how many of you teach in Japan?

[marine_corpse]

where do you teach? how would you rate your experience? is it what you had imagined as far as quality of education, pay, life, etc.? do you have tefl certification?

like many people i'm considering hauling ass to Japan to live but i'm a little apprehensive about the whole thing. it's a great place to visit but I've heard so many bad things about work in Japan i'm not sure if it's the right place for me. please don't tell me to check out gaijinpot.com or dave's esl cafe, I'd rather hear from those of you who went in to get their feet wet so to speak.

opinions?

if they move, kill 'em.

[edwin]

i wanna know too!

[mickey holmes]

I just came back from a working holiday a few months ago. I'm going back later this month after changing my visa.

I taught English for 6 months before landing a small office job.

Where to teach?

I started at a small eikaiwa. My first lesson was with a 12 year old girl and I was shitting it. It went well and I was away. If you're a bit shy, this ain't the job for you; if you're a bit of an extravert, then you'll be well in here! If you can make them laugh(important), then they'll be putty in your hands.

Eikaiwa's are basically private schools where people pay to learn either private or group lessons. Nova is the most famous.

The hours tend to be late and often working weekends, catering for the people who can't attend while they are working/at uni, etc.

For example, my school worked from 12-9pm and I had to work alternate weekends.

That's why I left....where's the sense in working to 9pm on a saturday night and have to go to work on sunday? Bollox.

If this ain't your thing then maybe if you've got patience and like kids, then you can try a kindergarten. Usually don't work weekends. Good chance of meeting a hot, single mum, too!

But, the road I'm gonna take when I get back will be as an ALT.

You'll work along-side a Japanese English teacher at a high school. I hear it's a doddle. Spend more hours at a pc/office(supposedly working on lesson plans, etc)than actually helping to teach. In fact, you are not allowed to teach, that's up to the teacher;you just assist.

The holidays are fair, although, when the students have term breaks, you have to attend the school for working hours:mon-fri;9-4:30pm. Not a problem. The weekends to yourself.

Plus 2 bonuses a year.

Pay for full-time can be 250000 - 300000 yen for teaching jobs.

There are other types of teaching, but those are most common.

Now, part-time.

So, I made a lot of cool friends whilst teaching, most are who I worked with at some point.

a couple have gone into part-time teaching....same positions.

You can find pt work and supplement it with a few private students(from websites). It pays well, and you could expect to earn up to 4000 yen/hour.

So, a few friends of mine took this route and had some modelling/DJing, etc.

Tesl/tefl, etc. certificates are not important. A degree is usually a must, but some schools don't require it.

If it's your first time in Japan, take up a teaching position, you'll get to meet a lot of good friends this way.

Once learning a bit of Japanese you could start looking for an alternative.

I found an office job, with which basic Japanese was a requirement.

Gotta say though, it was as boring as fuck and the staff were all old....so not for me.

Working conditions.

Yeah, it's true, the Japanese are workaholics. Like I said earlier, the hours of my teaching job were sending me crazy, so I quit.

Japanese people put the company FIRST. They go to work if they're sick, so none of your 'oh, sorry I can't come to work today...I've got a runny nose' bullshit excuses are gonna go down well. No sick pay either.

Good site to look is jobsinjapan.com

Good selection of jobs there and slao a kind of job centre in Nakano if you are on a working holiday program.

All-in-all, I had a good time. The pros outnumber the cons if you find the right job.

Give it a go, you won't regret it!

Oh yeah, some of the forums on English teaching can be kind of negative. They usually get bad feedback from the 'I've-got-a-better-job-than-you,-cus-I-don't-teach-English' crew.

They're mostly middle-aged knobheads. Take no notice.

That's it for this edition, kids. Get in touch if you wanna know something else.

[gusto]

Im teaching english in Saitama and Tokyo. I have been here just over 2 months and i am teaching kids 0-12 years old. I love Japan and im having the time of my life but my job can do my head in at times. Alot of the classes the parents sit in the classes which can be kinda wak, especially when they are complain about shit. Some of the kids are so shy that they are scared to come into the classroom, it can take them a while to get used to you. I am also working saturdays which I hate and seemed to be getting paid alot less then my friends even though I seem to be working longer hours then them. But I just think its because i have a wak job, I cant complain though, they hired me from Australia without a face to face interview, just spoke on the phone a couple of times and I dont have a degree, "beggers cant be choosers" right??

