Cara Rosner ’21 Shares an Update from Japan

Cara Rosner ’21, shares an update on her work in Japan with the JET program.

I’ve been working as an ALT (assistant language teacher) on the JET program at an elementary school in Gunma, Japan for about 5 months now. Living alone in a foreign country has its ups and downs, but it has been an absolutely amazing experience so far. It has helped me improve my language skills and has given me time to understand myself and how I work living alone.

As an ALT, I help the main English teacher, as well as the homeroom teachers, conduct English classes. We follow teaching plans provided by our cities board of education. Sometimes, we like to throw in different ideas to keep the learning experience more fun for the kids, like adding a round of vocab karuta or having a gesture game.

The kids at my school make my day and I enjoy talking with them outside of class. My favorite time is when I get to play soccer or dodgeball with them. The teachers have also been so amazing, and I’ve made many wonderful relationships in which I can ask for help whenever I need it and not feel shy or embarrassed.

COVID has made traveling (and sometimes teaching) a lot harder in Japan, but I have managed to rent a car once and a while to drive around Gunma. Gunma is a prefecture all about mountains and onsen, and I love finding new places to site see.

I’m excited to continue my new life here, developing more relationships with kind people and discovering off-the-beaten-path roads. I hope if you have a similar dream, that all your work pays off one day and you can have your own adventure too.

-Cara Rosner, Alumna Class of 2021