Language Teacher Interview Questions

Language Teacher Interview Questions

Language teachers help students learn a second language. Some teach in classrooms, and others interact with students online. In a language teacher interview, you should expect questions about your teaching experience, education, and the languages you speak.

Top Language Teacher Questions & How to Answer

Question 1

Question #1: What tools do you use to teach students?

How to answer
How to answer: This question lets you showcase your teaching skills. You can talk about methods like showing movies or videos in the foreign language, singing songs in the language with students, assigning homework, or using visual aids.
Question 2

Question #2: Why did you decide to be a language teacher?

How to answer
How to answer: With this question, you can convince the interviewer that your goals align with theirs. Talk about why you're passionate about teaching and what events led you to choose a foreign language as a subject. For example, you could discuss your first trip to a foreign country and how much you enjoyed learning a new language.
Question 3

Question #3: How do you keep students motivated and prevent frustration?

How to answer
How to answer: Learning a new language is difficult, and some students could give up without a skilled teacher to motivate them. Talk about how you would focus more on comprehension than grammar or pronunciation. You can also discuss the benefits of giving students attainable tasks and praising them for their progress. If possible, mention a student who excelled and benefited from their new language skills.

1,277 language teacher interview questions shared by candidates

As for the English portion, I was asked various things, like my top three favorite authors, what I would do in a class of rowdy students, how I might react to the workplace culture of socializing by going out and drinking, etc. They want to see how you'll fit in and adapt to a new culture. Be open minded.
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Assistant Language Teacher (ALT)

Interviewed at JET Program

4.1
Nov 3, 2015

As for the English portion, I was asked various things, like my top three favorite authors, what I would do in a class of rowdy students, how I might react to the workplace culture of socializing by going out and drinking, etc. They want to see how you'll fit in and adapt to a new culture. Be open minded.

The hardest question I was asked was, in Japanese, "why do you like Judo?" It had come up that I practice Judo and they were testing my Japanese. I wasn't really sure how to answer, so I just stood there for a minute and the interviewer then repeated the question in English. It wasn't that I misunderstood the question, I just didn't know how to answer it. Even in English, it's a hard question!
avatar

Assistant Language Teacher (ALT)

Interviewed at JET Program

4.1
Mar 1, 2014

The hardest question I was asked was, in Japanese, "why do you like Judo?" It had come up that I practice Judo and they were testing my Japanese. I wasn't really sure how to answer, so I just stood there for a minute and the interviewer then repeated the question in English. It wasn't that I misunderstood the question, I just didn't know how to answer it. Even in English, it's a hard question!

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