who comes in for a trial, or rather I should say every student’s mom, initially addresses me only in some variety of learner’s English. After they are informed, or simply observe, that I speak Japanese as well they adapt with varying degrees of success – some not addressing me in any language, some giving me salutation and valediction but not much else, and on the extreme end treat me more or less like their linguistic equal. The one constant is that they assume I don’t speak Japanese lacking any data to the contrary.

I’d be negligent not to include the obvious media-presented stereotypes of non-Japanese as illiterate but lovable dunces in the causes for this assumption, but many of these kids and their parents have been going to different English schools for years – plenty of time to meet a few other pasty faces who aren’t completely out to sea in the Japanese language. Am I wrong? Can the half dozen or so other native English speakers really have been so worthless at the language of the country they’re presumably living in? Or are they just hiding it, as unfortunately a lot of them and a lot of Japanese people believe is the only “professional” way to run an English class?

I prefer honesty here. I enjoy learning language and I want my students to feel the same. There is a lot of wisdom to be discovered in the gap between English and Japanese and I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by pretending they exist in entirely separate universes.