Teaching in Japan! My Job on the JET Programme | Art + Storytime

I lived in Japan and worked as an English teacher for 2 years! Let's talk about what that was like :D
[This video is part 2 of a series! Part 1: • Moving to Japan! My Jo... ]
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[@ironicallylight]

That student saying "no, bad morning" made me laugh for a good minute or two

[@AnnabelleMay.]

I say this to my teachers all the time to shock them and it’s so funny

[@ironicallylight]

@@AnnabelleMay. honestly tho, you're the person we all needed

[@ashrrz_]

I’m gonna use that phrase in school for whenever I’m having a bad day just to cheer myself up now

[@stormykitten479]

I didn't notice this wasn't normal, my Elementary teachers said It so I said it too. looking back, and they were probably hungover

[@eveismeme]

@@ironicallylight when?

[@xoderota]

This is so cute. Also, as someone with many issues that made normal schools really difficult for me, your school sounds really nice actually!!! We have a few of those alternative schools in my country as well but they're all mostly religious schools where you'd have to recite a mantra thingy every morning which wasn't exactly for me. I wish there were more options for people who struggle. Anyway, I love stories by teachers, they're always really adorable

[@11th_street_kid81]

I live in the US, and my school did the typical way US schools do the middle and high school ways, but my cousins who lived a town over did it the Japan way.

[@MemeSquidWasTaken]

Just found your channel recently, and you already know I'm subscribed! To 100k subs and beyond!

[@minty.thefox9191]

the funny thing id as someone who was learning spanish as a second language vaguely starting in middle school and getting more serious in high school and the amount of time i played spanish vocab battle ship is crazy and im glad u referenced it and made the experience relatable although our battleship was traditional but we had to translate the word given in the space and if u got it right u would shoot there if u hit the ship u got another shot also ive played a lot of jepoardy in my history class it makes learning very fun

[@royalcherrilad]

i started reading your comic castoff and it inspired me to start making my comic again

[@Heirgloom]

Omg corn soup!!! My boss’s mom is Taiwanese and she makes a soup that she once told me “Oh here! American soup! see it has corn!” And it was like, an egg drop soup with just SO MUCH CORN 🤣 but omg it’s so good hahaha I love when she stops me during my day to force me to eat that soup, though most times she just hands me really odd looking food with no explanation other than “it’s good!” 🤣 so I just eat it out of respect but half the time it’s usually really good minus the spicy stuff haha

[@CorvidaeHakubi]

Just found these two videos while looking up stuff about how Jet works. Are you still planning on doing a part 3? I'd love to know more about life outside of work while you were working in Japan and how everything worked as far as housing and such. I decided to go back to school and get a degree in 2020 (also not in teaching but computers) and will finally be done next year and have been thinking about trying to apply for Jet after. Not sure what kind of chances I'd have as I'm a bit older than the typical college grad though since I didn't go straight out of HS.

[@crystanubis]

As the son of an English teacher, I can confirm English is indeed a mess. I think H. Beam Piper put it best: "English is the product of a Saxon warrior trying to make a date with an Angle bar-maid, and as such is no more legitimate than any of the other products of that conversation."

[@StarSaartje13]

18:21 I was today years old when I realized "ceramics" is pronounced with a s and not a k. (in my native language it's spelled (and pronounced) with a k so I just assumed it was pronounced with a k in English too)

[@yair2215]

U should make an art tutorial where u draw and talk about what tool r u using because sometimes u do somethings i dont get like the green circle thing that u fo when u color

[@EmeekaeP]

1:43 - just got to chapter 3, how many more chapters ? But seriously it's a good read :)

[@TheCherryClown]

I should’ve commented before this came out

[@Oct_sflb]

"I'm dying, I'm dying; I am dead. I am dead Rose Quartz"

[@notcoolstar4134]

i wish had your school

[@thesitronus]

Did you get any form of stage fright at first when you started your first lessons?

[@stormycatmink]

Out of curiosity, what made you decide to stop with the Jet program?

[@YourLocalAnimeWeeeb]

Have you any tips for comic covers?

