Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

But no, really, semi-colon use, come on...nobody knows those rules, cuz they are stupid.

Interesting, you admit you didn't even know the rule! How's that for somebody who goes out of his way to correct my spelling? I at least KNOW the difference between 'loser' and 'looser,' even though I misspelled the former. But in your case the ignorance is OK because the 'rule is stupid.' Do you know the difference between a 'justification' and a 'rationalization'? You might want to look those words up. Anyway, I wouldn't have bothered to mention it normally, but seeing as how your only response to my original post was to point out a silly spelling error...

The point I was making about the semi-colon really wasn't about grammar; it was about you making a fool out of yourself criticizing other people when you are making the exact same types of mistakes. It just makes you come across as a pompous ass.

How long did you spend looking up that rule?

I knew it was a mistake the moment I saw it, and I did know the rule. I did double check it since I have the reference right here on my desk (in addition to teaching I'm also a professional translator and editor, and before coming to Japan I worked as an editor for a literary agency in the US; despite my infamous typing error, I dare say my knowledge of grammar, typographic rules, and, yes, even SPELLING is probably a good deal better than yours, by any objective standard).

Cuz surely you don't have THAT rule on the tip of your brain, but not the correct spelling of "loser".

So, I take it that you believe that people who mistype 'there' for 'their' don't actually know the difference? Do you think that people who type 'recieve' don't know the rule ''I' before 'E' except after 'C'?' I suppose you think people who type 'cant' don't actually know what an apostrophe is?

Get real! Yes, I know the difference between 'loser' and 'looser,' but typing and spelling mistakes are generally errors of HABIT, not misunderstanding. People tend to misspell and mistype the same words over and over again, but when the error is pointed out they immediately recognize it. You'll notice that when MY error was pointed out, I immediately acknowledged it; I knew it was a mistake and I didn't tell people they were wrong in pointing out the error, simply that they were being a bit anal, as this is a blog. I'm sure somewhere in your personal lexicon there are a few words that you habitually misspell. That doesn't necessarily mean that you don't know the meanings, or even the correct spelling when concentrating, of those words. For example, in your sentence above you AGAIN fail to put the final period INSIDE the quotation marks, even though I have pointed this error out to you at least three times now, and I'm certain you learned this rule back in school. While it's tempting to call you stupid, the truth is simply force of habit. You know the rule but when you're typing you don't think about it, and because you've made the mistake in the past it's quite natural to go on making the same mistake. I'm sure others have noticed it, too, but usually people don't get uptight about spelling and grammar mistakes on a friggin' blog!

"Looser" is a TOTALLY different word from "Loser".

As stated above, I already knew that...

But thanks for pointing it out anyway...

Admit it, we all make mistakes, it's ok...

Again, as stated above, I've already admitted it, explicitly in my first response to you AFTER you pointed out the mistake, and implicitly numerous times since.

My point in continuing this is NOT to defend my mistake as actually correct. I admit, again, I made a spelling mistake! But you (and several others) are just coming on like hypocritical anal-retentive blowhards by even bothering to mention it. You are ALL making plenty of mistakes of typing, spelling and grammar, yourselves! And yet you are convinced that you are more competent at English! That's just asinine. You are stating things like what a joke it is that 'English teachers' don't know how to spell, and you go on making similar mistakes! I'm not really saying that you, too, are not qualified to teach English. Just stop acting like you are morally and intellectually superior, because you aren't. Well, maybe you are--how would I know? But it sure doesn't show in the quality of your friggin' typing on a blog!

Can't be much happening at G-Com at present. Everyone seems to be correcting each other. Okay, here goes...I can't stand it when people say,
"You did good."
Now I will run away before the shit hits the fan.

I agree with the above poster. Let's get back on topic. If you work for Gcomm this is very serious and if you don't work for Gcomm it's still serious. 600 laid off instructors now and a few hundred more in the near future will flood the marketplace and thus drive down wages. It might take 6 months or even a year but it will happen. It's basic economics. Even if you have a job now, wait until your next contract and see what happens. Now is the time to band together and fight this anyway we can. Fighting each other on the internet doesn't do any good now does it?

