Ask John: Why are Language Teachers so Common in Anime?

Question:
Why are language teachers so common in anime? In almost every anime I can think of that has a school teacher as a main character, that teacher is almost always a language teacher. Just to name a few recent series, I notice that the main teacher character in Azumanga Daioh, Kasimasi, and Doki Doki School Hours are all language teachers with quirky personalities. Furthermore, sometimes the subject language that is being portrayed varies from the actual one depending on the final production of the anime such as if it’s dubbed, subtitled or fansubbed. For example, a dubbed anime will typically portray the class as an English class, even though in the original broadcast it may or may not be. But the point is, almost all teachers are English or Japanese language teachers; why is that?

Answer:
As I’m not an anime writer, I can’t speak for anime writers or guess their motivations, but I can propose a theory based on literary analysis and factual knowledge. Fundamentally, language teachers are communicators. That fact alone may make them better suited to star in anime than science, history, or match teachers. As literary, thematic roles, science and math teachers may be stereotyped as characters with stuffy, formal, or distant personalities. The history teacher conjures an impression of an elderly, doddering or particularly strict character. The stereotypical language teacher is someone that talks with students in a casual, friendly tone. So in terms of literary stereotype, a language teacher is more vibrant and dynamic than a teacher specializing in another discipline.

The languages common taught in anime schools are English and Japanese because those are the languages taught in real life Japanese schools. Japanese is, of course, a standard of Japanese education. English is a mandatory course in Japanese junior and senior high school, and there’s presently an ongoing debate in Japan over making English a compulsory subject in primary education. Dubbed anime may intentionally mis-translate the language taught in a classroom scene in order to create a sense of verisimilitude. It wouldn’t seem natural for characters speaking natural dubbed English to be taking basic English speaking and reading instruction. There’s no reason for non-profit fan translations to alter the subject taught in an anime classroom scene, so I’d be lead to call any fansub that doesn’t accurately represent a scene an inaccurate translation.