Program Reviews

I did JET 2005-2007 in the southern part of the main island. I had a great time as an elementary school teacher with only 4 junior high days per month, but it was a lot of work. If you go into JET without any teaching skills or experience in K-12 classrooms, you will be getting a crash course, and if you have minimal or no Japanese, you will probably have a rough time in your personal life, even if you can get by OK at school.

If you DO have teaching experience, it's both a curse and a blessing. On one hand, you will be able to make lesson plans, have a good sense for the pedagogy appropriate to the age level, etc. On the other, you will be working within a system that may not want your expertise, or with a teacher who lacks all enthusiasm or ability. These can drain you if you aren't prepared to find entertainment and satisfaction in the students, outside curricular activities, or your personal life. You also may want to come with a nice little nest egg of at least US$1,500 to get yourself started, as you may not be paid for several weeks and may need to buy stuff for your apartment and pay for food until then.

I recommend JET to people who have some ability with Japanese and willingness to keep learning the language, who are adventurous and enjoy traveling and could live in rural or suburban areas, and who are generally cheerful/friendly with strangers and OK with touchy-feely kids. I do not recommend JET for people who have medical issues that may be tough to treat in Japan (several friends had to quit early due to this), people who aren't prepared to step back and take a neutral look at bad situations/cultural clashes, or people for whom being a virtual "camp counselor" sounds horrifying. If you are bringing a spouse along, it may be hard for them to find a job, so please take it into consideration.

That said, I had a blast, taught over 3,500 kids in 2 years, and had classes ranging from 4 kids to 120 kids at one time, and I loved inventing new games to get them excited and hanging out with them on the playground or after school. I also loved traveling around the country (I had 20 days' vacation + national holidays) and taking part in local events and festivals with my students.

The JET Program is the most competitive program for teaching abroad for several reasons. Though the application process feels a bit grueling (partly because it's so competitive), getting accepted immediately puts you in contact with a vast and experienced support group. This is easily the most valuable part of the program, and was my main motivation for applying two times to get in.

Compared to other programs, we're pretty spoiled. The flight to Tokyo is covered, as is our later transport to our final destination. There is a 3-day orientation in Tokyo, which has a mix of useful and not-so-useful seminars to deal with as you cope with your jet lag. There is training at other points of the year, as well. The support system is easy to reach, at national and local levels. Because the program has been around for a few decades, most (not all!) new placements are moving into well-prepared housing and going to schools and boards of education that are used to ALTs.

However, the program preaches "every situation is different," and while that makes me want to pull my hair out at times, it's very true. I'm based at one decently academic senior high school in a pretty rural area, and have one less academic visit school I go to once a week. I create all of my lesson plans, worksheets, and more or less lead my classes. I spoke no Japanese before coming here, and my coworkers are very helpful and patient with me - and my English teachers are very much fluent.

However, I have friends that teach at 5 to 10 schools of varying level, make no materials of their own, are expected to communicate in Japanese (though they have studied it before) with non-fluent English teachers, and are more or less glorified tape recorders. Some Japanese teachers simply do not like working with ALTs, but that's just like any job anywhere. I personally love my placement, my schools, and my coworkers.

Living in Japan is amazing. It's a clean, safe country, with deep cultural roots that are amazing to see first-hand. The wage JET offers is more than enough to survive the expenses you may face, while still having pocket money left over to travel the country. JETs are not expected to simply show up, teach, and go home. They want you to interact with the culture itself, be it with after-school clubs, personal trips, or taking a private class in tea ceremony. And even as someone who is only just beginning to learn the language, I find that it's easy to live here. People are sympathetic and patient in general, even when the language barrier is horribly inconvenient. Being immersed in a language is a new experience for me, and it's paying off with the speed at which I'm learning. If you don't speak Japanese, don't let that stop you from applying! Just be adaptable and open to everything, and you'll be fine.

All in all, I am loving my current experience on JET and hope to stay for a few more years.