I like visiting this website. It makes me feel so much better about myself.

I'm amazed at the number of people who write something like "...teaching in Japan is nothing to be proud of..." and so on, in regards to their own situation. I would like to gleefully and patronizingly point out that you are mistaken. Firstly, you probably do not "teach" - what you do is speak English for money at worst, and facilitate communication in English at best. This is not something to be proud of, because this just means you are a language whore. That's fine, but please do not confuse "teaching" with "language whoring." They are two very different things. Secondly, I would like to mention is that true "teaching" is indeed something to be proud of. There is nothing more noble than the sharing of knowledge, or the passing of knowledge from one person to the next. I don't really need to expound on this; it should be apparent to any normal, average human being. (About some of you I have my doubts, but who I am to judge?)

I was also surprised by people who seem to think spelling (and to a lesser extent, punctuation and grammar) is more or less unimportant. How foolish. How utterly, utterly foolish. If you say this, you are saying that you do not care about detail, you do not care about logic, you do not care about the image you project to the world, you want to be taken seriously but you do not believe that you should earn the respect of others that will enable them to take you seriously. You are saying you can't be bothered to follow simple rules to enable smooth communication, and that others should make extra effort in order to understand you. Most importantly, however, what you are saying is that you do not care about the English language, which is extremely disturbing, as you are presumably here to impart what you.. know... of it. (Perhaps it could simply be a sign of the poor quality of the university graduates that come to Japan, or perhaps a sign of the poor quality of the universities these people have been educated at.) I can guarantee you that these kinds of claim would never happen among professional teachers of English, English Literature, EFL, or ESL in any country, on the internet or off of it. (Sorry, but just because you are writing on the net, you aren't excused from trying to write well. Why would you think otherwise?) I guess this just goes to show that the vast majority of you are, in fact, not professionals, or even reasonable facsimiles thereof.

Oh well, back to surfing for porn.

Sout africa? i cant find it on the map

This has become so pathetic. Admit it, no one except for the executives that ran Nova really knew what was going on. They were able to rob about a half million people and treat Japanese staff and foreigners both as commodities. Plus, they got away with it! Greed killed Nova and now G-Comm. has come in to cherry pick whatever they want. Staff is needed more than teachers by far. That's why they don't want to hire anymore teachers. I bet the ratio of teachers to staff is about 100:1 right now.

You know what really is stupid? So many people are self-righteous and think they have the right to tell people to go home. What does that even mean? Why are people preaching 15th century nationalism in the 21st century? I'll tell you why, because there are those who have a twisted sense of entitlement and honestly believe they are better off because they didn't work at Nova or were able to leave before the collapse. Get over it. Why do you care who is here in Japan. You're not Japanese! For those who are Japanese, you have been very considerate in spite of all of this nonsense.

Bravo

Correct grammar and correct spelling can also be seen as a form of segregation between people well educated and others. The exemple is even more striking with japanese language where you can't get access to the society without having learned 5000 kanji and a complexe politeness formulation which means going through a long, repetitive and expensive education process.

But it's also maybe what's keep japanese society from the stupid brutalty we can observe in other societies, forcing people to "learn" and by doing so, to conform themselves to this society.

Let's hope people who have created those rules won't abuse of their power.

Ah, after a hearty New Years at Kiyomizudera, back to my enjoyable digression...

You wrote, like what? 4 paragraphs of vitriol, spent actual time looking up the precise wording of rules in some musty English MA tome, and are in conniptions..

Against who?

Pixels!

Why?

Cuz you realized that for all your so-called education, you can still come off looking like a boob by a simple grammatical error that anyone can make...(well, maybe not three times)

Pull yourself together before you blow a head-gasket.

You fucked up. If you were cool about it, you'd get more respect, and it would all be forgotten by now. OBVIOUSLY nobody is perfect when it comes to anything.

