English For Fun
The eikaiwa do have a good point. The Japanese education system focuses on grammar, reading and vocabulary when teaching English. This means that many Japanese people are left hanging when they actually try to speak English to a foreigner. So the philosophy that eikaiwa teach conversation skills, not grammar, is sound. The focus is on talking, not textbooks.
But after working for one of The Big Four eikaiwa for nearly five months now, I’ve come to the conclusion that Japanese students are 80% of the time there because they want to have fun. They’d like to meet some foreigners, or use their English skills for meeting foreigners outside the eikaiwa (necessary, when schools like Nova ban their instructors from socialising with students outside the school).
I have met many students who have said that their reasons for studying English are that they “want to meet foreigners” or that “English is cool”. I also have a 85 year old woman who comes once a week to giggle and talk in Japanese after being told to “Please repeat: May I have a window seat, please?”. Is she there to learn English? Of course not, she’s a widow with nothing else to do.
Another reason they come in is to socialise with other Japanese students. And that means gossip. Oh, the gossip. They will invent all kinds of theories and stories about you and your life and why you came to Japan. I found the best way to combat this is to tell them all exactly why you came to Japan, who your boyfriend is and how many cats you have. If the reason is silly, like “I came to Japan to watch lots of anime“, then they’ll love you for it, even if they laugh about it.
It’s an expensive way to socialise and have fun, especially if they are students of one of the Big Four. But you can’t fault the eikaiwa. They do genuinely try to teach English. The fact that the students often aren’t interested is a side issue.
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