The upset neighbour downstairs

[nicklar]

This is a fairly unusual perspective - http://www.accessj.com/2012/02/q-are-al ... ssary.html At least it's not something I guess you normally read. Might make some JET's somewhat more circumspect I guess.

[word]

I wonder if my neighbors write angry blogs....

[king]

haha, I can really relate there.
For a few months here I got constant phone calls to my school from the woman downstairs complaining about the noise.
The first few times I thought maybe it was my fault, I did have a habit of putting my stereo on a bit loud, once fell asleep with it blasting. But then as she kept phoning I became super paranoid about making sure I always had really low volume and yet she kept phoning.
It got to the stage where I had to tip-toe around my flat and couldn't use any of my sliding doors since they were too noisy. I remember one night a bunch of friends came round my place to pick me up and one girl had to get changed so she decided to go into my bathroom- I just cringed as she closed the sliding door behind her....and sure enough the next day at school there had been another phone call.
Thank god she moved out.

[Namisuke]

Whoever was living below me moved out soon after my boyfriend and I moved in. Makes me wonder why now...lol

When we lived in Tokyo we had a problem with the Japanese guy next to us BLASTING techno music at 3am on weekdays. We could hear the people below us banging on their ceilings, so my boyfriend had to finally go over there and deal with the problem himself. It isn't just foreigners.

One of my friends has a problem with his neighbour complaining about the noise the doors make also. Why don't they build those doors with some kind of absorption pad to prevent noise? A simple piece of stiff foam would work.

[word]

The shouji doors in my old house actually did have a felt strip along them to prevent noise; it helped a lot. When I moved into my new house, it didn't have 'em, so I bought some weatherstripping foam from a local hardware store and put it on. Works remarkably well.

This lady's blog sounds fantastic; I wish we could see more. I'm quite curious about how Japanese people outside of educational fields view ALTs. I found it interesting that she both berated and sympathized with the ALT--and that she didn't hesitate to express irritation with her own culture.

[Namisuke]

I'm quite curious about how Japanese people outside of educational fields view ALTs. I found it interesting that she both berated and sympathized with the ALT--and that she didn't hesitate to express irritation with her own culture.

I also found it strange that she was a bit all over the place with how she felt about this ALT. How do communities learn about their ALTs? I am curious where people can find information about our salaries (as they are supposed to be public), roles, and so on.

[Elan]

I also found it strange that she was a bit all over the place with how she felt about this ALT.

From looking at it I had the impression it was material culled from several different posts? If that is true, it doesn't surprise me there are different attitudes expressed in the posts - opinions can change, sometimes rapidly.

Well, as long as you don't really know anything about the ALT in question, you can't tell whether her irritation was justified. I used to live with someone who complained at essentially a breeze whispering through the room, but I've also been in the opposite position - I had to call the police on some downstairs neighbours once when they refused to turn their stereos off at 4am on a weekday before an important exam. You won't ever be liked by all your neighbours, and neither will you always only have neighbours you get along with. It's just a thing of human nature. It's of course entirely possible that foreigners will be scrutinized much more than Japanese people (I remember many an instance of the landlady of my dorm imploring us to be quiet as church mice after 7pm because the dorm was smack in the middle of a suburb), but that doesn't mean you will be or that you get carte blanche for everything because "they hate me anyway because I'm foreign". Just don't be a d*ck is all I'm saying.

[Musashi]

Heh, you have crazy people everywhere. Americans call the cops on their neighbors for stupid noise related reasons all the time too.

Ear plugs blocks out about 90% of that madness.....

[Patryn]

but in the US, those noise related complaints, usually parties or arguments, can quickly turn into the use of firearms!

[mountainboy]

Here's the original:
http://ameblo.jp/xalt/theme4-10007849732.html#main

So some sad, pathetic woman complains about some annoying ALT?

Meh.

[Liz Okinawa PA]

I dunno, this is a better reaction than some.

When I lived in Mexico, I quickly discovered noise is pretty expected at...uh, anytime. I had an elderly neighbor who once got so mad that the kids next door were blasting mariachi until 3 am that she waited until they were done, pulled her own stereo to the window, and blasted easy listening muzak for the rest of the night.

[Gizmotech]

Wow! Thanks for finding the original for this.

Though I had to use google translate to read it, it pretty much summed up my ideas that this individual is:
a) Jealous of ALT income (continually referenced over multiple years)
b) Jealous of Flex hours (note, she never mentions if the ALT comes home late, ever)
c) Does little research into the ALT itself (ie, could the ALT be getting off at specific times because they do night classes, mandatory eikaiwas, etc...)
d) Seems oddly prejudiced (2010/late 2009 posts are complaining about the ALT being FAT, All foreigners must smoke weed)
e) Finally... Looks like a stir crazy house wife!

