Thursday, March 18, 2010

Impromptu English Interview

Before I went to work, I got an... interview.

One inactive member of the Toastmasters (let's say, he's "Kei." He's Japanese.) just founded an on-line language educational company with several international people.
He sent an e-mail to me, saying, "May I interview you? We want to ask people who have studied English a lot to enhance our Web-site." I answered, "Sure!"
Later, he added, "Is it OK if our American president accompanies us?"
I answered, "Of course!"
He also said, "FYI, the interview will be conducted in JAPANESE. Our president is American, but he is very fluent in Japanese."
I replied, "OK!"

When I met Kei and Lary (the American president,) we talked in Japanese.
However, right after the interview started, Lary said, "May I conduct the interview in English? If you're comfortable in Japanese, you can answer in Japanese."
...Then, the interview began.
His questions were;
Why did you choose your current job?
When do you feel happy as an English teacher?
Why did you choose your language school as your working place?
If you apply our Web-site as a teacher, do you mind showing your photo?
What kind of subjects do you teach now?
How much do you get paid from your school?
If you work for us, how much salary do you want?
If we prepare props, will you work as a teacher for us?

...They also asked me my Web-life (how much time do you use your PC, which Web-sites do you visit often, etc,) BUT the above questions sound like...a job interview, don't they?
I don't think I can teach English conversation to international people on line( native speaker are much more attractive as English teachers!), but one question arose in my mind.
Why did Kei say, "The interview is conducted in JAPANESE" beforehand?
I didn't care it would be in English or Japanese. However, I felt like they might be testing me as an eligible English teacher on their educational Web-site.
I answered them all in English, but did they check my fluency or grammatical mistakes or pronunciation?

Anyway, having their questions, I refreshed my first motivation why I became an English teacher. And...I noticed again that I need to practice my English EVERY DAY.
Will I become a teacher on their site? or a student on their site? Might be both?
"English studying" is like "riding an elevator" which we never can get off...

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