If you are interested in coming to Japan to teach English for a while, I would definitely recommend the JET Programme as your first choice. Going with JET, my transition into Japanese life and the workday was truly painless. Transportation to my hometown was arranged, I was given a nice house to live in and taken on a tour of the town - including the essential grocery stores and home centers. JET provides ample training for the novice teacher, both before departure from your home country and while you are here. The salary was plenty for a single person, especially considering that I lived rent-free.

There are a couple of negatives that I should point out. One is that teaching materials are not provided -- you will need to make your own activities, worksheets, handouts, etc. However, you will receive so many ideas from the training that it should not be a big problem. The other issue for me is that, after you have done it for a year or two, the training becomes a little excessive, and frankly gets in the way of productivity. Still, they are all mandatory.

One other potential down side is that you have little say over where you will end up in Japan. You may choose preferences on what prefecture or city you would like to go to, but it is not guaranteed, and you can be placed literally anywhere in the country. If you don't like your assigned location, your only option is to quit the program.

I taught at two schools in a semi-rural town in Shizuoka prefecture. I loved them both -- the teachers were all good to work with, and the students, with a few exceptions, were well behaved and receptive. The teachers were mostly open to working with me as a JET, and we were able to have excellent classes together.

As JET likes to say repeatedly, "Every situation is different." You may have to pay rent. You may have to pay for utilities. You may end up in a school with terrible behavior problems, or in a town you don't like. Still, even with the uncertainties of JET, I would highly recommend you try this route before considering alternate teaching organizations in Japan - some can be rather shady -- do your research!

JET was my first professional job and first time living overseas. I had actually never been to Japan prior to this experience not even for a visit. I felt well taken care of, guided through the process every step of the way. They took care of all visa process before we left, had a bank account already set up, with a salary advance so we would have some money to get apartment and necessary items right away. We had a furniture rental for free once we got our apartments, and a home-stay family for the first few weeks or months until we had a place of our own, if we wanted. My host family became very good friends of mine, a family with whom I remain in contact. We had regular workshops where they would give us activity and teaching ideas and help us develop our skills and techniques. We also had Japanese classes upon arrival, a kind of week-long crash course.
I really believe the prestige of the program is well-known, and the program is respected by many people. I believe that many people are impressed with seeing it on my resume and confident that I am a good asset to their school or company. I feel I may have my current job due to the JET Programme experience.

I had a great time in Japan, the people were friendly the sights were amazing and learning Japanese was challenging! I enjoyed all the AJET events organized for us and the prefectural conferences on teaching gave us a chance to interact and share ideas.

At times the culture shock was overwhelming but I did manage to get through this as well.

The salary and benefits were very competitive compared to what I would earn back home in South Africa and I managed to pay for my studies with my savings.

I first joined the Jet Program thinking I was going to live and teach in Japan for a year and that would be that. Well I wound up staying for the full five years and I am still currently living in Japan.

There is something about teaching English in Japan and stuck with me after that first year. If I knew the experience would be life changing I would not have believed it. But hear I am still teaching English and still in Japan.

The experience was great as I am still in contact with some of my first students and it is very rewarding to keep in touch with them even after they have graduated and moved on.

So Japan has played a major role in life's path. And as I look to the future Japan seems to be the place for me. It's a great and rewarding experience that is still having a lasting effect on my life and my future decisions.

I studied Japanese as an undergraduate, so the JET Program made sense even though I had no teaching experience. The training program provided me with extensive teaching materials, and I thus felt equipped to work with the lead English teacher in delivering content. In fact, this experience exposed me to classroom teaching and made me fall in love with it. After two years, I returned to the States to become a high school biology teacher!

Living abroad was amazing. Japan is such a clean and safe country. Its culture is deep and dynamic. I was very lucky to have lived near Kyoto City, so I admit I rarely felt isolated and there was always something new to explore.

I would advise that JET participants make a cognizant effort to befriend other Japanese, rather than English speaking friends. If your goal is to improve your language and integrate yourself into Japanese culture, it is the best [yet, sometimes hardest] thing to do!

There can be a lot of free time as an assistant language teacher in rural Japan, but if you use that time to your advantage (i.e., studying the language/local culture, interacting with your colleagues and students) you returns will be tenfold.