[@cosmicghost763]

Nice pfp

[@quinnsine1650]

16:57 “COUSINS???”

[@goldenfeather3687]

25:26 "If you had 10 billion yen, what would you buy?" "I would buy gold and bury it! No taxes!" this guy is grunkle stan fr Also Rori’s face makes this SO much funnier Sidenote! I love the music in the video! It makes me so happy, I commend you for your taste, star

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

A V O C A D O! BUY GOLD!

[@Autistic_Sandw1ch.official]

REALITY IS AN ILLUSION THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM BUY GOLD BYEEE

[@GingerbreadGerard]

[5:13] As a nurodivergent that struggles with school, this actually sounds pretty nice. I wish I had a school near me that was accommodating to disabilities and learning difficulties.

[@TheRealGuyWithTheGreenHat]

I'm not a teacher, but I would love to have someone like you as my teacher. You're awesome and I hope I can meet you IRL someday. :3 Here's a hug and some flowers just for you. 🫂 💐 😁

[@5finchy]

What?

[@PloverTechOfficial]

When I heard about the school I immediately thought, that sounds like a really good school, much better than one with strict rules and uniform. As a student I would have quite enjoyed a school like that myself.

[@NaBa.O3O]

@@PloverTechOfficial Same here. "Nightmare" where? It sounds like a dream, and I'd feel in heaven to both have studied in and *taught* somewhere like that. It'd be so nice to be somewhere where the students' limits are better understood and accomodated for and they're not all stressed 24/7.

[@PloverTechOfficial]

@@NaBa.O3O yes! What on earth are “normal” schools even thinking in the first place piling so much stress on their students? To me that sounds like one way to make them not learn at all and become traumatised against learning

[@SnowFox-gv2rn]

“What does Die Hard mean?” I laughed so hard at that! 😂 That sounds like an awesome experience! And I’m happy that teaching lead to you making these videos and your books

[@sanhinamori9098]

I took Japanese in high school, I took Japanese 1, 3 and 4 (I skipped 2 for scheduling reasons but learned most of it as I was learning 3.) We actually had a Japanese teachers assistant and she was so amazing. My favorite interaction with her was when I recommended my favorite anime to her, and she actually really enjoyed it. It made my day. We also had kind of a fun catchphrase we would use but instead of "good morning" it was "good weather (いい天気)" or "bad weather (悪い天気) ' in japanese. It was an inside joke in our class and it made our Japanese teachers assistant laugh. She was super sweet, her dad was an English teacher in Japan, so we got to write letters back and fourth to students learning English in Japan. They wrote to us in English, and we wrote back to them in Japanese. It was such a fun experience, I miss it so much.

[@kumoric]

I’m so glad you’re making so many videos on this, because it’s almost exactly what I want to do when I’m older! Can’t wait for the next parts! (if there are going to be)

[@TheStarfishface]

I’m planning at least 2 more!

[@kumoric]

@@TheStarfishfaceGreat to hear! Thank you for the comment heart! (I love your comic btw ☺️)

[@Nov-Alle]

For me, mine is not too far from her career, I wanna be an animator! And I love hearing her stories

[@MegaRonTV]

I’m glad this came out when it did because, now that I’m going to have a month off due to my previous employer electing to end my program, I can seriously consider what I’m going to do next. This kind of program sounds like it would be so much fun, and very fulfilling.

[@TheobaldLeonhart]

I don't think that school was a nightmare, I think it's a... Dream Mainly because, I'm someone who struggled a lot in my middle and high school years (yes, middle and not junior high. I went to a K-8 school, then a 9-12 school) 'Cause I had, at the time, undiagnosed autism. So The "normal" school system, didn't work for me

[@saraconnell5951]

25:39 I like how Star is talking about her student that brought money in as a show and tell and is drawing Rory at the same time. It seems very fitting

[@poppythecat454]

You remind me so much of my mum, who was an English teacher for students with learning difficulties. She loved her students and often did games too.