And at least I have a handle on here..get one yourself, and stop being a little know-it-all hiding behind "Anonymous".

Nyah! ;P

Ah...cathartic.

Happy New Year everyone!

It Got Posted Twice!

see?..everybody poops!

now I'm done about this.

I'm amazed at the number of people who write something like "...teaching in Japan is nothing to be proud of..." and so on, in regards to their own situation. I would like to gleefully and patronizingly point out that you are mistaken. Firstly, you probably do not "teach" - what you do is speak English for money at worst, and facilitate communication in English at best. This is not something to be proud of, because this just means you are a language whore. That's fine, but please do not confuse "teaching" with "language whoring." They are two very different things.

Some ‘whores’ walk dark streets at night and exchange sex for money; some whores stay inside comfortable clubs or bars and exchange sex for money; some whores drive Bentleys, fly in Learjets, and travel the world with rich and powerful men (and exchange sex for money). Now, what is it that all these people have in common that defines them as ‘whores’ (to use your term)? They do ‘what they do’ for money.
Some English teachers (I mean, whores) work in cafes or students’ homes, some work in eikaiwa schools, some work in universities. All of them (you included) do basically the same thing (assist students with the acquisition of English language skills) for the same reason (MONEY). If I’m a language whore, then so are you, pal. Unless, of course, you teach for free. In that case you’re just a nut-case.

Secondly, I would like to mention is that true "teaching" is indeed something to be proud of. There is nothing more noble than the sharing of knowledge, or the passing of knowledge from one person to the next.

And you assume that eikaiwa teachers don’t share and pass on knowledge because...? I know some TENURED professors who really don’t give a flying-fuck about their students, and I know highly trained and dedicated eikaiwa teachers. Let’s try to keep the overgeneralizations to a minimum, shall we?

I was also surprised by people who seem to think spelling (and to a lesser extent, punctuation and grammar) is more or less unimportant.

I don’t think anyone said they are not ‘important.’ First, there has been a discussion about the relative importance of these things on an internet BLOG. That’s quite a different thing than writing for The New York Times! If you can’t see the difference, you are really shallow. Next, there was some discussion of how common such mistakes are. Answer: extremely, including within your own posting! The basic issue is should all discussion of issues come to a grinding halt in a free-flowing discussion-like forum like a blog just because someone misspelled a word? My opinion is no, it shouldn’t matter that much in this context.

How utterly, utterly foolish. If you say this, you are saying that you do not care about detail, you do not care about logic, you do not care about the image you project to the world, you want to be taken seriously but you do not believe that you should earn the respect of others that will enable them to take you seriously. You are saying you can't be bothered to follow simple rules to enable smooth communication, and that others should make extra effort in order to understand you. Most importantly, however, what you are saying is that you do not care about the English language, which is extremely disturbing, as you are presumably here to impart what you.. know... of it. (Perhaps it could simply be a sign of the poor quality of the university graduates that come to Japan, or perhaps a sign of the poor quality of the universities these people have been educated at.) I can guarantee you that these kinds of claim would never happen among professional teachers of English, English Literature, EFL, or ESL in any country, on the internet or off of it. (Sorry, but just because you are writing on the net, you aren't excused from trying to write well. Why would you think otherwise?) I guess this just goes to show that the vast majority of you are, in fact, not professionals, or even reasonable facsimiles thereof.

On most forum boards you attack someone by calling them a Nazi. On ESL boards you criticize their punctuation. Pathetic...

Oh well, back to surfing for porn.

Yeah, get some new ideas for your ‘language whoring.’

By the way, did you know that the G Com staffs who work at the multimedia center seem to work without taking lunch break nor week-ends...

I posted a few times when Nova was going downing warning the Nova loyalists it would not be pretty. However, trying to warn them was like trying to tell the bushbots before the Iraq War started....

What did you expect people? Basic economics. Companies are out there to make money. Nova's business model had failed. It needed a massive infusion of new money and new ideas to survive. When a much smaller company takes over a much larger one, warning bells should sound.

