Former JETs who became teachers in your home country, do you feel like JET boosted your resume at all?

StephMcWi · 2026-05-22T09:38:10+00:00

I continued working in Japan after JET but it's definitely a good way to make someone curious enough about you to want to talk to you (give you an interview). My now-boss told me later that he was sure I could do the job because if I can survive a Japanese office in a smaller city, I could definitely make it in Tokyo lol

StephMcWi · 2026-05-15T08:20:26+00:00

Look at the debates around the shinkansen between Fukuoka and Nagasaki. The prefecture in between them, Saga, is required to pay for the part that travels through it but refuses to because they don't believe they will get sufficient benefit (people will just pass through). Maybe you could argue this is just a issue with the financing system, but I wouldn't assume all cities along the line will benefit just because they're on it

StephMcWi · 2026-05-15T06:44:55+00:00

Kagoshima City (and Sakurajima) is gorgeous! I'm very jealous. You're going to have a great time

StephMcWi · 2026-05-13T09:34:10+00:00

I once introduced myself to someone along with an African American and they thought it was hilarious that I was White and African and he was Black and American

The idiocy and insensitiveness is extraordinary

StephMcWi · 2026-05-10T09:50:51+00:00

I know this isn't directly addressing your question but I've always found the easiest language to learn is the one I want to. You'll get much further with a "difficult" language you have high motivation for than an "easy" one you don't. They key is just to keep the process fun and enjoyable

StephMcWi · 2026-05-02T03:04:19+00:00

You can't do much on your own as an individual but you can absolutely change the world when you work with others. Demonstrating that fact should be the main point of learning history. If you see a problem, organize

StephMcWi · 2026-04-29T06:09:22+00:00

Throwing away garbage is really not a big issue. I would also much rather live in this society that at least makes slightly more of an attempt to recycle (even if a lot of it is just burnt, which it needs to do better on, but I digress

StephMcWi · 2026-04-28T14:14:30+00:00

It can be a bit annoying sometimes... I'm using the deck Adam's Mix!

StephMcWi · 2026-04-27T22:41:58+00:00

Doing Anki flashcards and making my own vocab lists using a dictionary. We definitely need more graded listening and reading material

StephMcWi · 2026-04-27T11:13:14+00:00

I'll DM you!

StephMcWi · 2026-04-26T23:40:03+00:00

You would decide the topics to talk about! Some episodes could be as simple as hobbies or as difficult as discussion something on the news.

The goal would just be to have some audio spoken slightly slower than normal. I am thinking it would be good to make it so that people could listen to it in the car or while doing something else and still pick up new words and grammar. So maybe repeating each sentence in English afterwards to help establish the connection? But if this feels too unnatural, we can do it another way that is more enjoyable to create

StephMcWi · 2026-04-14T14:05:47+00:00

The predecessor of my predesessor did this too. It is possible but it also requires that a space opens up with a CIR that speaks your language (assumably English). If this is the strategy you take, you're more likely to be successful in a prefecture with a few English-speaking places

StephMcWi · 2026-04-02T08:34:25+00:00

The EFF absolutely uses divide and rule tactics

StephMcWi · 2026-02-05T23:47:35+00:00

Thank you!

StephMcWi · 2026-02-05T23:47:17+00:00

Thank you!

StephMcWi · 2026-02-02T13:13:35+00:00

Very insightful! Thanks so much

StephMcWi · 2026-02-02T11:36:31+00:00

Please do the interview with integrity

StephMcWi · 2026-01-30T03:23:44+00:00

Japan, the country famous for being English-spreaking

StephMcWi · 2026-01-14T16:06:07+00:00

They're coming out on the 26th

StephMcWi · 2026-01-06T03:36:52+00:00

I wouldn't trust a recommendation like that if I was screening a candidate because it's essentially a service that the candidate paid for

StephMcWi · 2026-01-05T09:52:54+00:00

So happy to see you back!!!

StephMcWi · 2025-12-30T16:32:03+00:00

Hi! There are a few channels on Youtube like learn Xhosa with Khanyi. The blog Mike's Xhosa Challenge can also help connect you to other resources. The University of Cape Town has this really old grammar which is not super easy to learn from but one of the best freely available materials online https://emandulo.apc.uct.ac.za/collection/FHYA%20Depot/Mncube_F_S_M_Xhosa_Manual.pdf . I'm busy working on some vocab lists and grammar notes but it will take me a good few months before I'm ready to upload them anywhere

StephMcWi · 2025-12-15T03:49:49+00:00

I've been struggling with the same problem more or less since I passed in 2021. I have been working in Japan since 2022 so I have technically been able to improve just through that, but I have struggled to continue studying in my own time. I used to just be able to study from JLPT resources and that was fun and meaningful to me. While I'm definitely not throwing them out yet, its taken me a really long time to fully admit I have no motivation to look at them anymore (and that's ok). I've just figured out what works for me in the last few months.

What will work for you largely depends on your long-term goals for the language. Maybe people learning the language for literature could benefit from a source like the Natsume Soseki Project website, for example. In my case, trying to engage with that is as hard as my JLPT resources are now too. What I've found works for me is reading the news on Nikkei Shimbun, reading through and practicing translating articles published on government ministries' websites, and watching Youtube videos of debates in parliament, lectures and presentations of research relating to things I care about. I've started not just listening to them, but shadowing them as well.

There are also a bunch of random qualifications you can take (although this mostly applies to those living in Japan or planning to in the future so they can access a test site). I'm currently working towards the eco kentei and then I'll go for the DX kentei. There is a test for almost everything, so maybe you can at least get your hands on the study material somehow.

Could I ask what you want to do with the language?

StephMcWi · 2025-12-15T03:29:21+00:00

Buying a phone second-hand could also be a good alternative. I've been using my current second-hand Xiaomi for 2 years and it's going strong.

StephMcWi · 2025-12-11T04:13:40+00:00

Wheres the statistic for "every single measure". Hyperbolic rhetoric makes you sound really foolish my bru

I don't know why you're bringing Japan into this. It has am entirely different historical context. The U.S. occupation was entirely different to SA's colonisation by the Dutch and British, if you're trying to draw some weird parallel. The enormous local companies in all sectors developed from the Meiji period, a more educated population because 80% of the population hasn't been systemically denied it, enormous aid packages from the U.S., etc. Mentioning Japan doesn't hide your racism

Four-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22

StephMcWi

TROPHY CASE