[@heartpaws1556]

Star’s art always makes us happy 😊

[@EmrysLlewellyn-ECLEC]

Ah yes, 'Jelly Donuts' Also the Die Hard bit was funny 28:27

[@tailmo6349]

[0:25] "...artist ally vender and youtube... person." star lives in denial about being a youtuber lmao

[@cheesewithaj6880]

After watching the video, I got the bug to reread the webcomic `Let's Speak English' on a similar subject, and it's interesting to see how the lesson structures differ between the traditional primary school and the alternative high school here. As a related note, I find it very amusing that `ace webcomic author from Texas who also streams video games and has a podcast about anime, and who once went to Japan to teach English' is a `two nickels' situation.

[@MANGLORIOUS]

Teachers are some of my favorite people in the world, I have mad respect for you and everyone you worked with, and I LOVED all the cute stories. And as a person that is trying to relearn her native language, I really really appreciated the intentional mistakes story. Dammit, now I’m more convinced to become an art teacher when I’m older XD

[@charlieyipeee]

man this is the most wholesome story relating to school i've ever heard why can't school in the us be like this 😭

[@Aliix458]

and why can’t school in the uk also be like that (It sucks. I dropped out of Elementary/Primary school when i was like…10-11. Still haven’t gone back to school.)

[@reviathan3524]

By the nine divines, it's uploaded :)

[@littlelunardragon]

That all sounded amazing! I’m a quiet introvert who knows nothing but draw and sometimes has a short attention span but if I had a teacher like u I’d be overjoyed to be in that class X3

[@PloverTechOfficial]

Sounds like your time teaching went really well! Your students also sound like they were really nice and fun to teach! Language is such a fun thing ::)

[@Azalte]

I really loved the video, your way of teaching looks so fun and interesting ! (I'm french so I'm still leaning english and I think I would have loved to have you as a teacher !) Can't wait to see the other parts, I'm sure they'll be as awesome as this one ! 😁

[@FaelumbreProject]

I also teach english sometimes and as a non-native speaker, teaching other non-native speakers, there are days where they stop everything to go "why is read in the past identical but the pronunciation changes" or "why is the past participle of (anything really).... like that" and I can only say, GOOD QUESTION. English is the worst and it's the best at the same time because I can pull up Etymonline and go on a rabbit hole to try and get the why.

[@RandomDuck-Productions]

I can tell your definitely an amazing teacher :D I wish you were my teacher lol 😅

[@aPhrogg]

You seem like the best type of teacher

[@MessyMissyArts]

As a TA, I completely get what you mean with making "Little mistakes", I work with a much younger age group but it still works so well! I feel as though it encourages the kids to make corrections and realise that "Oh hey, everyone makes mistakes!", and gives 'em some confidence!

[@MorpheousXO]

My High School, in the States, was 3 years, with middle school being 7-9th grade.

[@Appl3beesBoneless]

the school you were at sounds like a dream for me. i have adhd and i WISH all schools were like that.

[@Mithical_C]

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, so about the cursive bit!, us Dutchies are thought to write our native toungue in cursive, depending on the school!! I haven't used it since I was 9, other this writing the names of friends that haven't learned it!

[@Autistic_Sandw1ch.official]

This reminds me of how when my aunt taught English in china, one of her students had a jacket that said NEUTROGENA FACE CLEANSER

[@XFanBoy4564]

Today I started writing my own OG story!

[@liliagoncharova2200]

What was the experience like moving to Japan with little Japanese? I'm a senior in college planning to take a gap year before I apply for JET and during that time I plan to study as much as I can but I'm also realistic that I'll only have the bare basics of the language down, and I was wondering how much this affected your experience outside of the classroom :)

[@Lycaon1765]

I can't think at all of how to explain the difference between look, watch, and see. I just know it???? Or well i don't actually _know_ the difference tbh but like i just use them properly anyway??? Damn.

[@Lightningstrike8247]

I’m half Chinese and learning Japanese so the kanji I sent too hard for me most of the words are the same (eg. the character for winter is the same but they sound drastically different) 😅

[@Lady_Chalk]

OMFG You're Ms Frizzle!! Without whatever bizarre witchery she was using, (I'm talking about the 90's verion).

