Category Archives: Eikaiwa

Positive and negative developments in TEFL in Japan

Posted on 24/08/2011 by alexcase

This is going to be very subjective, but here are my impressions after being back here for almost a year: Positive developments Japanese students are losing faith in the idea that chatting with a foreigner in English is the way … Continue reading →

Posted in Eikaiwa, Teaching English in Japan | 1 Comment

Eikaiwa continues to shrink

Posted on 20/09/2010 by alexcase

David English House in Hiroshima, a well respected school run by author and all round booster of professionalism in Nippon David Paul, closed for business on 1 September leaving him personally bankrupt. Sounds like they managed the process well, though, according … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council, David English House, Eikaiwa, English Teachers in Japan, Let's Japan, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL chains | Tagged | 5 Comments

‘Shane English School (NZ) faces liquidation’?

Posted on 17/04/2010 by alexcase

Don’t know if it’s true, and don’t know what it would mean if it was, but it would have a strange and worrying symmetry with the recent problems with GEOS Australia, also a mainly Japan-based chain with branches in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Eikaiwa, Geos, Let's Japan, Shane Language Schools, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL chains | Tagged | 5 Comments

Development, blogs, books and Japan- An interview with Darren Elliott of Lives of Teachers blog

Posted on 09/01/2010 by alexcase

We all seem to be seeing your name around a lot recently. A masterplan to become the next Thornbury/ trying to keep yourself busy while your wife watches Japanese television/ sleep disorder/ other? I think it takes more than a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, CELTA, Critical Mass ELT, Eikaiwa, Experience of Language Teaching, first TEFL job, MA TESOL, Teacher training, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL, TEFL blogs, TEFL conferences, TEFL heroes- Rose M Senior, TEFL heroes- Scott Thornbury, TEFL qualifications, TEFL reviews, TEFL villains- Jennifer Jenkins, TEFL workshops | Tagged | 8 Comments

Golly gosh, not Geos too??!

Posted on 28/10/2009 by alexcase

Two years after the demise of Nova, by far the biggest chain of Eikaiwa (English conversation) schools in Japan, rumours are that one of the remaining big three, Geos, is also showing signs of strain with late payment of wages, … Continue reading →

Posted in Eikaiwa, Geos, Let's Japan, Nova, Teaching English in Japan | 4 Comments

Use all your talents when teaching

Posted on 24/10/2009 by alexcase

at the Idol Foreign Language Academy in Akihabara, Tokyo. Only in Japan…

Posted in Eikaiwa, Teaching English in Japan | Leave a comment

Is a bad one to one teacher more useful than pairwork?

Posted on 04/09/2009 by alexcase

This is a question that is increasingly relevant now that students all over the world have the choice between a group class with a qualified and experienced teacher who is finally getting a living wage suitable for an adult or … Continue reading →

Posted in Eikaiwa, links, Teaching English in Europe, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL in the UK | Tagged | 10 Comments

TEFL scabs

Posted on 05/10/2008 by alexcase

Seems that there is an interesting TEFL strike story going on right on my doorstep that I hadn’t even heard about, including loads of juicy controversy. You can see the recent open letter by the leader of the Berlitz strike … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlitz, David English House, Eikaiwa, English Teachers in Japan, JALT, Job security, links, Teacher associations, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL, TEFL chains, TEFL conferences, TEFL strikes, TEFL unions, TEFL working conditions | 3 Comments

The disadvantages of teaching in Japan

Posted on 18/05/2008 by alexcase

“My first two years in Japan were spent teaching English… The students… studied English- or should I say, English was taught in their presence. Nothing ever seemed to sink in. Years of classes and endless tests and still they couldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in becoming a teacher trainer, British Council, Business English and ESP, Cambridge Delta, CELTA, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Dave Sperling's ESL Cafe, Eikaiwa, English Teachers in Japan, Functional language, JALT, Materials, Mixed ability classes, Pairwork and groupwork, Problem students, Teacher forums, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching low levels, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL working conditions, TOEIC | 22 Comments

The benefits of teaching in Japan

Posted on 12/05/2008 by alexcase

Number one is that the status of English teachers is not so obviously low that when I met the love of my life and asked her to marry me she actually agreed! You won’t hear a lot about it on … Continue reading →

Posted in Becoming a Director of Studies, Cross cultural training in EFL, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Discipline in the classroom, Eikaiwa, ELT management, English Teachers in Japan, IELTS, Job security, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Spain, Teaching Japanese primary school children, Teaching older students, Teaching shy students, TEFL, TEFL working conditions, TESOL, TOEIC | 7 Comments