But Japan is dope, so much shit to buy here and the nightlife is so much fun.

Im living in a gaijin house so I have met alot of people here and we all go out together.

If you ahve any questions then holla

[marine_corpse]

gusto---which school do you work for and what is your monthly salary (if you don't mind my asking)? I've always been told that a bachelor's degree was necessary to teachand I know the base starting salary is usually ¥250,000 per month. if you're making less than this per month then you're getting royally screwed.

if they move, kill 'em.

[tintin]

i've worked at nova (gasp!) for two years. it gets a lot of bad press, i know, but i've never had any real problems. the big five eikaiwas (nova, ecc, aeon, geos, berlitz) are all pretty silimilar, each with it's advantages and disadvantages --nova's biggest drawcard (for me anyway), is that you're free to take your holidays whenever you want instead of during japanese holiday periods when travel costs shoot through the roof (talking +300% for plane tix).

the job itself, no matter the company, isn't going to be the most stimulating. lots of pretending to be interested in talking to people you would never talk to in real life. but if you just go in and have a laugh with the students, the day goes quickly. (and you sometimes get to meet cool people too!)

despite any apprehensions you might have about coming over, you should definatly check it out. new york and london are really sweet cities, but there's nowhere on earth like tokyo. it'll chew you up and spit you before you've had a chance to say "hello kitty" and it'll only leave you wanting more. despite all the things that i bitch about, i still love it here. i would rate my experience as 10++ no doubt about it.

...oh, but if you do work for nova, dont live in a nova apartment. that's a big scam. just find your own apartment, its not that hard.

[KonSola]

Hi guys, I'm new here

I've been in Japan since September last year. Right now I have an english teacher job in Tsukuba, Ibaraki.

When I first came here, though, I interviewed for industrial designer positions - I used to work as an industrial designer in USA. Alot of weird and stupid things happened which put me in the teaching position. For example, I was interviewing with Brother Company in Nagoya and the design director loved my work and wanted to hire me...but a week after the interview he died of a heart attack - my meal ticket was suddenly gone. After running into alot of bad luck, I was considering going back to USA, but for some strange reason I decided to stay and get an english teacher job with the hope of getting a design job in the future.

I can't really say that I'm really all that thrilled with my current situation... I went thru alot of negative crap back in USA prior to coming to Japan and having more negative crap happen to me here was not exactly an easy thing to swallow. I try to have a positive attitude when I teach english and I make classes as fun as I can. I enjoy talking with students, but in the end I still have this strong desire to go back to design. If somebody threw me a design employment opportunity at my door tomorrow then I wouldn't even think twice - I'd take it and run with it.

English teaching business in Japan is not exactly a clean business. There is alot of schools who do their fair share of cheating. For example, recently NOVA got accused of providing illegitamate health insurance to their teachers. I'm finding out that many of them are being run by rather selfish people - as long as you do something profitable to them for little money then everything is cool, but if you ask them for a small favor then forget about it.

I decided to take an attitude of I don't care about the english teaching world and then think of this experience as a temporary bus stop on a trip. I try to use the time to learn Japanese, meet some new people and try to have a good time. Tsukuba is a rather boring town, though, and now I'm considering looking for a job elsewhere (like Tokyo).

As far as the design job goes...for now I don't know what will happen. I will give Japan a little more time and see what happens. If I get design opportunity then great...I will stay much longer. If Japan does not provide me with a design opportunity in the near future then I will have no choice but to bail out and perhaps go to Taiwan.

Being a designer is like being a carton of milk with an expiration date...it eventually goes bad. If you leave it in the refrigerator, then it will take much longer for it to go bad. If you take it out of the refrigerator and forget to put it back in then it will go bad quicker. Right now I'm a designer without a design job - a milk carton that has been taken out of the fridge. I cannot allow for this status quoe to remain. If I have to leave Japan in order to save my career then that is what I will have to do. . . I hope that doesn't happen.

