The Institute for Japanese Studies presents:
Looking for a job in Japan?
Teaching English is a great way to live overseas, gain cross-cultural knowledge, and have work experience.
Hear from Ohio State graduate students who have taught English in Japan, including participants of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme. (The JET Programme offers university graduates the opportunity to serve in public and private primary, junior and senior high schools teaching English.) The student panelists will share how they prepared while they were undergraduates, how they applied for teaching positions in Japan, what it was like to teach in Japan, and how they prepared for the next step after living in Japan.
Panelists:
- John Bundschuh, Ph.D student, Dept. of East Asian Languages and Literatures
- Alyssa Cantrell, MA student, Dept. of East Asian Languages and Literatures
- Dr. Abby Shelton, Lecturer, Dept. of Teaching and Learning
- Jason Smith, MA student, EAS MA Program
- Matthew Steinhauer, MA student, Dept. of East Asian Languages and Literatures
Bios:
John Bundschuh taught English at a junior high school in Shiga prefecture as an assistant language teacher from the summer of 2010 to the spring 2015. During this time, he often enjoyed hiking, snowboarding, and subsequent relaxation in hot springs. He also continued his Japanese studies, passing the N1 Japanese Language Placement Test and level 2 kanji kentei, and successfully applied to graduate schools while teaching full time. In the spring and summer of 2015 he taught private business English lessons in both Shiga and Osaka prefectures and lectured at the Kansai College of Business and Languages before returning to the United States to begin his PhD studies at the Ohio State University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures in the fall. Now, as a PhD Candidate specializing in Japanese Linguistics, he researches how Chinese Buddhist texts were translated into Japanese during the Heian period and teaches Japanese language courses at Ohio State.
Alyssa Cantrell lived in Akita, Japan for three years with the JET Program, teaching English to kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school students, as well as conversation classes for adults. She lived in a town along the ocean next to the very beautiful and imposing Mt. Chokai, the largest mountain in Tohoku. She became very involved in her community practicing calligraphy, taiko drumming, kyudo (archery), and koto, and even participated in competitions and recitals for each of these. She also joined her school’s brass band one year and performed a concert with them, which was a great way to build relationships with her students outside the classroom. Every year, the junior high school participated in an international exchange with a school in Oklahoma, so she had the opportunity to be a cultural ambassador and work on her interpretation skills. She now in her second year of her M.A. at OSU studying Japanese Language Pedagogy and teaching introductory Japanese classes.
Dr. Abby Shelton began her Japanese studies in high school at University School of Nashville, enrolling in an independent study course for Japanese language. She continued to study Japanese in college at Washington University in St. Louis, where she majored in Japanese language and literature. During her junior year of college, she studied in Kyoto at the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies. She then moved back to Japan after graduation and taught English at Kwansei Gakuin High School in Nishinomiya, Hyogo-ken, where she worked for two years. In 2005, Dr. Shelton enrolled in the MA program in the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures at the Ohio State University. She completed her MA in Japanese linguistics and foreign language pedagogy in 2007 and went on to complete her PhD in 2018. During this time, Dr. Shelton worked as a GTA teaching first- and second-year Japanese language courses and as a supervisor for the Individualized Instruction and Learning Center at OSU. In 2014, Dr. Shelton started in her current position as a lecturer, content developer, and instructional designer in the TraVerse English Language Program in the ESL department at OSU, where she teaches English online to Japanese expats.
Jason Smith was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. He first was in Japan as a JET ALT at a junior high school in Aomori from 2002-05. Jason was in Japan as an ALT again from 2007-14 in Niigata; first with Interac working at several elementary schools, and then as an independent contractor at a private junior-senior high school. He also worked at several kids’ and adults’ English conversation schools. Most of his Japanese language skills are self-taught after arriving to Japan, which eventually allowed him to be interviewed on local radio shows and even appear on a local TV variety show a few times. After returning to the states, Jason obtained a MA in TESOL and Kent State University while working as a TA and a part-time ELL tutor at local middle and high schools in the area. Currently, Jason is in the second year of the EAS MA program at OSU. He is focusing on Japanese religious history, hoping to investigate the use of metaphor within the dynamic between Japanese Buddhism and violence in the premodern era. After graduating, Jason hopes to enter a PhD program to continue to focus on this theme.
Matthew Steinhauer was an Assistant Language Teacher for the Sado Board of Education during 2017-2019. Matthew applied for JET and made it through the rigorous interview process after completing his undergraduate degree in Integrated Studies focusing on Japanese Language and East Asian Studies. While on JET, he lived on Sado Island, which is the biggest Island in Niigata Prefecture. The island also is quite relevant historically to Japan. Due to the remote nature of the island and his language skills, Matthew had some very diverse teaching experiences ranging from typical “tape recorder” to complete control of his classes. In addition, Matthew was voted Regional Advisor (RA) during his second year, where he commuted to the mainland to collaborate with Niigata prefecture to further improve relations with ALTs. Considering this, Matthew feels that he has had a very varied and diverse experience compared to other ALTs he has spoken to in Japan. Upon finishing his JET tenure, he was fortunate enough to be able to attend IUC in preparation for the Japanese ability he would need in order to apply for Graduate School. Now Matthew is a MA Graduate Student at The Ohio State University specializing in Japanese Linguistics.
Free and open to the public.
If you require an accommodation, such as live captioning, to participate in this event, please contact Janet Smith at smith.12674@osu.edu or 614-292-3345. Requests made at least two weeks in advance of the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.
This event is co-sponsored in part by the Institute for Japanese Studies and a U.S. Department of Education Title VI Grant to The Ohio State University East Asian Studies Center.