Next time, please grow a brain. If the company you are working at is going down, your first priority should be saving your skin-especially when you are a foreigner without voting rights or any kind of political clout!!!! Nova hired you to make money from you and the students paid to learn English off of you. You were just a cog in the machine.

Hehe.. there are a few too many overly-sensitive people here. It seems it makes some of you read badly.

I said:

"...like to gleefully and patronizingly point out that you are mistaken. Firstly, you probably do not "teach" - what you do is speak English for money at..."
^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^

Please note the indicated word. It is a qualifier intended to show that I believe some of you do, in fact, teach. However, judging by the attitude of most people on here, and the way in which they express themselves, I do not believe that most of the people here do teach. Feel free to include yourself in whichever group you feel you truly belong to.

You said:

"...Some ‘whores’ walk dark streets at night and exchange sex for money; some whores stay inside comfortable clubs or bars and exchange sex for money; some whores drive Bentleys, fly in Learjets, and travel the world with rich and powerful men (and exchange sex for money). Now, what is it that all these people have in common that defines them as ‘whores’ (to use your term)? They do ‘what they do’ for money...."

In general, do whores teach people how to have sex? Think about this and read what I said again.

In general, do whores teach people how to have sex? Think about this and read what I said again.

Oh, I see now. You were actually referring to eikawa teachers who have sex with their students while instructing them in language; thus, 'language whores!' Silly me, I thought you were drawing an analogy...

My point was that 'whores' have sex for money. English teachers teach for money. The common factor is doing a 'job' for money. Thus, if we equate teaching, on any level, with whoring, then any teacher who accepts remuneration for their services would be a 'whore.' But now that I see you were actually being literal, I guess we can just drop it, if you like.

On the point of teaching/not teaching, maybe you could clarify what you mean by 'teach.' Personally, I've never met anyone who was paid just to 'speak English.' Some teachers do their jobs badly, granted. But from my experience that has nothing to do with where they work. Teachers who stick around long enough eventually get good at their jobs. Some of those good teachers have higher qualifications and some don't.

stormcrow

A group is forming to explore possiblities of legal action against the company. If you are interested in more information, and in the possibility of taking legal action (not yet a certainty) in a group setting, please send your name and email contact to:

.

We will respond to you promptly. This information will NOT be revealed to anybody without your prior express written permission. DEADLINE to join the group: January 15.

The action, if any, will be against G.com, the same company that appears to have re-hired most of the managerial staff that lead Nova to ruin, and which appears to be going down the same Nova road.

We will see what we will see. It will go to the lawyers to decide. Are you a lawyer? Even if so, not about to debate legal issues with you in this forum. For those interested in whether G.com is liable to them or not, suggest you get in touch with The Group, at:

Might be money in it for you. Might not. We'll see.

And spelling mistakes!!! Too fucking funny, JB my old boy! Apparently irony is not on the curriculum at Canadian schools.

You do not need to be a lawyer to know that this type of lawsuit is very difficult to win in Japan. Furthermore, while it appears G spot is guilty of lying and stupidity, that is not much to go on. Finally, they are not exactly some rich corporate cow to milk. Trying to sue them would be a waste of time and resources.

Face it people. You company went bankrupt. It happens all the time and nobody in Japan really cares that much about foreign workers anyway.

Well this thread has become feckin bore, I'm off to the market to sell my sheep as I am now a farmer.

Is G spot getting many new students to sign up? How many of the old ones are? I am asking this question because I really have no idea. I don't have contacts at Nova or g spot and have not seen this info in the news. Does anyone?

If the answers to the questions above are NO, then you are certainly kicking a dead horse. No students=no money=no company=get serious.

Quote:

"In general, do whores teach people how to have sex? Think about this and read what I said again.

Oh, I see now. You were actually referring to eikawa teachers who have sex with their students while instructing them in language; thus, 'language whores!' Silly me, I thought you were drawing an analogy..."