[judge]

i'm teaching in Japan. I went through the JET program. it pays well and the hours are regular monday-friday 8-5, excpet friday when you're off at 11:30. i love my job and i love japan. i think the kids are rad. half of them aren't into english, but that doesn't mean they don't like you, they just don't like school (like most of us when we were jhs/hs age). they all are really cool to you in and outside of class. the only drawback of JET (if you want to call it that) is that you are placed pretty far from any "major" city. it takes me about 2 1/2 hours to go to tokyo. i really don't miind though. i get to experience all the things that people who live/teach in tokyo will doubtfully ever get to. living in the country you are able to see traditional festivals and whatnot. plus its a lot cheaper so you save some loot and get to travel a bunch (you can take your holidays wheneve with JET but they prefer you take them when the kids are out, but you don't HAVE to, plus you get i think it's 140 hours of paid vacation, thats on top of the regular japanese holidays). i will eventually move into the city (pref. yokohama, amaziing city) but for now i want to brush up on my japanese and pay off all my debt.

i think a lot of people who complain about their teaching experience fall into two catagories.

1) they are bored kids (usually just out of college) who didn't know what to do with their life so they did JET program (or any like program), it's their first REAL job out of college and most likely their first experience living/visiting a far away place. (these kids also tend to only hang out with one another and never fully get to experience Japan b/c the completely cut themselves off from it by doing so, they maybe have like one japanese friend).

or

2) failed at getting a job in their field and moved here b/c they think japan is tight and maybe will work their way into getting a job in their field. they don't like teaching, and maybe they don't even like kids. it's stupid to talk down a job that you knew you wouldn't enjoy doing. it's not the fault of the company that you have no interest in your position.

japan is an amazing country. if you have the opportunity, you should take it. i've lived in a few other countries and traveled to many, japan has been the best one yet.

K.A.T.U.N.G.A.S

[sugarboots]

got here yesterday and will be starting my first day on tuesday. a little nervous. i am going to try to negotiate getting sat and sunday off versus sun + some other weekday. we'll see how that goes.

www.sugarboots.com

[Troop23]

Interviewed for JET 05 a couple o weeks back. U right I'm one of those kids like u described. I don't really want to do it. Wan't to work into what I studied at uni after JET, in Japan. I did some teaching there before when on exchange but and enjoyed it a lot. And I didn't let on thats its not my ideal job in the interview, 'course. Even so, Interview went just okay. they don't let us know the result until April...

I put his brains all over the street sos u could see what he was just thinkin

[sugarboots]

did my first day today. i had a lot of bad vibes from the company before i went to my first day so you can imagine the anxiety. i was also anxious about riding the train for 45 minutes. well, the train ride wasn't so bad (although shinjuku station always confuses me) and the train ride was more like 35 minutes. everyone at the particular location that i will be teaching at is rad. the teachers there seem to have a lot of the same interests as me and i'll be workingn with young kids - 2 - elementary. a lot of energy is required but there is also a lot of downtime it seems like. on the flip side, when i went to training at the head office with a few other teachers, i found that i was just lucky as to where i got placed - the teachers there were of a little bit of a different pace than me (although supre nice) so i'm glad i got placed where i did and that so far i get along with everyone really well...oh yeah and what sucks with my company is that you may not get two consecutive days off. i'm lucky in that i probably will since the girl whose job i am taking over has saturday and sunday off...

anyways just a little report if anyone cares...

www.sugarboots.com

[mickey holmes]

Yeah mate, always good to get that first day out of the way.

Who ya working for anyway?

