Category Archives: Teaching English in Japan

Stop speaking Japanese (etc)

Posted on 04/11/2014 by alexcase

… or How to React to Random English in Your Everyday Life Abroad. This was supposed to be in Tokyo’s freebie listings magazine Metropolis, but it was so badly mangled by the editor that I decided to publish the original version for free … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Japan | 3 Comments

TOEFL to improve high school English?

Posted on 29/07/2014 by alexcase

The British government has finally learnt its lesson about dealing with ETS after many cock ups including the recent big fraud which means that TOEFL can no longer be used for immigration purposes, but that’s not stopping schools in Japan: … Continue reading →

Posted in ETS, Teaching English in Japan, TOEFL, TOEIC | Leave a comment

Why do the Japanese add extra vowel sounds to English?

Posted on 03/05/2014 by alexcase

Three answers, including one that had never occurred to me before, on my JapanExplained blog (recently more active than this one, maybe for the first time ever): Why do the Japanese pronounce English like katakana? Much more on Janglish and … Continue reading →

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Janglish which we should all start using

Posted on 15/01/2014 by alexcase

What I prefer to call Janglish is better known as Japlish, Japanese English or wasei eigo. The direct translation of the last term is “English made in Japan”, but a more correct explanation would be Japanese words and expressions made … Continue reading →

Posted in English as an International Language/ Lingua Franca, Janglish | Leave a comment

New teaching Japanese learners page

Posted on 12/01/2014 by alexcase

Given how I’ve spent eight of the last ten years and four of the six years of this blog teaching in Japan, you can be fairly sure that all my worksheets and teaching advice are suitable for that situation. I’ve … Continue reading →

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Janglish in Taiwan

Posted on 23/08/2013 by alexcase

Have been desperately searching for more evidence of the influence of Janglish (expressions made in Japan from English and other European sources) to make all that work on my big list of Janglish seem at least partly worthwhile, so was … Continue reading →

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New germ free classrooms scrapped after scandal

Posted on 17/01/2013 by alexcase

Earlier this winter, one of the big two Japanese Eikaiwa (English conversation school) chains launched bacteria- and pollen-free teaching and learning booths with a loud speaker and pane of glass between the student and teacher, apparently inspired by prison interview … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Japan | Tagged | 2 Comments

TEFLer in Japan among the 50 Great Britons of 2011

Posted on 18/12/2011 by alexcase

I was hoping the TEFLer in Japan on the Independent on Sunday list would be me for writing over 50 articles this year on earth-shattering topics like teaching ordinal numbers and 1st conditional games, but apparently saving people’s lives is … Continue reading →

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Minimal pairs for Japanese learners of English

Posted on 25/11/2011 by alexcase

I haven’t done lists of all of these yet (there are links to the ones I have), some might not have any actual minimal pairs in English, and I also realise that some of these are not things that would … Continue reading →

Posted in minimal pairs, Teaching English in Japan | 1 Comment

Japan facing new demographic crisis

Posted on 09/11/2011 by alexcase

As well as facing the world’s most rapidly ageing society, according to a speech by a government minister yesterday Japan is also having to deal for the first time with its supply of foreign teachers getting older and older as … Continue reading →

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