough for it. Teaching in a foreign country, especially Japan, seems like a better option.
i had to check coz it felt like 10 mins. literally shocked it was over 30 mins!
This was my experience with the video also : flew right by!!
Genuinely interesting stories from Pete!
So heartwarming to hear Ethan Hawke talk about his time in Japan.
He looks a lot more like Daniel Brühl in my opinion.
He's Mikey Day with a beard
Young Dana Carvey with Paul Rudd hair from Anchorman
Vagabond Paul Rudd FTW
I’d say more like the young Dennis Quaid
I commend Pete for going through so much and having such a good attitude.
honestly awesome guys, I think both of you are genuinely great people!
I was an Australian that attended most of my school years in Japan and having an English JET teacher in school from Canada (Refik Sensei; RIP) be treated more like a curiosity rather than a teacher, the idea of working in Japan as an English teacher terrified me. Fortunately when I came back to Japan, I was able to move right into working in IT. I had already become near conversational fluent in Japanese thanks to my school years and managed to bypass that "requirement". This video makes me forever grateful I was able to. Great video though as always Chris!
A bit off-topic question but how is japan's IT from a professional viewpoint? I know how old and rusty lots of Japanese website are or how antic japan's banking is, so I could imagine a Japanese IT company where the devs are saving their code on a central file share instead of git repos and the CI/CD is a batch script that copies the files to an old apache webserver... on the other hand, some of the best games of the world are coming from japan so it's hard to tell how modern the usual japanese IT company is. For example are things like agile software development, DevOps and Container (if we're talking typical REST APIs and websites etc.) even a common thing?
@@Blex_040 yes i'm very curious as well, as to compare the IT view point from eastern and western standards here in australia.
@@Blex_040 The old ways are not always worse than the new ways.
@@cattysplat true
@@cattysplat They are when it comes to web development
This is somehow comforting that people don't have shit already figured out and are still trying to figure out things along the way.
Don't buy into the BS that a few years when you are young will define your entire life. That only happens if you let it.
my grandparent and great grandparents literally farmed as a kid til they die of old age and cancer
I love his stories! I have similar ones from going to Australia as a German and I guess that's just what happens to you if you go to a new country without prejudices but also without reasearching a lot. These are th best kind of stories and they need to happen to you to keep you going and develop further. 😁
Amazing interview!!! Ty for sharing this. I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time! You guys are so gutzy to be able to go there and truck on through such obstacles.
Honestly though, Pete is really strong and must be actually be pretty good with young kids to be able to survive those “education” jobs that in many ways seemed to double as a kind of daycare. Cheers to him, glad it all turned out well. Incredible stories and video!
“Best American Friend.” 😂
I contemplated moving to Japan and leaving Canada behind in 2011. I wonder what could have been. That’s why I have you folks to vicariously live through.
“You smell like Dad!” 😂
I enjoyed these stories. They’re so raw. People often focus on the positive aspects of Japan. This point of view was very interesting. Thank you Petter!
I’m not a fan of twitch. I’d rather play the games myself. Peter may want to consider making CZcams videos of his stories. It sounds like he’s lived quite the life.
I couldn't get an engineering job in 2010 Toronto so I moved to teach in China in 2011... after learning Japanese. Still teaching English in 2022.
You'd be surprised. Half the point is to watch people playing games that a) you wouldn't play yourself or b) that you aren't good at. Or to watch people play games you've already completed, and see how they react to the plot twists. Plus, it's about the community around the streamer as well.
It makes me so happy to see people take a risk and it pays off big time. I'll check this guy out! I'm gearing up to apply for JET for the 2025 batch, not sure I'd want to teach English long term (though I'll do my TEFL course just to have a bit of a 'backup') but I think it's potentially a great life experience
This has got to be one of the funniest, endearing videos you have, Chris
As someone looking into teaching English in Japan, appreciate this video!
I advise getting real teaching experience so you are more prepared and also benefit the education/experience of the students
When I read the title I was like "well damn, guess I can't teach English in Japan now"
WELCOME PETTER!! omg I laughed so hard at this
The guy is genuinely fun to listen to. Deserves much more than Twitch