Are you thinking about going to Japan? Are you considering living in Japan for a year to experience Japan life? Well, you wouldn't be the first and you won't be the last - Japan is a country that holds an interest for a lot of people and becoming an English teacher for a year is one to get to Japan.
10 reasons to do it - become an ALT in Japan
- Rewarding experience
- Teaching is very rewarding. A normal day in the life of an ALT will be working with kids in schools teaching them English, playing sports, struggling with the language, eating new food and so much more!
- Learn skills
- Through teaching you will learn many great people-organisational skills. Even though you might be working with young kids (or older ones), the skills in dealing with classes of kids (aka teaching) will be transfer to many other situations in life and indeed, other jobs.
- Travel from Japan
- Use your time as an ALT to travel through Japan and even through other parts of Asia too! From Tokyo, it can be quite cheap to hop across to Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia...
- Life experience
- Travelling is always a great life experience, living in another country an even bigger life experience, so then living in another country with a culture and language that is so different from your own must be huge!
- Long holidays
- Ok, this depends on the company you work for, but certain companies give you good holiday time over the school vacation. Great for travelling!
- Learn Japanese
- Living in Japan gives you are great chance to learn some Japanese. Don't expect fluency but after a year you will be able to leave with a few (hopefully more than a few if you put in the study) phrases under your belt. For best results, study for a few years before you come here so that you can hit the ground running.
- Make friends locally
- While you are in Japan you will have the chance to make some Japanese friends. If you speak Japanese you will have a much better chance, but if not you are bound to meet some cool kids that speak English.
- Make friends internationally
- Most ALT's are young college graduates from various corners of the world. Everyone is here to have a great time and experience the "new".
- All the benefits of living in Japan
- As you will be living in Japan, you will get to enjoy and partake in all the wonderful things that Japan has to offer, such as:
- Sushi - so good! and cheap
- Ramen - more food that you will love, that you won't easily find back home
- Sake - good Japanese rice wine - kanpaiii!!
- Onsen - get naked and jump in! (Do NOT jump in!)
- Hanami - drinking in the park under cherry blossoms in April
- Skiing/snowboarding - northern Japan has some of the best snow in the world.
- ...and so much more!
- As you will be living in Japan, you will get to enjoy and partake in all the wonderful things that Japan has to offer, such as:
- Add your reason here!!!
Ok, so I didn't quite get to 10. Please leave a comment why you think becoming an ALT in Japan is awesome. Or, if you don't think it's a worthwhile experience, leave a comment on the article listing why you shouldn't be an ALT in Japan.