What is JET?

It seems that if you live in Los Angeles, chances are good that you know someone first- or second-hand who has been a part of the JET Program. It's like what the Communist Party used to be back in the 1950s. Let's see... it pulls in young people, fresh out of college... it's got strong ties with a certain Eastern country... I even think there's some red in the JET logo somewhere. Like, on the back side, where you can't normally see it.

Fortunately for our capitalist wallets and noble pig-like sensibilities, JET is not communism. It's a program created by the Japanese government to bring native English speakers to their country, for language and cultural exchange. I've pretty much told you what JET itself stands for: "Japan Exchange and Teaching".

There are several different positions within JET, but by far the most common is the ALT - Assistant Language Teacher. When people talk about being in JET, 90% of the time this is what they mean. Being an ALT means that you are essentially a teaching assistant, in some capacity. The actual responsibilities vary from person to person. JET doesn't require any prior teaching experience, but they do require a bachelor's degree of some kind.

ALTs teach at elementary, junior high, and high schools, all across Japan. Yes, even those tiny little islands 200 miles from the mainland. You don't get to choose your placement, but you can specify up to 3 preferred areas.

JET isn't volunteer work. It does pay fairly well, actually, for an entry-level teaching position. The contract is for one year, and it can be renewed up to 5 years total. It begins in late July with an orientation in Tokyo. After that, you're shipped off to wherever you'll be teaching, given additional training, and you begin work sometime in late August. An interesting fact about the school system in Japan: the school year starts in April, so an ALT's year is out of sync with the rest of the school.

I've given you the basic info, the questions that most people ask me when I tell them that I will be doing JET. For a more detailed look, here's a couple links:

• Official JET Program website
• A blog post that my former boss sent me

They do a much more thorough job at explaining JET than I have.