Teaching english in Japan...(and other places)... few Q's....

[cobo_11]

Hey to all those peoples living in Japan,

I know all these questions and this topic has come up many times from people (myself included), but I lost all my PM's I had from people like Rezz and others who had answered my questions I had many many months ago.....but I need some new info and replace the info I lost.....so here goes....

I am considering teaching english in Asia as a good substitute if I do not get into University to study language next year...I will goto China because that is my first passion and its a good way to learn Mandarin which is what I want to do, aswell as learn first hand about the culture, etc etc etc

I will also possibly goto Japan and teach english at some stage in the future (if I do the english thing that is) and was curious on a few things....

1) I have seen that most places who deal with teaching english in Japan require the applicant/teacher to hold a University degree in anything....do all of you guys have a Uni. degree? Because I obviously dont, and was wondering if everything there does....?

2) I have just read in the Japan section that a guy just moved to Japan and is living with a host family......can new english teachers going to Japan do this? or do the schools or wherever you get employed provide accommodation?

3) Do all of you english teachers hold TESOL certifications or similar? I dont know much about Nova and all the other places.....does everyone have to have a TESOL? (I will definately be doing a TESOL cert. before I leave Oz, but curious none the less as I dont hold a uni degree...)

4) Do you have to be super-outgoing to be an english teacher?

My apologies for all the writing, but hard to condense to a few sentences....

Thanks to all who answer! and please feel free to add your own hints or whatever....

Cheers!

Corey.

EDIT: I know there are links to english schools and etc, but I am after actual peoples experiences with the whole thing...:-)

[InspectorGadget]

1) Generally you will need a degree, not so much for getting a job, but for getting a Work Permit to allow you to legally work in Japan. If you are caught working without a work permit, expect it to get VERY VERY messy (imagine bars of soap, a very big Japanese guy named Daisuke, and sadistic wardens . . . .kinda messy).

As you would expect, those people with degrees tend to sit on the 'top of the pile' when they are working through appplications.

2) If you're lucky enough to be employed by a Board of Education, they often provide a subsidy for your accomodation. Board of Education jobs are generall only offered to ex-JETs, teachers and others with relevant qualifications.

Most people arrange their own accomodation, which is an exremely expensive proposition, especially if you're only going to be here for a year or less. Homestays are unusual.

3) Not everyone holds a TESOL cert. If you have a degree, you can generally get along just fine without one.

4) You don't need to be super out-going, but it does help if you're working with young children.

You DO need to have a lot of patience

You DO need to adapt well to foreign cultures, languages and traditions.

You DO need to have a good attitude to work.

You DO need to have a good head on your shoulders.

You DO need to be flexible and to be able to think on the move.

IG

[Rezz]

What IG said, plus the fact that you might have to string a few part time jobs together if you don't have a degree to make ends meet. Full time jobs are around (I'm talking about private schools) but generally you'd need to have good experience teaching Japanese students to land those.

[DaiOni]

what about part-time jobs though? is the visa requirement still 250,000 per month? (not many part-time jobs offer that). It was my impression that the part time jobs were suited to people who already had a visa of some sort (spousal, renewed, or remainder of a NOVA/JET etc visa). So many jobs these days are advertised as 'for people already in Japan'. It would be a hard way to get started.

as for learning mandarin - good luck! It's one of the funkiest (in a scary way) languages I've ever heard (putonghua dialect, in particular). China would be great fun - it's a really interesting place. Wouldn't do it myself though! (for various reasons)

I'll echo and add to a few of the sentiments -

1. not 100% necessary - but 99% harder to get a job (a good one) without it. I would think it would be a pre-requisite for an instructor visa, but (as above) have no idea what the rules are these days

2. most corporates will place you in some sort of housing. 99% of government jobs (BoE/city) will provide housing (which you, in most cases, can opt out of - not easy to source housing though...)

3. overwhelming majority don't - it wouldn't hurt, but definitely not required

4. nah. I'm anti-social! But I'm very professional and positive in the classroom. I'd say the #1 requirement (professionally), is confidence - that goes for any teaching. Outside (and sometimes inside) the classroom, you will need a host of skills/attitudes to make the most of life abroad. The best thing, as hinted above - get to know the culture - accept it - adapt to it.

[RyanJ]

Cheers to all you guys for being so pateint with us Gaijin wannabe's... I'm gonna stick my questions on the end of this thread to save creating a new one.

1. Is it the case that most eikaiwa have an "exclusivity" clause, i.e. you are NOT allowed to have another job if you work for Nova or Geos or Aeon or watever? I ask because I had planned to go part-time with Nova and do my own lessons outside of this for extra bling.

2. I have read things which suggest Nova in particular are absolutely draconian and treat emloyee's like grudgingly payed slaves... is this really the case?

3. I have been told that it takes at least NINE MONTHS of full time japanese language school in japan be able to speak at a level where you would be considered bi-lingual (conversational level). How long did it take you guys?

