Hemingway might have coined the term but, today I’m writing about the complexity in dealing with an omission of character or speech that I will call The Japanese Iceberg Theory. What am rambling about? It mainly concerns teaching students that don’t give you back a lot of personality or conversation. I’m talking about Japan, so this entry will help you if you teach English in Japan. If you plan to work in Japan, teaching English you’ll benefit too.

I mention this because students are often mislabeled as being low-level speakers in English when really they are just holding back not to be rude or can’t understand the situation. There are several reasons that this can happen in the classroom. The one way and most common is when the teacher, such as myself, does something in class that the given student doesn’t like, it produces a halt in the conversation between teacher and student. The best way to remedy this problem would be to very knowledgeable about culturally acceptable behavior. This can be accomplished by reading books on the subject or asking trusted Japanese friends. I would suggest books, though.

Another reason with this mislabeling conundrum is the issue of the student’s personality. Sometimes people are really closed up but given the right topic they will start talking up a storm. You can easily assess a student true English level when you talk about the right topics. Teachers in an EFL environment need to choose the topics we use in class carefully.

Finally we teachers should consider the idea of background knowledge. When you don’t know something in a conversation, it is very probable that you won’t say much, right? It’s definitely true for Japanese students. I always tried to find out what my students knew or didn’t know. I know their levels more clearly because of it.

The main idea of the Japanese Iceberg Theory is that the Japanese student is a big mystery. Teachers decide what is talked about for the most part because the students, most often, lack the conversational experience to change the topic or conversation naturally or smoothly. Teachers must assume the best of the student first, and not to guess what is underneath the surface. A measurable level of English is always at the top of the iceberg which is where a conversation takes place. My biggest take away from my experience dealing with this theory was that asking the right questions opened doors for not only me but also the students. I continue to hone my conversational strategies for my students everyday. It’s the only way I can truly help them. Please comment with questions or comments below.

spaces surrounded by lines

swift stiff shuffle

in this place

Worlds are estranged

dangers near of the mind

minds are forged

experience, foreign spite

eyes see

hands act

actions

are forever done

English conversation companies are everywhere in Japan. The Japanese pay good money to go and try English for a couple of hours per week. If you apply for work with any of these companies, from now refered to as eikaiwa, then you will be a product that the Japanese use. Ok it sounds dehumanizing but think of it this way. Say I’m in America and want to speak Japanese. I would pay to go speak Japanese in a class for a couple of hours a week. Now I’m speaking with a person and I would be highly critical if I didn’t improve my Japanese. Now If the person teaching me Japanese was a passionate teacher with lots of personality, I would naturally continue and most likely improve my Japanese. The take away here is to show your passion, be engaging, and above all else know how to teach the curriculum. That will make sure you are not dehumanized at an eikaiwa. You should keep in mind that you are a product that the eikaiwa is selling- English conversation. Don’t make mountains out of mole hills.

The staff at many of the schools are sometimes perceived as harsh or cruel to the foreign staff (meaning you if you get the job). Well I would take this opportunity to state the obvious; The foreign staff work, live, and play in Japan. With that said just think about what that means. In your home country you would expect the foreign staff to follow the rules at work and behave accordingly. If you continually see the same behavior after many corrections you might be quiet short with this individual. It’s not any different in Japan. The only problem is a Japanese correction is often missed by most of the foreign staff. It could be only body language, a short cough, an abrupt silence. There is no need to say anything. The best thing is to stop whatever is causing the problem and learn from it. Learn to read people is the most important thing for success in Japan.

I think the last thing that needs to be addressed is the negative comments out on the internet. 99.9% of those comments are from people who did something that made the other staff mad and they only continued to escalate it by not listening. Always be open and willing to change how you do things. Japan is built on team work. Don’t throw a monkey wrench in the gears, you only end up bitter and complain on a forum for eikaiwa teachers. There are some positive comments out there but people like to complain so negative comments are always abundant. Everything in this post comes from my experience and real life examples of people who have made it and those who have failed. The ones that failed are the ones who did things I said not to do. My biggest advice is to stay positive and not let anything become a personal attack. Good luck with your application. Japan will be happy to welcome you if you do the same.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I changed regions recently. I am having a blast meeting new people and working with new coworkers. I have gotten very comfortable as of recent. I, however, was not so comfortable in the beginning.

Before I continue there is a little more to be discussed about my pedagogical stance. As an adolescent, I was not very good with authoritative roles; therefore, I have made it a point to not be an authority figure in my classroom. I learned to let students have the same amount of power as me in my classroom. I wanted to create an atmosphere for learning through creative outlets that would not be derived from a rigid structure. I wanted the learning process to be fluid and flexible.

Now my maxim is for American students, but I currently teach Japanese students. If you know anything about the Japanese education system, then you might be aware of the algorithmic style learning. This is learning, by way of the teacher, a proven system to get the correct results every time.  I never learned that way (maybe for math…), so it was hard to accept it at first. Now that I am in a new region I have been taught all these steps and formulas to help my students speak English! I never would have thought I would say it, but it really works. It is easier on me, as a teacher, and the students for both of us to know exactly what to do and when to do it.

I have heard this spouted as “McEnglish” by nay-sayers of this system. I would have to tell them to stop applying their given countries method of instruction and to open their minds to learning a little culture. The Japanese system and culture enjoys this style of learning. I would have to argue that no system is perfect and have thought about systems of education in earlier posts. As I sit back and take a look at the big picture, I am enjoying a back-to-basics methodology to my pedagogical toolbox and an all new approach to learning. The caveat to this whole approach is I am still not an authority figure in my classroom. I am a facilitator!

“There is a ramen festival and maybe a bread festival tomorrow. It starts at 10. You should go.”

Well, I am a ramen addict. Fueled by Ramen might be a good moniker for me, but it’s already taken.

So I got there around 1:30 or so and saw this.

If you can imagine 7 booths with about the same size queue for each, then you would get an idea of the crowd. Now I started at a famous one. It had the longest line.

 So as for the flavor, it is pictured. But if you can’t read Japanese, it reads tonkotsu and miso ramen. Tonkotsu is a very popular flavor and Ton is a root word meaning Pork and kotsu means bone. It is very flavorful. Check it out!

The flavor was complex and made me crave it more. I love tonkotsu but the miso added this new complexity to it that made my tastebuds sing. It was magical. So this stall had the biggest line and after I finished my bowl I walked by and saw a man holding the sold out sign. I’m glad I went there first. Here is the sign  of the restaurant if you’re curious.

After I walked by Amanojaku’s stall I got in line for Tiger ramen.

Tiger ramen’s sign said it was a chicken based soup. I paid and waited a while for them to make it. They seemed to be struggling to keep up. They might be the underdog at the festival- I guess. I finally got my bowl and quickly snapped a picture and ate it.

Not bad. I love this style but… It was just missing something. I loved the chashu though! Well by this second bowl I was stuffed so I headed over to the bread festival to bring some home for my wife and I.

Then I stumbled home and flopped on the couch. What a great weekend.