What’s the most important skill for an English lesson partner at an eikaiwa like ‘b Watashino Eikaiwa’? It’s not a difficult question at all: teaching ability is the obivious answer, and applicants will have to prove their English teaching chops in the interviews and demo lessons.
But are there other things can you start working on now, ones which may give you a leg up in the hiring selection? Of course!
Let’s take a look at 5 other areas that aspiring teachers and hopeful applicants will definitely want to polish up to improve their chances:
1) Work to Control your Speaking
This one is threefold – you’ll need to rein in your speaking speed, your speaking level, and your “filler” speech. The former 2 are easy enough, a lesson partner needs to speak at a speed to match the student’s level, and use (and teach) words that are appropriate to their level. Someone learning how to say “There is a dog…” won’t understand things like “arbitrary” or “had been considering” and will need you to speak at a much reduced pace. The latter one is a little tougher, changing things like “Alright, now then, I was thinking we could go ahead and start reading…” into “OK, let’s start reading…”. Simple, but still natural.
2) Get a Handle on your Body Language
Body language and appearance are important in any job interview, and even moreso day-to-day at an eikaiwa where teaching lessons is a lot like interviewing constantly. A kind smile, professional posture, and plenty of friendly eye contact go a long way, while things like twitching legs or wandering eyes definitely leave a negative impression in Japan.
In our business, you’ll need to walk the fine line between a polite professional and friendly companion, so just as you won’t go far with a dour “all business” expression, you also can’t be so giddy and bubbly that the whole feeling of the “lesson-as-a-professional-service” is lost. Oh and, it should go without saying as well but, keep your hands to yourself!
3) Bone Up on your Grammar
Although ‘b’ is a conversation and usage-focused school, it’s not “just chatting”. It is crucial for lesson partners to have the grammar know-how to back it up. You don’t need an encyclopedic knowledge of every possible syntax, but you definitely should be familiar with all the fundamental tenses and parts of speech – and know how to explain them! If you don’t remember what “present perfect”, a “relative clause”, or “adverb” are then you need to hit the books before anything else.
As you get ready to make the leap into finding the right school to begin teaching English, give some thought to the above three factors and they’ll definitely help improve your chances. Good luck out there!
Interested in Working at b?
You may become curious about our school and positios. If you want to apply, please refer to the page by clicking the following link.
https://recruitment.b-cafe.net/lesson-partner
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