[@azm0n475]

this was so sweet!

[@fannikarpati5563]

Wait a second cursive isn't just normal writeing.....WHAT. Where Im from we just write in cursive.

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

We did that for my entire Primary school life past Year 1

[@steamgoth-lassassin4099]

I went to a US alternative education school and this sounds very similar to your experience, albiet extremely small and covered k-12 grades. I get excited when I hear about other alt schools.

[@RandomDuck-Productions]

(9:30) This is so true! I've been learning Spanish for 8 or so years now, and it's scary to speak Spanish in front of people who are fluent, or just know more Spanish than me 😅 You sound like an amazing teacher to have 🤩

[@pretty_bxy]

Young weeboo star would die if she was told that you went to japen

[@pretzelcat581]

First of the lowly nonmembers

[@Aliix458]

0:58 Deltarune symbol be like: (it’s probably a coincidence, but still)

[@slateportraichu5416]

I am so happy you experienced all of this=3 Thank you for sharing your stories with us!=) You are so brave and cool!=3

[@elaulora]

I found your channel today and I really enjoyed listening to your stories while drawing! Honestly sometimes I consider the option of becoming an art teacher to show people how fun drawing is and to encourage them to do things they like. I rarely write comments but I just wanted to let you know that your videos brightened my day and gave me hope for the better future! Thank you ❤ Also your art style is so cute and expressive! 💖

[@imonly1man_]

Here before the lowly non-members

[@goldenfeather3687]

Props to the person who gifted us memberships that fateful Monday

[@youngblood5434]

suck a toe ):

[@matthewpaul6904]

Reminds me of me and my friends explaining to our friends from El Slavador how sarcasm works and what it means when you use air quotes.

[@DrinkWater-j4z]

I justed read the castoff comic it was brilliant in on part 4 chapter 1 and its a 10/10

[@Midnight3Wonder]

Hearing Star talk about the kind of school she taught at actually reminded me of my high school. Instead of attending the traditional high school, I went to a project based charter school that was close enough to the regular high school and even had a system put in place where students at the charter school could attend classes at the regular school if the charter school didn't offer those classes. Our school was set up more like an office, referred to our teachers by their first names instead of their last names, took lessons online, and had several project assignments we could do on our own and as groups. The charter school mostly had students with learning disabilities, social issues, had troubled backgrounds, etc. I personally was there because of my learning disabilities and social issues (I have autism, ADHD, social anxiety and am incredibly socially awkward). Everyone in the charter school was more like a big, dysfunctional yet loving family. Our teachers were like our parents, the lady who ran the front desk was like our grandma/aunt, and all the students (we had only up to 30 students) were like siblings. I loved it! I've been an artist basically since I was baby (my mom literally jokes about how she gave birth to me holding a crayon because I was practically drawing that early) and I always loved taking art classes. Because the charter school didn't have a proper art class, I was allowed to take art classes at the regular high school. Every semester (minus one due to surgery I had to get on both my legs during the last semester my first year) I would sign up for art classes at the regular high school and make the trek between schools for my art classes. I became a regular face in the art classes and students became familiar with me, though never seemed to find it odd that they never saw me anywhere else in the regular high school. One day, I was working on a project in art class and I overheard some students next to me talking about the charter school. This peeked my interests as I was genuinely curious what the kids at the high school thought of the charter school. To my disappointment, they labeled every student that goes there as some kind of troublemaker and even straight up referred to the charter school as the "delinquent school"! This was very uncomfortable for me to hear as I loved my school and I was nowhere near a troublemaker! Yes, some students did come from troubled backgrounds and even had some run-ins with the authorities, but no one was actually a bad person (we did get one bad apple who is his own horror story, but this happened before he came around). To make matters worse, as you might recall, everyone in the charter school was like my siblings. I genuinely cared about them as if they were my family so I was not too happy to hear that. However, instead of getting mad and blowing up at these kids, I decided to be a bit mischievous. I jumped in on their conversation and asked them what they were talking about. After getting some confirmation that they thought very little of the charter school, I slapped this gem of line in their faces: Me: You do realize that I'M from the charter school, right? The looks on their faces were PRICELESS! Despite being more on the quiet side, I had a pretty good reputation as being friendly, sweet, and helpful. These kids apparently knew this about me, and were shocked when they found out that I'm from the charter school they were just talking smack about. They initially thought I was joking until I pointed out that I only attended the high school for art classes thanks to a system between the two schools, hence why no one saw me in any other classes. Instead of making fun of me, they became genuinely curious about what it was actually like at the charter school and I was more than happy to correct them about their misgivings about the school. I made sure to tell them that the students weren't actually bad kids by any means. We just didn't really learn well in traditional school settings and were happier with more hands-on projects and being able to take lessons at our own pace and on our own schedule. Best of all, we were like a family to one another. I actually managed to change their opinions about the charter school and left them with a better impression of the students just by pointing out to them that I was a charter school student. I was pretty proud of myself that I was able to change their opinions about the charter school while also delighting in the fact that I got to be a bit mischievous and figuratively slap them in the face about how wrong they were. Another bonus of going to the charter school instead of the traditional high school because, before going to the charter school, I would not have had the nerve to do such a thing. The charter school just provided a good environment for me to work on my confidence and learned how to make gut-punching jokes without consequences that everyone could enjoy. While my final year at the charter school had turned into an absolute nightmare thanks to that one bad seed I mentioned earlier, I never regretted choosing the charter school over the regular high school. I was really able to prosper and grow as a person at the charter school far more than I would have at the regular high school. I would honestly love to visit my old charter school to see how my old teachers and the new students are doing. Some of my projects should still be on display at the school and I think it'd be really cool to be able to tell the new students there that I was the one who made them. I even made a book about autism there that my school is very proud of and my teachers praised as being one of the best projects to ever come out of that school. I really hope that the students there now are able to enjoy my work and take to heart that anyone can do anything if they believe in themselves and get the proper support that they need.

