‘Ons gaan lekker braai’: SA teachers heading to Japan

‘Ons gaan lekker braai” – that is what one of 51 teachers sent to Japan this weekend vowed to teach his hosts.

Martin Pretorius is part of a contingent posted to various parts of Japan as part of an exchange programme and couldn’t wait to teach the Japanese people some Afrikaans words.

“As an ambassador of South Africa, it’s obligatory,” he said.

According to Julia Sloan of the Japan embassy in SA, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme is an initiative of Japan’s Council of Local Authorities for International Relations to promote exchange at a community level between Japan and other countries.

“This year marks the programme’s 37th year internationally and the 26th time South African nationals are partaking.

“South Africa is one of 50 countries involved as assistant language teachers to promote understanding and cultural exchange while developing foreign language education in Japan,” she said.

JET participant Liam Riley said he was excited to go to Japan but will miss his hobby the most.

“I love rock climbing, so I could rock climb for parts of the year because I am going to be based in a snowy region – but I can’t understand Japanese and need a rock climbing buddy. I’m a little bit anxious about it,” he said.

Riley said he has been teaching for seven years and was excited to go teach English in Japan. “I am going for one year for now, hoping to do a year in a new region each year. I want to fully experience the country.

“I love their culture and how they interact with each other. How they treat teachers, resonates with me,” he said.

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Pretorius said his interest in Japan started in 2013 when he started doing karate and wanted to know the origin of the art.

“I’ve been waiting to go to Japan to teach for about three years. I can’t wait to get to know the people and their culture better,” he said.

Former JET participant Amir Bagheri described teaching in Japan as fulfilling.

“I taught there from 2016 to 2019 and considered it as some of the best times of my life.”

Bagheri said he enjoyed being a cultural ambassador for South Africa and introducing the country to Japanese children.

“But Japan’s nature is wonderful. If you think South Africa is green, Japan is way greener,” he said.

Japanese teacher Hiromi Spinola said she has lived and taught Japanese in South Africa for over 20 years.

I met my husband while teaching Japanese in Thailand and him teaching English. We fell in love and moved back to South Africa. I love South Africa.”

Spinola said Japanese wasn’t that difficult to learn.

“It just seems difficult because it looks different and we don’t use the alphabet,” she said.

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