English teaching
English Activities and Resources
- Englipedia - The one-stop-shop for all your ALT needs. Did I mention, FREE?!?! This ALT teaching resource has a simple one-click bilingual ES section with over 120 activities. However, the coolest part of the site is the 300+ JHS activity section that is the ONLY website containing a 'textbook-specific' search engine. Meaning, you can surf the site via the textbook you use at your school.
- Genki English - packed full of games, songs and activities. Great for Elementary school. Some materials are not free.
- Kumamoto University's Elementary school English flashcards - fantastic flashcards designed for use in the Japanese classroom.
- MES English - excellent resource for colorful and entertaining flashcards. Good for Elementary and first year Junior High. All materials are free.
- NATTO Database - National Archive of Teaching Techniques Online. Download lessons and games here. Upload and share your own activities with the rest of the JET community.
- Oxfam's Cool Planet - teaching activities for cultural awareness and global citizenship.
- Puzzle maker - great for last minute worksheets
- Three Wise Monkeys - activities and ideas. Good for JHS.
- [1] - Not the easiest site to navigate but a huge amount of material.
- Wikigogy.org - similar website to WikiJET but non-Japan specific.
- wisehat.com - Games and songs.
- thinkimlost.com thread - A link for more links ;)
- English Language and Usage - a great site for English questions. Not sure about a specific grammar rule? - ask here.
Professional Organizations
- Japan Association for Language Teaching - JALT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving language education in Japan and abroad.
- JALT Homepage - find a chapter near you!
- JALT 2009 Conference
JET forums
- Jet Programme Forum - the official one.
- Big Daikon - largest and most active bunch of JETs online.
- I Think I'm Lost - smaller community than BD, but a bit nicer.
- The CIR Homepage Forum - largest JET forum aimed toward CIR JET's
- JET 2007 Podcast - a podcast for new JETs in 2007.
- OldSushi.com - online community spanning the whole of Japan.
- Forest Forum - online community of prospective ALTs and JTEs.
Japanese study
- KanjiMyBlog.com - Add customised random Kanji to your blog or homepage!
- Reading Tutor - helpful translation website. Gives hiragana readings for kanji and English translation.
- Tae Kim's guide to Japanese grammar - covers basic to advanced grammar in an easy-to-understand way.
- The JLPT Study Page - is a pretty solid site for information on the JLPT levels 4, 3, and 2.
- Kanji Practice - a site with quicktime video of Kanji stroke order.
- Tad Perry's Quick and Dirty guide to Japanese - A romaji version of just the essentials for informal Japanese. A kana version is also available on the web.
- Rikaichan - An absolutely awesome browser dictionary for Firefox. It's free and worth the effort if you hate constantly looking up words. Scroll your cursor over words to look them up. It recognizes compounds and names.
- The Super dictionary - An excellent site for help regarding turning a PDA into a electronic dictionary. Also features solid reviews of other electronic dictionaries. This site is run by an ex-Jet.
- JTango - Dictionary search site. Search in English, romaji or Japanese.
Daily life
Weather
- Yahoo! Japan Weather - good weather forecasts for your local town.
- JMA's Tropical Cyclone Information - to find out when your next day off school might come!
Mobile Phones, Land lines, Phone Calls from Japan
- World Link - discount telephone service in Japan - international calling and local.
Newspapers
- The Japan Times - Japan's leading English-language newspaper.
- Daily Yomiuri
TV
Travel
- Hyperdia - train timetable information, searchable in English.
- WikiTravel - free and editable travel guide. Good for major destinations.
Travel Agents
- etour.co.jp - discount air tickets etc.
- No.1 Travel - discount air fares
- A'cross Travel
- IACE Travel
- STA Travel - discount airfare, affiliated with the student travel service by the same name in the United States. Most discounts do not require student status.
JET Prefectural websites
The following links are to JET prefectural websites. Some of them are affliated with National AJET while others are not. The most active/relevant website is linked to from here. If you know of a better link, please edit this section and change it!
1. Hokkaido 2. Aomori 8. Ibaraki |
15. Niigata 24. Mie |
31. Tottori 36. Tokushima 40. Fukuoka |