ETJ is a free association for English teachers in Japan that encourages the exchange of information and teaching ideas, provides opportunities for training and professional development, and brings teachers together into a community.

 

ETJ is a grass-roots organization for teachers around Japan that is dependent on a lot of individual teachers putting in a little time in many different ways. In fact, it is primarily aimed at the classroom teacher who is only able or prepared to put a limited amount of time into ETJ.

 

ETJ was originally set up by David Paul in 1999 in order to provide a general association for the busy classroom teacher, and it is now administered and sponsored by Language Teaching Professionals. Oxford University Press is also a general sponsor and shares much of the financial burden. This sponsorship allows membership of ETJ to remain free.

 

Most ETJ projects are run independently by volunteers. This applies to everything from regional groups to publications. Most of these projects are set up with the encouragement of Language Teaching Professionals, and supported until they are able to take care of themselves.