4 Latest JPG Blogs

Current blog posts for your pleasure. Most only take a few minutes to read!

  • ALT Interview Preparation and Coaching Service
    job interview image

    The Assistant Language Teacher interview preparation and coaching session allows you to practice, reflect, and work on your skills for your upcoming ALT interview, no matter your skill level or the program you are applying to. Together, we plan for the questions you need the most work on and areas you can skip!
    (*No CIR or SEA interview prep service*)

    As an Ex-JET, I offer private, one-on-one, coaching sessions via Google Meet or other video messaging services. We review every question below in the worksheet and a few from the Over 100 JET Program Interview Questions for fun. We also review individual answers and discuss any questions you have regarding the interview process. These sessions provide immediate feedback and confidence to boost your chances of becoming an ALT!

    If you didn’t pass your JET interview, I love to work with prospective candidates on other teaching opportunities such as private teaching. Many companies hire ALTs and language school teachers throughout the year. We can work together to help you find other avenues for living in Japan. I have experience with dispatch companies such as Interac and Eikaiwa Teaching.

    FYI – Services are “unavailable” if you cannot complete the form.
    Interview Preparation Service Form
    Notes and critiques are included, along with the Interview Prep Guide worksheet.

    Interview Prep Guide Sheet

    Terms of Service:
    Price: 50 USD for a 1-hour virtual session.
    (I only accept two methods of secure payment: Venmo and PayPal.)
    Payment: Venmo or Paypal before our session.
    Time: Mon-Fri, 5:00 – 7:00 PM PST (Pacific Standard Time) Sat-Sun, TBD
    Use Time Zone Converter for assistance.
    Refund: No show = no refund; rescheduling possible.
    Video and Audio Recording: Strictly Forbidden

    PayPal QR
    Venmo Payment

    Feedback from successful applicants:
    ” I just wanted to share the news that I got into JET! 🎆 🥳 🎉 🎇 Yayyyyyy!”

  • Breaking Your JET Program Contract

    Reasons ALTs Break Contract

    • Culture shock
    • Depression
    • Death
    • Another job
    • Boredom
    • ALT life
    • Horrible school(s)
    • Unappreciated
    • Missing your loved ones
    • Communication

    There are so many reasons why JETs want to break their contracts. 99% of the time, the excuses aren’t excusable (yes, there are always exceptions). However, BE AN ADULT, USE YOUR RESOURCES, and GROW AS PERSON. You took this long-distance job, which took almost a year of preparation, knowing you would be overseas in a foreign country different from your own. Take advantage of the opportunity!

    Mottainai – don’t let it go to waste

    welcome fan from my ALT sempai
    I still have this welcome fan from ALT Sempai. It still holds sentimental value.

    Just because you are going through culture shock, does not mean it will last forever. There are only four stages. You don’t back out of the second stage and call it quits! That’s loser talk. Make light of your situation. You have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be among locals of a different culture than your own. People are very welcoming whether you know it or not. Your schools and BOE appreciate you for moving there. The best thing is that the JET Program is only a one-year program. It’s even less when you count all the public holidays, vacations, and school time off. By the time you finish your contract, you’ll be wanting more, at least another year or two. I promise!

    Think of all the government bureaucracy involved in hiring you in the first place. You didn’t just fill out one paper and be granted a work visa in Japan. You had to complete a very long application in the online portal, write a long statement of purpose, and pass an interview. Putting in all that effort, along with the other paperwork and moving out of work just to move abroad, should be a signal of what you’re throwing away.

    The consequences

    Let’s be clear, breaking your contract is not like quitting. Quitting has no consequences. If you could quit, it would be easy to replace you with someone else. Hiring someone from overseas doesn’t work like that.

    Depending on when you break your contract, the BOE will have a time frame to replace you. For example, if you break your contract just before summer starts, well, it will be much easier to replace you with an upgrade candidate. However, if you break off mid to late fall, it will be impossible to replace you until the start of the new school semester, which begins in spring from April. In that time, the school will be without an ALT or they will need to divide other ALTs up to cover your school.

    BOEs who have rough contract breaks, regrettably won’t bother contracting JETs again… Usually, they’ll fill the gap with third-party contracts or “dispatch” workers from Interac and Altia.

    How much will you owe after breaking your contract?

    That all depends on what is stipulated by your contract. If you break your contract just after arrival, be prepared to give 200,000-300,000 yen or 2-3k USD for all the costs of your hotel, flight, travel, and other miscellaneous expenses. This might not sound that expensive but remember you burdened everyone else who put in the effort to get you there go to waste, including yourself.

    REPAYMENT OF TRAVEL EXPENSES

    “JET Participants who violate terms and conditions by, for example, failing to complete the full duration of their appointment without due reason, or become disqualified through committing inappropriate acts after arriving in Japan, will bear the full cost of traveling home. In addition, these participants must repay to their contracting organization the cost of travel to Japan and other expenses incurred by the contracting organization, including those costs for housing in cases in which the contracting organization has already made arrangements.”

