THE BORE

General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Ichirou on May 07, 2008, 10:41:48 AM

Title: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Ichirou on May 07, 2008, 10:41:48 AM: A little background info: The new school year started in April, and the high school I work at hired a part-time English teacher to teach about 12 classes a week. I was assigned to teach a couple of classes with her. She had previously only taught elementary school, but her language skills were okay and I was sure she'd have no problems, seeing as the students in our school aren't really that high-level as far as English goes.

Turns out she felt overwhelmed due to the leap from elementary to high school and quit last week. The school scrambled to find a replacement, but it was nigh impossible since the school year's already started and all the competent teachers already got jobs. They ended up having to look outside the prefecture for teachers to hire. The replacement ended up being some guy from a neighboring prefecture.

I got a bad vibe as soon as I heard the details. First, the mere fact that he was unemployed after the school year started didn't speak too well of him. The fact that he's in his mid-forties and hadn't passed the teacher's exam was another negative. The fact that he was willing to do a daily 6-hour round-trip to teach a couple of classes also bespoke of a certain kind of desperation.

All that said, I was not prepared for the utter incompetence I faced when the guy showed up at work today. He cannot speak English. Let me repeat: HE IS AN ENGLISH TEACHER WHO IS INCAPABLE OF COMMUNICATING IN ENGLISH.

I tried talking to him on the way to class.

"Since this is your first lesson, and since the kids will be surprised at having a new teacher come in after the start of the term, do you want to do a short self-introduction?"
"Don't...understand...one more."
"Do you want to introduce yourself to the students?"
"...case by case..."
"I just think it would be a good idea."
"No, thank you."

So, we get to the classroom, and the class starts. Today's topic (the title taken from the textbook itself) is "Asking Permission." It's very, very simple stuff. The guy writes the topic on the board:

"Asking-permmissio"

...which he wasn't supposed to even do in the first place since at the start of the class he and I were supposed to do a short skit/dialogue and the students were supposed to listen carefully and try to figure out for themselves what we were talking about.

Of course, the students were freaked out that the teacher they'd had for a month was gone and here was this new, incredibly creepy-looking guy teaching. A couple of students actually raised their hands and asked him to "jikko-shokai" (forgive my shitty romaji, it just means 'self-introduction'). Even then, the only information he volunteered was his name. What pissed me off the most is that this is a REALLY GOOD class...the students are really active and alert, and I'm pretty sure that attitude will disappear soon enough - students tend to lose motivation when their teachers totally suck, I've noticed.

I taught two classes with him and the ONLY thing he told me in English (of his own volition, not as a reply to what I was asking) was "How long you work here?"

The creepiest thing is how pedo-ish he looks...he looks like a cross between an asian Steve Buscemi and that German dude that turned his daughter into his sex slave.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Candyflip on May 07, 2008, 10:44:16 AM: I don't understand how he was hired to teach English if he can't even speak it. Do they just draw names out of a hat?
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Ichirou on May 07, 2008, 10:45:32 AM: Quote from: Candyflip on May 07, 2008, 10:44:16 AM
I don't understand how he was hired to teach English if he can't even speak it. Do they just draw names out of a hat?

They had like four days to find a replacement, I figure they were really fucking desperate.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Tauntaun on May 07, 2008, 11:15:15 AM: Quote from: dcharlie on May 07, 2008, 10:43:06 AM
awww, someone's feeling threatened!

I already wanted the name of the school so i could not send any offspring there, this is simply another reason!

You never know, the guy might be into girls.

spoiler (click to show/hide)
See what I did there? :-*
[close]
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Howard Alan Treesong on May 07, 2008, 01:42:41 PM: I worked with an English teacher who couldn't speak English. Well, she had an okay grasp of grammar and stuff, but she just couldn't speak it. Not as bad as Ichi has it, where this guy sounds incompetent on all levels.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Eric P on May 07, 2008, 01:47:38 PM: at military school, our english teacher was straight up german.

it was the weirdest thing
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: crimsondynamics on May 07, 2008, 02:13:19 PM: (http://www.engrish.com/image/engrish/toilet-gets-down.jpg)

