On your last point – what ramifications would there be for you if you, as a teacher was branded a troublemaker? Akin to being a whistleblower over here?

“When he was appointed England coach back in November, Fabio Capello said that his first press conference in the New Year would be conducted in English. “How hard can it be to learn a language?” he wanted to know.”

but seriously – I see your point – and I have two of my own going through the Japanese Education system..it is a worry.

To my mind, I have to correct her teacher’s mistakes as well as her own, but does that extend to going through her school exercise book and re-marking everything that her teacher’s made a mess of?

That’s what I’d like to do. But it’d cause a bit of resentment, both for her (“But my other teacher said it was right…”), and her teacher, assuming he sees his own annotations corrected.

So I don’t feel I can make any direct reference to her teacher’s ignorance, because I can’t risk her going into school and announcing it, as there could be repercussions for her (if the teacher’s seen to lose face – just about the worst social fate possible for a Japanese adult – the teacher could retaliate and brand her a troublemaker – just about the worst social fate possible for a Japanese child).

Plus I don’t want to her to feel that there’s no point in her school English lessons (even though that may be true) and switch off completely. That might start a rot.