[sugarboots]

i'm working for ko h gakusha

i'm spacing it out in case anyone starts googling it (ha ha).

hopefully this job won't wear me out. i was tired after watching on 50 min class with 2 2 year olds and their mothers. the kids are so kawaii though..

www.sugarboots.com

[dontcaretoomuch4dontcare]

Quote: did my first day today. i had a lot of bad vibes from the company before i went to my first day so you can imagine the anxiety. i was also anxious about riding the train for 45 minutes. well, the train ride wasn't so bad (although shinjuku station always confuses me) and the train ride was more like 35 minutes. everyone at the particular location that i will be teaching at is rad. the teachers there seem to have a lot of the same interests as me and i'll be workingn with young kids - 2 - elementary. a lot of energy is required but there is also a lot of downtime it seems like. on the flip side, when i went to training at the head office with a few other teachers, i found that i was just lucky as to where i got placed - the teachers there were of a little bit of a different pace than me (although supre nice) so i'm glad i got placed where i did and that so far i get along with everyone really well...oh yeah and what sucks with my company is that you may not get two consecutive days off. i'm lucky in that i probably will since the girl whose job i am taking over has saturday and sunday off...

anyways just a little report if anyone cares...

actually, no one does.

and lemme guess you'll be one of those fuckheads who'll start dropping japanese words mixed into all their english now just because you've learned a new word or two right? typical white trash moving to japan and getting english teaching jobs while they try to live with no funds then they will bitch about how expensive everything is and then come back with a completely stupid version of their trip. yeah yeah yeah fucking americans who think the world revolves around them.

talking like i know everything about everything, making new subjects every 5 minutes, don't care too much for don't care too much for crap's crap.

[sugarboots]

listen bitter ass, first off i'm not white trash. i'm half-japanese and i have family that lives in tokyo, including a sister, and i wanted to come to here to learn more about my roots and my family, and to check out the art scene. before you start making snap racist judgements, why don't you ask a few questions first. it's people like you who think they know everything about everyone and try to get other people down - why don't you take a fucking look in the mirror before you start criticizing other people.

www.sugarboots.com

[dontcaretoomuch4dontcare]

Quote: listen bitter ass, first off i'm not white trash. i'm half-japanese and i have family that lives in tokyo, including a sister, and i wanted to come to here to learn more about my roots and my family, and to check out the art scene. before you start making snap racist judgements, why don't you ask a few questions first. it's people like you who think they know everything about everyone and try to get other people down - why don't you take a fucking look in the mirror before you start criticizing other people.

half-japanese is white trash ain't it, especially if your coming out of north america. yanks have no idea about customs and bullshit in japan. can't wait to hear you try spelling japanese shit out while trying to mix it into your posts making it appear like you have grasp of the language. if you're there to learn about your roots, why teach english ? that doesn't make any fucking sense now does it? i've seen your type out here a million times over, eating at cheap shitty joints and then complaining to your friends back home that everything is shitty and expensive and that they don't understand you. you're white trash, you'll never understand all the customs and mannersisms that japanese people have in their daily life, they will be nice to you and tolerate all your bullshit when in fact they can't stand half white trash. why don' you just shut the fuck up, see how the job and life go for a month or so and then make a post rather than giving some neurotic first day judgement no "bad vibes". who cares, trash.

talking like i know everything about everything, making new subjects every 5 minutes, don't care too much for don't care too much for crap's crap.

[marine_corpse]

Quote: half-japanese is white trash ain't it, especially if your coming out of north america. yanks have no idea about customs and bullshit in japan. can't wait to hear you try spelling japanese shit out while trying to mix it into your posts making it appear like you have grasp of the language. if you're there to learn about your roots, why teach english ? that doesn't make any fucking sense now does it? i've seen your type out here a million times over, eating at cheap shitty joints and then complaining to your friends back home that everything is shitty and expensive and that they don't understand you. you're white trash, you'll never understand all the customs and mannersisms that japanese people have in their daily life, they will be nice to you and tolerate all your bullshit when in fact they can't stand half white trash. why don' you just shut the fuck up, see how the job and life go for a month or so and then make a post rather than giving some neurotic first day judgement no "bad vibes". who cares, trash.

what's with the bad vibes? you obviously have some deep personal issues with "Americans" so why not cut the crap? and to be fair, i've seen gaijin of all shapes and sizes who knew jack shit about Japan, including Canadians, Australians and the British. what the fuck do you know about Japanese customs? do you live in Japan? do you speak Japanese? I have American friends who are 100% fluent in the language and for all intents and purposes are Japanese. making generalizations about an entire country is rather shortsighted on your part, you ignorant prick.

obviously sugarboots has some connection to Japan otherwise she wouldn't be there, for you to bait her into some meaningless argument about white trash shows us how moronic you really are. get a life.

if they move, kill 'em.