4. Are there other non- teaching jobs easily available to foreigners? Like umm... modeling for western clothes/cuisine/whatever or acting in commercials or some other novelty gaijin jobs? I ask this because I am afraid teaching for an eikaiwa will become unbearably mundane.

[DaiOni]

1. just don't get caught.

I'm guessing it wouldn't be particularly easy to get a good income from NOVA (flexi-time) + part-time, as NOVA hours tend to be afternoon/night - which is also the best time for privates. You could get lucky - you might not. I wouldn't rely on that as a plan.

2. really depends on your actual employer (which goes for any job). Check out their job contract and make your own mind up. Glad I'm not working for a corporate.

3. Impossible to answer - everyone is different. The most important thing is your willingness to use it - that's how you learn. I've been here nearly three years and my japanese sucks.

4. No, not really. Your fear will ultimately be realised

[Rezz]

Really, my Japanese sucks too... I just let on that I can speak (right Troy??) and I've been here 4.5 years.

Although I hear the YMCA 12 month full time course they have does wonders for your conversational ability.

RyanJ: I've done some 'advertising' work, photo shoots for my school, a French restaurant (yeah... they though I looked French :confused: ) and even fronted up for an NHK sponsored English language 'listening CD' audition where we had to record dialogues for said CD - part of an English textbook or guidebook can't remember. Didn't end up using me coz my accent wasn't strong enough!!! Go figure. In a nutshell, it's novelty value at best, 3,000 yen/hour... teaching is better.

[Demon Dave]

I've been here nearly 6 years and my Japanese is still crap In all honesty it will probably still be crap in another 6 years!

I have a good friend here who makes a living doing various things - teaching part time (privates), work on the local TV show (his own "corner") lots of MC work at events, plus on the weekends he works as a"wedding conductor" (he basically pretends to be a priest and conducts weddings in both Jap/English)...altogether it was enough to get him a visa...he still needed a "sponsor" though.

So there is other things, though they largely depend on how much Japanese you know. And who you know. A few years ago I did a couple of TV commercials for my wifes company. The commercial was to feature Sherlock Holmes and they (her company) were too cheap to pay an agency to send a foreign actor and got me to do it instead

[RyanJ]

1. just don't get caught.  

I'm guessing it wouldn't be particularly easy to get a good income from NOVA (flexi-time) + part-time, as NOVA hours tend to be afternoon/night - which is also the best time for privates.  You could get lucky - you might not.  I wouldn't rely on that as a plan.

Well my plan is this: To work nights for somewhere like Nova on a pretty lowsy 210,000y/m (M-F 5-9) whilst attending japanese classes for english speaking dudes 5 days a week. I would also like to fill in other spare time with private lessons or random jobs as need be. I'd be a hostess if I had a slimmer figure and owned a wig but since I don't that option is out.

I don't want to live lavishly, I just want a comfortable apartment (to myself), enough money to run a modest drift shitter s13, and hit the piss one night a week. If my plan isn't out of the realms of feasiblility, I will only have to do this for one year before I'm fluent enough in japanese to seek employment as a bi-lingual in my field of expertise (I have a Masters in IT).

[cobo_11]

do all of you english teachers in Japan have uni degrees?

[Rezz]

Nope... TAFE certificate though.

[cobo_11]

Nope... TAFE certificate though.

is it a diploma, cert. 4, ?

I ask because I was wondering what length of time studying they may accept even though its not a 'uni degree'

cheers

[Rezz]

is it a diploma, cert. 4, ?

I ask because I was wondering what length of time studying they may accept even though its not a 'uni degree'

cheers

Cert. IV Small Business Management

[InspectorGadget]

Batchelor of Business with a Major in Tourism. I'l be bugged before I ever work in the Hospitality Industry again though.

As far as degrees go, people don't really seem to care what field you have it in.

[Demon Dave]

Environmental science....

I'm fully licensed to be a man in white coat

[drift007]

i dont have a degree and have been on novas flexi schedule for 2 and a half years. for 4 hours a night the pay is great at 200,000 yen considering full timers doing the 8 hour shift get 280,000.... NOVA sucks to be honest but it is easy.

learning japanese, well of the people ive seen try to study hardcore to become good speakers in a years time 0 have come close to what id call a bi lingual level.. i studied a year in oz at tafe and then 10 months as an international student in japan, i can now watch japanese tv and converse to a level that people who dont know any better would say im fluent... finding japanese friends who dont want to learn english is the best thing for improving i find..

while working at nova you can do anything in your freetime too, private classes are no problems..

[RyanJ]

BOO-yah! Cheers man, you made my day.

[Beer Baron]

Here's a question, of that 200 000 yen a month do you have to pay income tax? or is that 200 000 net?

Thanks,

Richard

[drift007]

each month i see 200,000 yen in my account... then another 50,000 cash in hand for privates.. so basically 250,000 yen after tax for doing very little..

[InspectorGadget]

Watch out though. Income tax in Japan is worked out on what you've earned in the previous year, so the initial year is on an extremely low rate.

IG