This is the second part of a two-part series about how the Japanese government’s most recent update to its English education guidelines could change the way English is taught in Japan’s schools, and what those changes could mean to ALTs.

Steven Horowitz, founder of JetWit.com, brings us this important message about the uncertain future of the JET Programme. It seems that the JET Programme is in danger of being cut back or even eliminated. Please read and let’s discuss what we can do!

It’s not hard to see why Thailand is a common vacation destination for many JETs. With friendly people, incredibly cheap travel costs, and deliciously spicy food, it’s a great place to spend an extended national holiday week. Phuket in particular provides an oasis from the heat and humidity in Thailand and is a welcome destination after exploring the steamy streets of Bangkok or Chiang Mai. My friends and I visited the island for five days over Golden Week this year and loved every minute of it. For those considering going, here are my Top Ten tips on traveling to Phuket.

There’s a lot of outlets for blame if you’re bad with your money, but that game won’t get you any where with your money. If you’re ignorant with your wallet and expenses, you’ll always be playing catch up. Instead, fix the money leaks in your wallet and use that money to pay off credit card debt, fund your next weekend excursion, start an emergency fund, or store away for a future dream house. Let’s look at two common money leaks for people abroad when it comes to credit cards.

While this phrasebook’s 14 chapters and introduction offer a whole array of useful phrases organized thematically from “Chapter 1: What’s Up?” to “Chapter 8: Curses and Insults,” to “Chapter 13: Lovers’ Language,” it is often necessary to thumb through several pages of phrases you don’t need in order to find the one you are looking for. There is no index, and the chapter headings are fairly vague, such that, to find a fairly common phrase like すけべ (vulgar, lewd) you might have to search through the chapter on insults, and possibly “Chapter 4: Say What?” before finding it in the chapter on street fighting. (Yes, there is a chapter dedicated to street fighting.) With all of the above criticism in mind, however, I would strongly urge that the next phrasebook you purchase be from the Making Out In… series.

Ratatouille is the epitome of French gastronomy, yet it’s the perfect recipe for Japan if you want to use the fresh summer veggies that flood the supermarket during the summer. Japan produces amazing eggplant, and ratatouille is the perfect dish to make with them.

Every country has their pop culture icons. While most fade into obscurity outside their homeland, there are those hailing from media strongholds that represent their nation to the rest of the world, for better or worse. Australia had Crocodile Dundee and the late Steve Irwin, Britain has Dr. Who and James Bond, and the United States has a massive legion of comic book super heroes. Japan is no stranger to this either, as in the past 25 years the world has seen a flood of animated and video game characters saturating the pop culture of our own respective countries. Yet before the coming of Pikachu and Sailor Moon, Japan had one star already well established.

Do you ever find yourself with extra time on your hands between classes at work? Looking for new activities to test drive in your E.S.S. Club or advanced English class? Origami could be just the ticket. Mie-ken JET Joanna Tocher provides a little inspiration to get us started.

Today’s Proverb: The deeper the water, the quieter. (Or, “Still waters run deep.”)

In JET a lot of emphasis is given to instruction in the classroom, but this doesn’t always give us a deeper look at the underpinnings behind student behaviors. As teachers, it helps if we remember that students are going through an eventful time in their life, and think about how we can encourage students as people in addition to helping them better speak English. How do we do that? I’d like to discuss some basic psychological theory that can help us to understand student behavior during adolescence, and offer ideas about classroom approaches based on this understanding.