KAZO (JAPAN) - THE first time Singaporean Tan Eng Seng, 28, stepped into a Japanese school, he received curious looks and questions.
'The students said to me, 'You look like us, why do you speak English?'' he recalled.
He is among 23 Singaporeans teaching English to Japanese students aged 13 to 18 in schools throughout Japan.
They are here under the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme, initiated in 1987 to bring foreign English teachers into Japanese classrooms.
The programme began with native speakers from countries like the United States and Britain, but since 2000, teachers from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and other countries where English is not a native tongue have been included as Assistant Language Teachers.
Applicants have to be university graduates under 35 years old, take a written English test at the Japanese embassy and are interviewed by a four-member panel which includes one native speaker. They do not need to be trained teachers.
There are now some 6,000 such teachers in Japan, from countries as diverse as Jamaica, Slovenia and Malaysia, though most are still from the US, Britain and Canada.
While enhancing English language education is the goal, the JET programme does not specify what level of competence it hopes Japanese students will achieve upon leaving school.
Rather, it has the broader objective of promoting mutual understanding between Japanese and other nationals at the local level to enhance internationalisation in Japan.
Also, because there are not enough Japanese teachers who can speak and teach English well enough, the foreigners plug that gap in the classroom.
Students get to listen to English spoken well, never mind if the accent is Singaporean or Thai.
The foreign teachers from countries like Singapore, where English is not the native language, are described here as speakers of 'World English'.
'It is good for the students to know all kinds of English,' said Mr Tan's colleague Mrs Takako Toma, who co-teaches 13-year-olds with him at Nishi Junior High School in Kazo city, two hours from Tokyo by train.
Most of the assistant language teachers teach alongside a Japanese colleague, and their role is mainly to vocalise the English words in textbooks or to act out English skits for the class.
What motivates many to apply for the job is a keen interest in Japan.
Singaporean Cynthia Su Xichun, 25, for example, majored in Japanese at the University of Melbourne. She also has a certificate in teaching English as a second language.
She arrived last August and feels she can do more in the classroom.
'Because of the limited role I play, it is hard for the students to get to know my personality and style of teaching. It also restricts me from getting to know the students better,' said Miss Su, who teaches at Shiraoka, a town in Saitama prefecture, not far from Kazo.
Mr Tan graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Japanese studies degree and worked as an English tutor before coming to Japan two years ago. His students at home included Koreans and Japanese.
He considers himself lucky to have Japanese colleagues who see him as almost equal partners in the classroom.
Mr Takahiro Kitashima, who teaches classes of 14- and 15-year-olds with Mr Tan, said: 'Eng Seng is just like a Japanese teacher. He knows the students well and tells us if he spots a student who is having problems.'
His students also get to learn about Singapore. Once, he played them a song by Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua.
'She's my friend,' he told the students, as they gamely sang along even though they did not understand all the words.
For the assistant teachers, being in Japan provides a chance to absorb the local culture by living among ordinary Japanese.
'I get to meet young students, their parents, and even their grandparents. It enables me to study Japanese society up close,' said Mr Tan.
For Miss Su, who is keen to work as a translator one day, being able to immerse herself in the Japanese language was a dream.
She has decided to stay one more year.
Keen to ensure that the foreign teachers take home pleasant memories, Japan ensures that they are well looked after in their postings across the country.
Most of the Singaporeans are based in towns well away from metropolitan areas, and two are working on sparsely-populated islands several hours south of Tokyo by ship.
The foreign assistant teachers receive about 300,000 yen (S$4,168) a month and housing is subsidised. Lunch, if they are not fussy, is often taken care of in school.
Mr Tan usually joins his colleagues in the common room for lunch. It may be stewed sardines - not one of his favourite dishes - served to teachers and students alike.
Mirroring the ritual that takes place throughout the school at lunch time, a senior teacher signals the start of the meal by saying, 'Itadakimasu' (I will receive). At the end, he says, 'Gochisosama deshita' (Thank you for a wonderful meal).
Outside school, life for the foreign teachers is often another adventure.
Adjusting to small-town life can be a challenge for Singaporeans used to city living.
Mr Tan's tiny 430 sq ft apartment overlooks rice fields. Peace and quiet descend soon after 8pm each day. Kazo city has nearly 70,000 people, a bowling alley and the ubiquitous pachinko pinball machine parlours, but no cinema.
So entertainment means taking the train to Tokyo's Shinjuku district on the weekend to catch a movie and perhaps have a fix of Singaporean or spicy South-east Asian food.
Mr Tan, who teaches at three schools, has also discovered that in a small town, there is no escaping running into his students.
'Even in the public library, I cannot read an article without having to say hello to a steady stream of children,' he says.
Now working out his third and final year, he treasures the experience.
'When I was having lunch with my students the other day, they started talking to me in English without my prompting, asking me how was my lunch and whether it was delicious. That sort of thing really motivates me to teach them more,' he said.
And it has been a long while since anyone expressed surprise that he speaks English.
