ESL expressions
To get something off your chest means to talk about something that has been bothering you.
To put something to paper means to write about something.
Not a big deal means not a serious problem or issue.

ESL vocabulary:
Pet hate: Something that you really don’t like.
Glaringly: Obviously

Culture note: My post today is related to a very important cultural difference between Western speaking countries and Japan. It is about studying English with private English teachers.
I have been thinking about this for a long time now. It wasn’t until some other teachers mentioned it that I decided to put it to paper. Most people think that the Japanese are very polite. I don’t disagree with this, but I have found times when this is glaringly not true. I am going to write about one such thing today.
I guess over the past 6 years since I began teaching in Japan, today’s topic has become my pet hate. So you must be wondering what am I talking about? What is my pet hate? My pet hate is students who suddenly disappear; Students who stop taking lessons, but never bother to tell their teacher. You don’t think this is a big deal? Think again, because it is very impolite.
As a teacher, I become fond of my students whether I like it or not, so when a student suddenly disappears I think, are they ok? Are they sick? Are they dead? Imagine a friend of yours suddenly went missing, what would you think? This is not too dissimilar to what a teacher might think of a missing student.
So the question is, why would you stop and not tell the teacher? Are you afraid to hurt the teacher’s feelings? Are you lazy? Or did you just forget? In Australia, it would be considered cowardice.
A Japanese friend told me, “Don’t worry about it, it’s normal in Japan.” That may be true, but it doesn’t make it any less rude to me. I am not Japanese and culturally for a Westerner this is extremely rude. There is no good reason for stopping without telling. It is not hard to say that you will stop taking lessons. As a student you have a duty to do this, if you cannot then don’t study privately.
Teachers understand that students aren’t going to study forever, so stopping isn’t a problem as long as you tell your teacher you will stop. Just let your teacher know! Make excuses if you need to, but just let your teacher know.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.