5/16/2006

A while ago, I wrote about how 80% of students came to learn English for fun. I wrote that after 5 months of teaching. Now after 8 months, I want to revise that slightly. There are students that go to an eikaiwa to learn English, there are students that come to eikaiwa to have fun and make friends (with both foreigners and other students). But there’s a third category that I didn’t mention last time. It’s a rather small minority but it can affect you and the way you teach. They are the students that have come to the eikaiwa because they have to.

Mostly, they are young, high school kids on orders from their parents. It’s another type of cram school for them. They may or may not act bored and uninterested in the lesson. Each person is different.

There are also adults that have been pressured into going to eikaiwa to learn English. Most are on orders from their employers - the lessons have been paid for them. Like the high schoolers, they may or may not be interested in the lesson. Other adults are being pestered by their families. I have at least two students that are considered “leeches” by their parents (as they are unmarried and still living at home) so they’ve been ordered to make something of themselves by learning English.

The last category is the most disturbing. These are students that have been told to come to eikaiwa by their doctors. Unfortunately, mental health in Japan is pretty poor. There are stories of shut-ins, suicides and mental health institutes that practise solitary confinement and restraining patients to their beds. There are the salarymen who cracked after being overworked and stressed out, particularly after the economy bubble burst.

These students are told to come to eikaiwa so they can practise being sociable and learn how to communicate with people again. It also gives them a hobby. Learning English is an added bonus, although in the majority of cases, these people are often poor students.

Eikaiwa often advertise to prospective employees that they will be teaching enthusiastic students that want to learn English. And while this is still true in the majority of cases, a professional attitude is required for the other types of students. Just try to remember that you are not their doctors, their counsellors or not even necessarily their friends (although it doesn’t have to stop you).

In an eikaiwa, you can’t pick your students.