Obviously she has some real complaints, like the ALT running the washing machine at midnight, but for the most part its just general grumbling. It's also nice to see her looking at the JET programme as a whole and making a judgement call that it largely hasn't done squat to improve English in Japan over 21 years and that it has cost quite a substantial sum of money as well. I also liked that she wasn't terribly keen on the silly games ALTs play in the classroom, rather than teach... It made me smile as someone who isn't that fond of games in the classroom.
....
As I read more she really goes out of her way around 2008 to find ways to hate on the whole ALT system as a whole. Like REALLY going out of her way to find stuff.

Though all this being said, if this ALT really did only have to work half days, can we figure out where this placement is? I would LOVE to have it

(Is it possible that this ALT wasn't a JET and the woman just assumed she was? ... ie was this person maybe an Interac or something working part time?)

[AVN]

Wow! Thanks for finding the original for this.

Though I had to use google translate to read it, it pretty much summed up my ideas that this individual is:
a) Jealous of ALT income (continually referenced over multiple years)
b) Jealous of Flex hours (note, she never mentions if the ALT comes home late, ever)
c) Does little research into the ALT itself (ie, could the ALT be getting off at specific times because they do night classes, mandatory eikaiwas, etc...)
d) Seems oddly prejudiced (2010/late 2009 posts are complaining about the ALT being FAT, All foreigners must smoke weed)
e) Finally... Looks like a stir crazy house wife!

Obviously she has some real complaints, like the ALT running the washing machine at midnight, but for the most part its just general grumbling. It's also nice to see her looking at the JET programme as a whole and making a judgement call that it largely hasn't done squat to improve English in Japan over 21 years and that it has cost quite a substantial sum of money as well. I also liked that she wasn't terribly keen on the silly games ALTs play in the classroom, rather than teach... It made me smile as someone who isn't that fond of games in the classroom.
....
As I read more she really goes out of her way around 2008 to find ways to hate on the whole ALT system as a whole. Like REALLY going out of her way to find stuff.

Though all this being said, if this ALT really did only have to work half days, can we figure out where this placement is? I would LOVE to have it

(Is it possible that this ALT wasn't a JET and the woman just assumed she was? ... ie was this person maybe an Interac or something working part time?)

I agree that the programme needs to be looked at as it could be far more effective than it is but I disagree on your statement about games, in part at least.

Games are one of the most effective tools of language teaching if used properly. This is something I was taught in TESL at Uni and something that I know many qualified teachers who use well. It gets results for me and keeps my students happy. I know some people who over use games or don't use them properly but one shouldn't dismiss games entirely.

[Namisuke]

I agree that the programme needs to be looked at as it could be far more effective than it is but I disagree on your statement about games, in part at least.

Games are one of the most effective tools of language teaching if used properly. This is something I was taught in TESL at Uni and something that I know many qualified teachers who use well. It gets results for me and keeps my students happy. I know some people who over use games or don't use them properly but one shouldn't dismiss games entirely.

Ditto. I sometimes see English game ideas posted online that barely have the students do anything in English (for example, hot potato or duck duck goose), but then there are some that are very well put together that actually help students achieve the objective of the lesson.

Gizmotech, what do you do to make classrooms fun and motivating if you don't play games? What do your most successful lessons include? Just curious.

[Gizmotech]

My lessons are fun because I bring fun and interesting topics into the class.
I get the kids to think and use their own experiences and ideas.
I encourage creativity and the odd, the zanny, the strange, and the curious.
I support ideas that don't make sense, I never dismiss a suggestion or answer, and I try to make my kids laugh as much as possible.
I get their ideas and opinions and get them to produce as much as possible from their own minds.
I teach through brainstorming, writing, and arguing. I let them hang themselves out to dry, have a good laugh at it, and try again.

But then I don't teach grammar, or pronunciation. I teach meaning and skills and I really don't care if they make a spelling mistake. I teach through English, I don't teach English (If I can avoid it, but I can't always do so).

Not all of my classes are fun, and my students know that. They understand that they have to learn for a lesson or two and then they can have some decent fun for a lesson or two. But then I treat my students like adults, I give them responsibility like adults, and I don't take shoot from them either. They understand that both of us are committing to the class, and if they don't want to be there they don't have to be (cuz i'll just fail them). My JTEs love this approach, because the students learn.

/end egoist rant/

On the serious side, I do agree with you both that games can be effective if tailored and designed around the objectives of the course at the time. Is it effectively reinforcing vocabulary of a specific unit (if you happen to be lucky enough to have a thematic/topical text book in your OC class) or does it support current grammar point learning (as is the case in my OC *cough grammar cough* classes) or does it reinforce a related topic that works with the current one (ie reminding the students about all pronouns just as they start relative pronouns for instance). Frankly what seems to work best is when I can design a grammar support game that has obvious bad answers all over the place that will get a laugh out of the kids. If the content is funny and fun then they become interested in trying, but it's not the fact that there is a game in progress, it's because they want to know more about what they're learning.