[@goat7250]

I'm not a native English speaker and I needed to learn grammar and tences at school. So when Star said that English has all those shenanigans you can't see when you're an English native, my mind yelled 'yyyyeeeessss!!!!' Non stop. Just so you'll get it: English has this tence called 'present simple', which, ironically, was the hardest tence to learn as a kid. I actually asked my teacher about why they put the word 'simple' in it's name, and she told me that it's because it's meant to be used for simple actions like habits. By the way, I bet most of the natives here don't even know what present simple is! (Most of them, at least...)

[@Jfjdhdhhe]

IVE BEEN WAIT FOR THIS AND NOW ITS HEREEEEEE LETS GOOOOOOOOO

[@spiderzilla7o7]

Wait your a teacher? Good luck with attention…

[@mr.parker8014]

I know this is a year late, but I'm extremely intrigued by the "alternative school" as an aspiring teacher. It sounds like a wonderful place to help students of all types. Was this school a part of a specific program/type of school or was it genuinely just an oddball? If possible, I'd be very interested in teaching at one like it. If anybody sees this, I'd greatly appreciate any information about finding schools like this!

[@Bowl-0f-Soup]

I’m just imagining you doing a serious discussion about the 4kids one piece rap for 20 minutes

[@eeeEEEeeeEEEEEE-eeeeeee]

I love foreign teachers from abroad, Im not from ja[pan but in Thailand in my school there are lots of them. Theyre always so fun

[@t80combatmaster65]

Just started getting my Teaching Cert here in the US. I was mostly thinking of teaching in the Midwest but now I'm seriously considering the JET program.