I had a Polish teacher for Mandarin (Beijing Dialect) once. Then again, he was previously with the UN as a simultaneous translator.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Tauntaun on May 07, 2008, 02:39:14 PM: ^ :rofl I love engrish signs. Btw, you still haven't answered me, who you be nicca? You from GAF? Even if you are I probably won't know you cause I'm more involved here but that won't stop me from loving you. :-*
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Laramie on May 07, 2008, 02:45:44 PM: Send him to American public schools, he'll be principal in a year and a half.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: crimsondynamics on May 07, 2008, 02:51:56 PM: Quote from: Tauntaun on May 07, 2008, 02:39:14 PM
^ :rofl I love engrish signs. Btw, you still haven't answered me, who you be nicca? You from GAF? Even if you are I probably won't know you cause I'm more involved here but that won't stop me from loving you. :-*

Sorry, wasn't ignoring you. I wasn't sure you were asking me a question - your wording in that post threw me off.

Anyhow... I'm not from GAF and I doubt you'd know me. But hey, :heartbeat to you too! :lol
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Laramie on May 07, 2008, 02:56:26 PM: How'd you find it if you weren't invited by a gaffer/evilborian? Was it the article?
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Don Flamenco on May 07, 2008, 03:09:07 PM: (http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1460/cap016ka3.jpg)
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Phoenix Dark on May 07, 2008, 03:14:17 PM: Quote
"Do you want to introduce yourself to the students?"
"...case by case..."

Yup, definitely a pedo :lol

So I could teach this class? :bow
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Tauntaun on May 07, 2008, 04:57:43 PM: Quote from: Amber Lambchops on May 07, 2008, 03:14:17 PM
Quote
"Do you want to introduce yourself to the students?"
"...case by case..."

Yup, definitely a pedo :lol

So I could teach this class? :bow

Oh damn I just got that. :rofl
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Bloodwake on May 07, 2008, 05:21:04 PM: Wow, I guess Japanese schools can be even more incompetent than American schools if they get desperate enough.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Ichirou on May 07, 2008, 05:30:30 PM: Quote from: Bloodwake on May 07, 2008, 05:21:04 PM
Wow, I guess Japanese schools can be even more incompetent than American schools if they get desperate enough.

I start feeling nauseous when I think about having to teach with this person for an entire year.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Yeti on May 07, 2008, 06:21:35 PM: Does school start in May in Japan?
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Ichirou on May 07, 2008, 06:33:51 PM: No, April.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: Candyflip on May 07, 2008, 07:17:52 PM: Wait, the school is keeping him? :lol Oh lawd
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: crimsondynamics on May 07, 2008, 11:14:47 PM: Quote from: Laramie on May 07, 2008, 02:56:26 PM
How'd you find it if you weren't invited by a gaffer/evilborian? Was it the article?

No, it wasn't the article. I think I found Evilbore from lurking in other forums, and some of the posters had pictures cross-linked to the "Post your picture" thread from here. Something like that.

I learned of Quarter-to-Three through the article, however. It is funny though to see how many ex-GAF members have wound up here.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: bork on May 07, 2008, 11:37:41 PM: I worked with a teacher like this (although his English wasn't THAT bad) for a brief period. This guy had some personal issues, and during my first year, took like seven months off from work to stay at home and "recover," plus help his sick mother or something. Another English teacher that had to cover for him wound up quitting her job over stress and the bullshit that followed from this. The next school year, he comes back, but instead is assigned as a teacher to a mentally and physically handicapped student. He seems better and is always saying how eager he is to get back to English teaching. So last year, he gets his wish and is assigned to cover some of the first and second year students (7th and 8th graders). The first class with him, he seems incredibly nervous and can't seem to function very well. I wound up leading the classes and keeping one of the noiser groups of kids under control. He tells me he doesn't feel confident. The next week, he is gone on extended sick leave again, and a substitute teacher came in. She was only suppposed to be there a few months, but wound up staying for the entire school year. The other teacher never came back and I have no idea if he quit being a teacher or not.

Teachers writing broken English on the board or leaving a word or two out when teaching is fairly common, from my experience. It does often baffle me that foreign language teachers don't have a firm grasp on the language they are teaching; I never had this problem as a student with the various Spanish, French, and Japanese teachers that I had back in the U.S. I guess that's why they use native English-speaking ALTs in this country. I get asked stuff all the time, often DURING the lesson, and I really, really hate correcting the teachers, but sometimes it can't be helped.

