Books and teaching materials
Even though I’ll be an eikaiwa sensei (conversation teacher) I’ll still be making use of a textbook supplied by the eikaiwa company in my lessons. Textbooks can be a great way to supplement your lesson, but don’t feel the need to bring huge books of your own from home. Apart from the fact that they’re heavy, pretty much everything you’ll need is already in Japan, and provided by your eikaiwa.
Firstly, these textbooks aren’t standard textbooks. They’re designed to stimulate conversation, being primarily made up of pictures and lines of conversation. The textbooks give a starting point to create roleplays, to walk the students through typical conversations, and lets them practise their vocabulary by describing pictures and scenarios. They are NOT designed to teach English grammar, because this is taught extensively in schools and universities. The conversation classes are designed to put into vocal practice what the students have learned throught their education. The textbooks supplied by eikaiwa (both prescribed and others) supplement this.
In fact, the only English grammar textbook you may need is for yourself! It’s not uncommon for a Japanese student to correct their native-speaking teacher on points of grammar. That’s how high the emphasis is in schools. Still, eikaiwa will often have grammar textbooks in their resource libraries so there’s no need to bring your own from home, but it is recommended to brush up on grammar before you leave.
If you tutor or if you don’t work for an eikaiwa, standard textbooks from home probably won’t help you teach. What you may want to consider bringing are items like photo albums, scrapbooks, magazines – even take-away menus from your local restaurants. Items with images or clearly ordered information are much more interesting for your student to look at and learn from, and like the eikaiwa designed textbooks, can be used to stimulate conversation and roleplays.
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