[@NadirEatsRocks]

My school participates in the Jet program! I was so tempted to sign up for it and hearing your stories only tempts me more haha

[@ShelbyLikesStuff]

Despite me not living in Japan but Australia I still get the whole ‘this school doesn’t work so transfer to another’ since my brother had to change schools, I’m switching schools due to basic life reason and when my school year ends I’ll probably do online schooling since my mum dropped me out of the school my brother went to (yes yes I dropped out before I stepped foot in that school for any reason that doesn’t have anything to do with my sibling I’m just special like that) and then after next year I’ll go to the school my brother is currently going to, it’s an all girls school but it’s pretty much an all AFAB school since everyone there is gay so being a lesbian is cool, might get a girlfriend or two (I’m ambiamorous) but that’s just my who,e school situation! FUN RIGHT? HAHA THIS DOESNT MAKE ME ANXIOUS HAHAHA IM NOT LAUGHING TO HIDE MY ANXIETY YOU ARE

[@iambadatnamingthings3547]

I have been speaking English since I was 5 and am probably one of if not the best English speaker I know, some native speakers even told me I was better at English than them but because I wasn’t born in an English speaking country and have never lived in one I’m a little scared that they won’t accept my application even though I really wanna do this too

[@goldfishcrickets]

whats the music used for the background? its lovely

[@noobgodxen8661]

Can you please tell me if your educational background matters. I'm currently pursuing my BSC honours degree in the major of statistics but at the same time I'm serving as an English language trainer in an institution which is associated with the British council.

[@applejustice]

I love ur channel! Ur such a good speaker

[@iva_willow]

20:06 I was so shocked hearing 2nd season Spy family opening ❤

[@SuperKitten176]

As someone who is still in school and struggles with adhd, a divorced parents, and anxiety, this school sounds amazing

[@thefroggy-ml3hc]

If I were to teach English in a country it would be China, I already speak Chinese most of the time with my mom and grandmother (they came from China when my mom was 12) so I would already know a lot of Chinese.

[@RealShadowspirit]

20:38 one time, when i visited japan, a restaurant had mayonnaise and corn pizza as one of the foods on the menu. I wish i tried it, not because i think it'd taste good (i doubt it) but because i wonder what it actually tastes like.

[@Lolly-16-rn]

im currently learning janpanesse and just started like a week ago and when you talked about what the boy who ran up to you said i realized i knew what the janpanesse ment

[@itssoclover]

i was surprised people thought your school sounded like a nightmare. teaching is a hard job of course, but i transferred to a similar alternative school for a few years as a teenager and it was really nice since the teachers had more freedom.

[@Nihtyu]

0:30, she got tricked with english teacher job in japan😭😭😭

[@MrBlackFedora]

Is the background music from spy x family?

[@memeticdoge654]

Wow, I wanted to move to Japan when I finish school, and the JET program seems intriguing but I doubt I'll be a good teacher. Do you still live in Japan? Anyways love your videos, I want to make a webcomic but have no digital art supplies, could you maybe make a video or something on that?

[@cuddlebug9699]

How to get away with learning Yatta in one simple step:Chun-Li,Street Fighter 2

[@zebrasonice4102]

That highlight reel was so wholesome and adorable. ^w^

[@Desirsar]

The advantage of English is that you can learn very little of it and break it badly and people will still understand you.

[@tylersmith5856]

im hoping to get into JET this next year, and I am wondering how you handled the money situation? like, did u have a credit card, or just use cash? were u able to send your JET paychecks to a U.S. bank account? what about taxes, how does that work? lmao a video on this would be great cuz no one talks about the logistics of moving to Japan.

[@Topazios]

I too, like money. I would get along with this kid.

[@somejellyfish]

that actually sounds a lott like my school!! just minus the older students

[@LG_Official.]

Well this is an amazing video to star the morning on 99.3% wholesomeness with a tiny bit of reality sprinkled in thats appreciated this really just made my day.

[@safalekel]

I like your art style. keep it up.

[@aaishaismail1696]

Okay that thumbnail art is so cute I'll be back to watch this later bye

[@BOB-yv1eq]

Oh my, this is sooo cute. I love this video so much.

[@שחראלקלעי-ש6ע]

I want Star as my teacher!!!

[@anticlaws4105]

Not star being the most fun English teacher

[@AmbrosiaMooshine]

This is an amazing video I loved it :)

[@priceyindividual2995]

Honestly this sounds like an absolute blast