Category Archives: teach in Japan

Teaching in Japan is my life. Been at it ten years plus and will add teaching in Japan info to this part of my site as I go.

Mickey Acorn Talks About Getting Published In Japan

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My buddy Mickey Acorn has just published an ESL textbook here in Japan and I couldn’t be happier for him.  Aside from being an English teacher, a fiction writer, and a fellow Japan-lover, he’s also a great songwriter and does a bang-up rendition of Tom Petty’s ‘American Girl.’  I was psyched to hear about his book and thought it would be cool to interview him about publishing in Japan.

Greg: First of all, Mickey, please introduce yourself and tell us how long you’ve been in Japan.

Mickey: I’m Mickey Acorn, I’m from Prince Edward Island in Canada (known for the story “Anne of Green Gables” –> 赤毛のアン). I came to Japan for one year on a Working Holiday visa and decided to stay once I realized how amazing the quality of life was in Japan. I’ve been here for just over three and a half years and I don’t intend to leave anytime soon.

Greg: What’s the book all about? What makes it unique?

Mickey: The book is special. Most textbooks like it have used previously published materials to test the reading comprehension of Japanese students. The content is usually pretty boring. Topics such as Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King and cultural differences between the West and Japan are very popular.

Yasukochi Tetsuya wanted to created a textbook used for the same reason, but with original content that was both fresh and interesting to the reader. After reading a story I wrote he became very excited to use it as a way to help people not only improve their reading skills but also let them enjoy English. The book is my short story translated and annotated.
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Living In Japan Without Teaching English

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Last night at 2:30 AM, another of my gaijin friends left Japan.  What can I do to keep them here?  He got on a plane with his family back to New Zealand where he will open a convenience store (what I guess they call a ‘dairy’).  He figures that it will be more fulfilling than a career as an eikaiwa teacher.

There were serious reasons why he quit actually.  There was a ridiculous complaint that was totally unrelated to teaching leveled at him by an unsatisfied customer (oops… I mean student) and his superiors stuck up for him.  Kind of.  Well, they defended him, reassured the complainer that he’s a good teacher, and then put him on The List. Continue reading →

Insurance For Teachers

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When I quit working for one of the big English teaching companies, I had to get insurance from somewhere.  My wife suggested I use the national health system that Japanese people use.  I thought that would be a good idea, but I looked into it and it wasn’t so great after all.  It was very expensive and didn’t offer full coverage.

One problem with National Health is that, when you sign up for it, you have to pay a big chunk to get started.  You have to pay for all the months you were in the country and covered by someone else.  For me, that would have meant paying three years of insurance all at once!
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Lesson Planning

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Lesson Planning Tips for Teachers In Japan

I used to work for a big Eikaiwa where I had all my lessons pre-planned for me and all I had to do was crank open a big textbook and I was ready to go.  Now, I’m on my own, making my own lessons for individual students.  When I was first on my own, I was overwhelmed.  It was like having the floor pulled out from under me!  I didn’t know anything about lesson planning.
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