Hehehe.. I can't figure out if you're joking here or not. Surely you understand what I meant, when I asked that question? Just to be boring and redundant, I'll explain. some eikaiwa "teachers" here speak for money, just as whores have sex for money. But just like whores do not teach people to have sex, most (but not all) teachers here do not teach people how to speak. Because there is a difference, your previous argument does not work.

"My point was that 'whores' have sex for money. English teachers teach for money. The common factor is doing a 'job' for money. Thus, if we equate teaching, on any level, with whoring, then any teacher who accepts remuneration for their services would be a 'whore.' But now that I see you were actually being literal, I guess we can just drop it, if you like."

I guess you don't see the difference between teaching and whoring after all. I suggest you visit both and find out. But don't go to an eikaiwa, go to a high school (or elementary or jr. high school). There, you can see real teachers. At an eikaiwa, you probably won't.

"On the point of teaching/not teaching, maybe you could clarify what you mean by 'teach.' Personally, I've never met anyone who was paid just to 'speak English.'"

In general, those who teach are those who introduce new knowledge to students, in the form of grammar, vocabuluary, etc. Eikaiwa "teachers" don't do that, aside from introducing some new slang, conversation patterns, or so on - they merely help stdudents recycle what they already know. Now, this is not the fault of those who work at eikaiwas; after all, an eikaiwa "teacher" is, by defintion, not required to be a true teacher.

I have spoken to a couple of Japanese lawyers and they also feel there is a very good case against G.com. They came out and made verbal and written promises of employment, made payments to people, and then turned around and changed their story. There is a very very strong case (under Japanese law) for it to be classed as an unlawful termination. In the end, it's for the courts to decide.

What is your point? Life sucks? Thanks for the useful post.

Yeah well If you don't do anything the "almost certain" will be a "sure". You'll be surely fucked. So what ? You like it or you're going to do something to make sure it doesn't append to you or anybody else ?

Well, back home I was the night manager at Wendy's. I got to clean addicts' puke out of the restroom and serve food to girls too drunk to know they were about to lose their virginity to guys whose sole redeeming quality was that they had a company car. I gave ALL that up to come to Japan and teach English.

I'm so sick of posters who, in the process of justifying why they came to Japan, and how noble teaching English is, have to tell everyone all that they gave up when they came here. Let me be the first to be honest. Before I came here I was a welder. Not a qualified welder, just a guy who welded straight lines on the grates that crush garbage down in the back of garbage trucks.

I'm not sure what my point is here, it just fries my balls when people have to clarify in excruciating detail the amazing life they gave up in order to come to Japan, as just a subtle aside that validates their points.

We all banged supermodels, drove Ferraris, and pulled in seven-figure salaries back home. None of this makes your trite, repetitive points interesting or meaningful.

i agree with the last couple of posts. lets just get back to funny stories, somewhere to unwind and realise that where all in a similar boat.
and befor some one comes back with `yes but some of us have real concerns about welfare and the blah blah blah`, here are the sad facts.
g.com is going down. there is NO WAY foreigners will succesfully sue them and ven if so it aint gonna be worth nowt. check the stocks. g.ed is making a loss and their biggest yakiniku restaraunt just started losing money.
game over.
but its ok! were here!
no tell me your funny stories.

I disagree that G.com is foundering. There's PLENTY of meat on them bones, if we win lawsuits.

As to whether we would win, while it is generally very agreeable to play doctor, I think it is a big mistake to play lawyer. We'll hold off on speculation until we have our legal consultations later this month. I personally think the cases are strong, but I am not a Japanese lawyer, and speculation is only speculation.

Again, if people are interested in joining with an independent group that is investigating the possibility of group lawsuits against G.com, please contact:

Hello,
Velco English school located in Shiga,Shijo(Kyoto),Fushimi(Kyoto) and Umeda(Osaka) is looking for a native English teacher.
Please send an email for details to .

Thanks!

Do you mean Feb. 15?

Sorry! It's Feb. 15. Thanks for the heads up.