[sugarboots]

thanks ^

i really don't understand his post at all and quite frankly, he's not worth either of our time! teaching english provides a way for me to make a living while experiencing life in a foreign country. and once again - you're wrong, pal - i'm not HALF white. obviously there ARE people who are interested in posts here or else this wouldn't be a thread. with that said, we should continue on with MC's issue at hand - the asshole has provided no help on the topic or any word on what he/she does for a living or his/her connection with Japan so anything he/she says is pretty invalid. throwing around a bunch of expletives and racists slang really does nothing to prove your intelligence, and i'm not trying to blame your ethnicity for that either.

www.sugarboots.com

[Nice Touch]

http://www.findateacher.net/

I got myself a few private students off this site when I was out there (came back to London last May). It's a good way to supplement your crap wages (3,000Â¥ per hour is the going rate for privates) and you can make some good mates.

Perfect for those of us who aren't qualified so need to wing it a bit.

I also worked in a conversation lounge in Yokahama called EET. I got a low hourly rate but the students were safe and Maurice who runs it is a top guy. He was always looking for new teachers.

Re-open the Quad!

[mickey holmes]

Quote:

Quote: listen bitter ass, first off i'm not white trash. i'm half-japanese and i have family that lives in tokyo, including a sister, and i wanted to come to here to learn more about my roots and my family, and to check out the art scene. before you start making snap racist judgements, why don't you ask a few questions first. it's people like you who think they know everything about everyone and try to get other people down - why don't you take a fucking look in the mirror before you start criticizing other people.

half-japanese is white trash ain't it, especially if your coming out of north america. yanks have no idea about customs and bullshit in japan. can't wait to hear you try spelling japanese shit out while trying to mix it into your posts making it appear like you have grasp of the language. if you're there to learn about your roots, why teach english ? that doesn't make any fucking sense now does it? i've seen your type out here a million times over, eating at cheap shitty joints and then complaining to your friends back home that everything is shitty and expensive and that they don't understand you. you're white trash, you'll never understand all the customs and mannersisms that japanese people have in their daily life, they will be nice to you and tolerate all your bullshit when in fact they can't stand half white trash. why don' you just shut the fuck up, see how the job and life go for a month or so and then make a post rather than giving some neurotic first day judgement no "bad vibes". who cares, trash.

--- Original message by dontcaretoomuch4dontcare on Mar 5, 2005 07:50 PM

Settle down, mate.

You can't be that much of a dick in real-life, right?

What you're writing seems like you're in Japan now.

How about we hook up with 'Sugarboots' and 'Marine Corpse' and have a beer or 2??

You never know, you might make a few friends......

[dontcaretoomuch4dontcare]

Quote: Settle down, mate.

You can't be that much of a dick in real-life, right?

What you're writing seems like you're in Japan now.

How about we hook up with 'Sugarboots' and 'Marine Corpse' and have a beer or 2??

You never know, you might make a few friends......

....great, another sad excuse for a man trying to pick up girls any way he can. i hope sugarboots has some fucking brains and doesn't fall for this piece of shit. there is no "we", numbnuts, be a pervert on your own time.

talking like i know everything about everything, making new subjects every 5 minutes, don't care too much for don't care too much for crap's crap.

[mickey holmes]

^Haha...beautifully put.

Look kid. Just cus Michael Jackson's on trial, don't take it out on us.I'm sure he'll be found innocent and you'll be allowed to stay over at Neverland very soon....it'll all be ok!

[sugarboots]

haha oh man. this is starting to get entertaining...! Mickey - where do you work and how long have you been here?

www.sugarboots.com

Edited by sugarboots on Mar 7, 2005 at 04:35 AM