    Expenses occurred if breaking your contract mid-way:

    • Apartment Lease (key money and security deposit) – 100,000 – 200,000 yen
      • Cleaning deposit 20,000 -30,000 yen
      • Disposal of furniture and goods – 10,000 – 20,000 yen
    • Cellular contract break – 0 to 20,000 yen.
    • Flight expenses (ESID) from your country to Japan – 100,000 – 200,000 yen
    • Utility bills – 5,000 – 20,000 yen
    • Other liabilities not listed such as car insurance, internet, etc.

    Not all of these will apply to you depending on your contract breakage, but yes, you are not only responsible for your JET Program contract. These expenses are less the longer you stay in Japan. E.g. breaking your contract a month before your contract finishes won’t be the same as quitting a month or two in. You just won’t have a free flight home.

    AITA for breaking my contract?

    Probably not…
    But it’s good to self-reflect on the situation before taking that big step. Seek advice from your BOE advisor, talk with your PAs, and reach out to CLAIR about the hardship you’re facing before breaking your contract.

    Situations at home such as the death or sickness of a family member are unavoidable. If you can’t stay in Japan, by all means, ask for help, so you can leave on good terms. No one will hate you for doing what is necessary.

    However, if you’re going through culture shock and stress, well, you should make every attempt to better your sanity before deciding to quit. Some ALTs think it is impossible to change the minds of their JTEs or have better working conditions. But you do have rights in Japan. Speak up and don’t let things fester inside you. The worst thing you can do is not take action. Language barriers and facial expressions are not the same from culture to culture. Japanese people may not understand how you are feeling and neither will anyone else if you don’t speak up.

    Take some action!

    Speaking out will relieve stress and improve your situation. Many foreigners think being indirect is the appropriate way to act in Japan. Well, it’s not! You’ll never improve your situation without first being vocal about what is going wrong.

    You may be underutilized at school and it bores you to sleep. If that is the case, talk with your supervisor, tantosha, principal, and Japanese teachers of English about the problems and how they can be fixed. Take action if your situation sucks. Sitting around will never improve it.

    Learn Japanese and about Japanese Culture, and take the initiative to immerse yourself. A lot of foreigners think Japan is going to follow their cultural norms, but it’s not! Keep trying till you accomplish your goals. For example, getting my Japanese driver’s license wasn’t an easy task… It took me FOUR times to pass the driving exam (I even yelled at the instructor!). I paid for a driving class and a map of the driving course. I even made a driving course in my video game to simulate the one I needed to do at the licensing center. I repeatedly trained myself repeatedly in Japanese car culture and finally achieved my goal before summer. It was insane and a giant relief once I could rent and drive cars whenever I wanted.

    Set realistic goals and expectations

    Below is the HELL I went through to get my license. I studied this map like it was a final college exam. I translated every little part and even put it in a video game called “Track Mania.” Yes, it was worth it in the end because it was a very achievable goal, something that didn’t take N1-level Japanese to get or a fancy car. Getting my license made everything in Japan more reachable. That is what you want, goals and expectations are obtainable that will make you happier overall on the program.

    Look at my face – I was so happy to get it after going through all the hoops. It was hard af to get in my prefecture. I was sweaty, hot, mess but proud to finally have a Japanese driver’s license. You will never see me look happier than this except in the next photo where I am driving a rental car.

    Look at me, I did! My friend visited and this was my first rental car ever. I only had one chance to drive before this, a year before my international license expired. I never owned a car in Kumamoto because I never needed one where I lived in the city. Driving this cheap kei car was one of the best times in Japan and a relief because I earned some “freedom.” I wasn’t just handed my license; I had to earn it. But earning it meant that I was part of Japanese society since driving in Japan is very much a right of passage.

    My goal of getting a driver’s license was very achievable. It wasn’t something like passing N1 or even N3 for that matter. It was something I could do and feel proud about. The end goal of a driver’s license was, for someone without one, to freely rent cars and drive around. It was also another form of ID :: wink wink::, so I could use it instead of my foreigner card.

    Set goals and keep your contract and sanity

    Japan can be a strenuous or boring country. Every situation is different (ESID), but you can beat the culture shock and the hardships by making the most of your time. If you’re stuck on what to do, turn to YouTube, blogs, forums, friends, teachers, and students for ideas and challenges that still prevent you from up and leaving. As an ALT or foreigner working/living in Japan, nothing will work out exactly the way you want. No one is there to babysit you and hand you a gold medal. But you can always earn it.

  • What is the JET Programme as Explained by AI (ChatGPT)

    “The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme is a government-sponsored initiative that was established in 1987 to promote international exchange and cultural understanding between Japan and other countries. The program invites young people from around the world to come to Japan and work as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) or Coordinators for International Relations (CIRs) in Japanese schools and local government offices.

    ALTs are responsible for helping Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) to teach English to students in primary and secondary schools. They may assist with lesson planning, lead small group discussions, and provide pronunciation and conversation practice for students.

    CIRs, on the other hand, work in local government offices and are responsible for promoting internationalization at the community level. They may help to organize cultural events, provide translation and interpretation services, and promote local tourism.