Maybe your pedo teacher will either get fed up with the six-hour commute or get a poor work evaluation, Ichi. Don't you have a supervisor you can complain to? I'd definitely mention what happened.

Oh man, three more months until FREEDOM! :hyper
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Joe Molotov on May 08, 2008, 12:09:06 AM: You should mess with him. Next time you're talking to him be like:

Ichi: "So...you like fucking little kids?"

Pedo: "Excuse?"

Ichi: "I said do you like teaching little kids?"

Pedo: "Me likey teach."

Ichi: "Not as much as pounding that ass though, right?"

Pedo: "No comprehendo, por favor."

Ichi: "Don't worry, I know which ones put out."

Pedo: "Thank you for the putting out."

Ichi: "No, thank you."
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Olivia Wilde Homo on May 08, 2008, 12:24:10 AM: I had similar stories working with foreign students in the US with some of my projects except they were from Africa, not Japan. Very similar though.
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: bork on May 08, 2008, 03:55:13 AM: Oh man, I just had a lesson in front of a bunch of kids' parents, then they introduced the teachers to all the first-year kids' parents. I got laffs when I said "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." :-[
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pedo.
Post by: disgruntled_jojo on May 08, 2008, 04:24:53 AM: Ichi, that sounds like a nightmare I had once after covering at an eikaiwa for a friend.

I'm not joking. It was terrifying. This guy sounds terrifying too. Can you just take control of the class and not let him do any of the work? That's what I always did when I got stuck teaching with an incompetent teacher (none nearly so bad as you're describing, though).
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Ichirou on May 08, 2008, 10:26:11 AM: Quote from: disgruntled_jojo on May 08, 2008, 04:24:53 AM
Ichi, that sounds like a nightmare I had once after covering at an eikaiwa for a friend.

I'm not joking. It was terrifying. This guy sounds terrifying too. Can you just take control of the class and not let him do any of the work? That's what I always did when I got stuck teaching with an incompetent teacher (none nearly so bad as you're describing, though).

That's what I'm gonna do, but I'm really overworked this year...I'm teaching 20 classes a week plus having to write three new lesson plans each week, manage the English club, teach the adult English conversation class...I'm regularly getting home after 9 PM every weekday. I'm fucking STRESSED OUT.

The problem is, taking control of the class - the guy seems to think he should be in charge (BWAHAHAHA) and basically fucking ruins my lessons by not following the lesson plans I've written (I try to discuss them with him, but he doesn't seem to understand anything I say and doesn't seem to be able to read the plans).
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: Tauntaun on May 08, 2008, 01:21:09 PM: Quote from: lyte edge on May 08, 2008, 03:55:13 AM
Oh man, I just had a lesson in front of a bunch of kids' parents, then they introduced the teachers to all the first-year kids' parents. I got laffs when I said "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." :-[

Why? What does that mean?
Title: Re: The new English teacher at my school can't speak English and looks like a pe
Post by: disgruntled_jojo on May 08, 2008, 01:37:01 PM: Quote from: Ichi on May 08, 2008, 10:26:11 AM
Quote from: disgruntled_jojo on May 08, 2008, 04:24:53 AM
Ichi, that sounds like a nightmare I had once after covering at an eikaiwa for a friend.

I'm not joking. It was terrifying. This guy sounds terrifying too. Can you just take control of the class and not let him do any of the work? That's what I always did when I got stuck teaching with an incompetent teacher (none nearly so bad as you're describing, though).

That's what I'm gonna do, but I'm really overworked this year...I'm teaching 20 classes a week plus having to write three new lesson plans each week, manage the English club, teach the adult English conversation class...I'm regularly getting home after 9 PM every weekday. I'm fucking STRESSED OUT.

The problem is, taking control of the class - the guy seems to think he should be in charge (BWAHAHAHA) and basically fucking ruins my lessons by not following the lesson plans I've written (I try to discuss them with him, but he doesn't seem to understand anything I say and doesn't seem to be able to read the plans).

Yikes, I feel for you with that workload. As someone else in the thread mentioned, make sure you bring this up to your supervisor. At the very least you don't want that guy getting renewed next semester, when the market opens up a little bit again.