    The JET Programme is highly competitive, with thousands of applicants vying for a limited number of positions each year. Successful applicants typically have a bachelor’s degree, a strong interest in Japan and its culture, and some prior experience teaching or working with children.

    Participants in the JET Programme receive a competitive salary, housing allowance, and other benefits, such as Japanese language classes and opportunities for professional development. They are also able to immerse themselves in Japanese culture, develop language skills, and make connections with people from all over the world.

    Overall, the JET Programme is a unique opportunity for young people to gain international experience, contribute to cultural exchange, and develop valuable skills that can be applied in a variety of careers.”

    These results are pretty insane and accurate. It’s scary the results AI used to write about the JET Programme. I would like to know where it pulled all the information from and how it formulated its results. Anyways, I hope this was an exciting read about the JET Program and inspired some of you!

  • 5 Rules to Open Your Statement of Purpose

    1) Never Start Your Statement of Purpose with:

    “To whom it may concern,” “Dear Hiring Manager,” or ” I’ve always wanted to be a JET because…”

    These are all terrible openings to a paper that is NOT a cover letter or CV. The JET Program SoP is a statement of purpose or personal statement. It is an essay about yourself, your interests, and your motivations for the JET Programme. Your concern is catching your readers’ attention and motivating them to learn about you!

    Your introduction is the most important part of your JET SoP. It is the first time the reviewer will learn about you. Imagine you are sitting in a room with them and need to introduce yourself! Better yet, think about the opener as a job interview. It’s the “tell me about yourself” question you need to answer within 1-2 minutes.

    The opener is where you need to make a good impression! A bad opening could spell disaster for the rest of your paper. Think about some of the best books you’ve ever read. If the opening was bad, would you have finished or skipped the book?

    2) Surprise Your Reader With the First Line

    State a fact about yourself that will grab the reader’s attention. A personal story to introduce yourself and show your character. It’s critical that it is related to Japan or Japanese culture. Draw their attention to you and not someone else. Your SOP is about you! Think about what you want to convey in only 1 sentence. Attempt to brainstorm something great and unique. Don’t worry if it doesn’t sound right the first time, you can always work on it later and ask others for help.

    One-liner samples:

    3) Details From the Second Sentance

    After that attention-grabbing line, you need to write some details about that experience. Discuss in 1-2 sentences about it and how it guided you to apply to the JET Program. Narrow down the details and be concise to your reader. Doing this will ensure they know why you are interested in the program.

    From my 2012 SoP
    (Passing off the baton to my vice principal in the 200-meter relay on Sport’s Day at Niwashirodai Junior High School was an unforgettable moment as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan.) I have the pleasure of working for Interac as an ALT until March 2013. For my next goal, I am determined to bring my skills to the JET Program as an ALT in elementary and special needs classes, based on my recent experiences as an ALT and former English grammar tutor.

    The next 2 lines are about my past experience and what I want to do on JET with my skills. Every applicant is different so don’t compare yourself to me. Focus on what you have and can bring to the program. Your writing won’t be perfect, just remember to revise and be conscious of your space. Your introduction should be 5 sentences, max!

    4) Transition to your first body paragraph

    The final line in your SoP introduction should be a transition to help the reader understand what your plans are and hint about your future goals. You want the reader to know what to expect in the coming paragraphs.

    From my 2012 SoP
    (Passing off the baton to my vice principal in the 200-meter relay on Sport’s Day at Niwashirodai Junior High School was an unforgettable moment as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan. I have the pleasure of working for Interac as an ALT until March 2013. For my next goal, I am determined to bring my skills to the JET Program as an ALT in elementary and special needs classes, based on my recent experiences as an ALT and former English grammar tutor.) In JET, I will continue to act as a global ambassador by sharing my passion for culture and teaching while moving forward with my professional career goals.

    From my 2011 SoP
    (My interest in East Asian culture was ignited by my high school Japanese language class. The class was challenging because I was unfamiliar with the Japanese language or culture. As a way to deal with the difficult writing, grammar, and speech structure, I sought out a Japanese pen pal to exchange emails and parcels with. This friendship led to my first visit to Japan. Traveling to Japan helped me in envisioning my long-term goal of becoming a global ambassador. Since then I have pursued a career path in East Asia studies. My current goal is to become an Assistant Language Teacher in the Jet Program based on my experiences from tutoring and studying abroad.) With this position, I can fuel my understanding of the Japanese culture and language while giving back to the community through English teaching and seeking my professional goals.

    5) No introduction is perfect

    My writing was NOT perfect. My application formula might not be perfect for you either; however, this style was the easiest for me to follow. I believe it guides the reader to gain an understanding of my character/who I am; learn why I want to apply to the JET program; and learn about the skills I’ll bring to the program and my future aspirations.

    Be an attention seeker! This is your first interview believe it or not. Making a good impression will get you a second interview. Applicants don’t grasp the importance of the “personal statement” or “statement of purpose.” Pretend like this is your interview and you only have a limited time to explain yourself. What would say to entice the reader and have them wanting more?