Thank you so much for the encouragement and the tips, samokan! I'll look up YMCA and GABA straight away! :D

~annelie

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I appreciate the information. When you say not to apply only for the "best offers and positions", are you saying we shouldn't aim only for the "highest salaries and least demanding working hours"? I'm not too picky about salary and workload when I apply for a position, but I do research the company to see what other people say about it. If many negative things are said about the job, I usually think twice before applying.

I applied for a position as an English teacher with NOVA just the other week. I didn't think they'd be interested in hiring a Swedish teacher (their homepage says they're looking for English, Spanish, French and German teachers), but maybe I should ask about other, less well-known languages as well?

~annelie

Yes I am saying that if this is what you what to do, being hired by a company of ill repute may be your last ditch effort to come over. Once you are in the country and have that work visa, you will find it much easier to get a better job or location.

As far as teaching Swedish, I am not sure but only heard that Nova has these multimedia teachers that give lessons in not just the big four you named above.

If I were in your shoes, I would market myself to companies as a person with a diverse, international background. This is what a lot of their students are interested in beyond English education. They are studying English for the exposure to foreign cultures and looking for people willing to share that with them. You could probably emphasize the fact that you know what it takes to learn English and define yourself as someone who has accomplished a native level of English. The truth is, you may be a better teacher than a native English speaker because they have no idea how they learned English. It just happened for them whereas you know the troubles facing the company's students.

Native level is something you really want to emphasize if you are not from an English speaking country. Be sure to really drive that point home.

I just went on Nova, and was reading about the holiday time it provides. It says it gives you 10 paid holidays. Does that mean 10 days off for the year?

This means that you are given 10 days you can ask to receive as holidays. You will get some national holidays off and they should be paid for as well. There will be most likely other holidays that are unpaid around like the New Year holiday. But yeah, by law they don't have to give you 10 until a half year of employment so they are being somewhat gracious in giving you them right out the gate.

Oh, okay, thanks.
Will it be 5, 6 or 7 days a week?
I know you can have the flexible employment, but if you don't choose to do that, how many days will you have to work per week?

By law, Japanese companies can only require workers to work for six days a week. I think at a place like NOVA, five would be the norm. At most any school five is the normal work week for English teachers. The only ones doing six days are usually ALT's at private schools where the kids are in school for six days a week and those who choose to find extra work or put in overtime.

Cool.
I'm planning to start applying just before I finish uni, which is quite a way away yet, but what do you think the chances are of getting employed by a place like NOVA?

Very high chances but I would look elsewhere as well. Nova is not exactly the cream of the crop and you can find better pay and a more relaxed working environment at a lot of other places. Working at NOVA you will be subject to a lot of corporate BS.

Ah right, should try GABA aswell, or somewhere different?

Gaba, Interac and Aeon all seem fairly decent when it comes to big national chains. Whereas finding smaller companies that hire oversea applicants is tougher, it can be nice to work in local companies.

I like doing my ALT thing, but if one on one lessons sound appealing to you go for it. I think that would be much more rewarding in that you may actually see the students progress. Working in a Jr. High with the Japanese teachers has benefits and negatives. You see the drills they make the students do, the overwhelming amount of vocab they force feed them and then it comes as no surprise when they say, "I don't think the students can do that." I wonder why? Maybe your methods and the pace you are trying to move at is completely unreasonable and ineffective. But they have to keep it up because they have the entrance exams to focus on forced upon them by a rigid education system that instead of educating simply weeds out the weak and rebellious. But hey, it's their kids and their country what am I supposed to do.

Can you tell that I am having one of those infamous ALT to JTE communication breakdowns today? Maybe I'll write about that later. Right now I am just too frustated.

I think I'll keep away from schools if I'd have to force feed students loads of stuff in a short time.
But I would like to teach a group.
Do companies like that usually provide accommodation like NOVA do?

Most if not all companies will set up your housing when you are first coming over. Sometimes you move into the place of the teacher you are replacing. I think Nova is the only one though that sets you up with roommates which could be good or bad.

As far as force feeding, it is their education system in general. The teachers just really do their best to get them through the system. As an ALT, you just do your best to give the JTE what they expect from you. It is when you get your signals crossed that it gets difficult.

So I take it it's best to be really organised and enthusiastic, or else your teaching and their progress will suffer.
Is is only the larger towns and cities that these companies operate in?

Haha, organized, ha, enthusiastic! Where is my roll around on the floor laughing with milk coming out of my nose emoticon!

Seriously though, yes these are good attributes no matter what you do in life. I am more organized and prepared than most of the teachers I work with. Enthusiastic, that wore off a few months ago. I like my kids and enjoy having classes, but I don't infuse them with false enthusiasm anymore. If something works and we have fun doing it, then awesome but I am not going to be some sort of entertainer and overly genki (cheerful) if I am not feeling it. Some teachers pull it off really well, but if the kids aren't genki I am going to reflect that.

Okay, Interac is an ALT staffing company so you will end up all over japan if you work for them. You will end up anywhere from Tokyo to some small town at the base of a mountain in northern Nagano (my dream come true) if you work as an ALT.

But yes, most Eikaiwas are located in cities and/or nearby rail stations to get the students in numbers. Eikaiwas earn more money by attaining more students. ALT companies get more money by hiring more ALT's and contracting with more schools which means they will stick you anywhere they find a school board willing to place you there.

But, you will find some eikaiwas in small cities far from civilization. Do your research and decide where you want to be because traveling around is not an option every weekend.

I'll get researching soon then.
How old are the kids that you teach?

Yochien (kindergarten) are either three to five or four to six (No ALT)
Shogakou (elementary) are six to twelve
Chugakou (Junior High) are twelve to fifteen
Koutougakou (High School) are fifteen to eighteen (public HS rarely hires non-JET ALT's, some hire only teachers with a master's degree in TESL, private schools are the best paid non-JET ALT's)
Daigakou (college) are eighteen to twenty-one (No ALT, master's required, cushiest job in all of Japan)

I may apply to work with 6 - 12 year old kids, as I've always thought younger children have the most potential.
I guess you'd need to be more creative with them aswell, seeing as they're younger and visual aids and things are better.

Elementary school kids will try to poke their fingers in your @$$. It is called Kancho. If you see a kid clasp his hands together with the indexes pointed like a pretend gun, watch your back. Stand close to a wall or something and the very first time you get kancho'ed, grab the little bugger and give him a stern, "NO! BAD, BAD BOY!" You know, like a puppy that just shat on the carpet.

Most Jr. High ALT's serve at the elementary school too. In my case I am only a Jr. High teacher because I was extremely lucky. If you do the Eikaiwa gig, your students are going to be all over the map as far as age and ability.

I wouldn't mind teaching people of all ages and abilities, it'd just mean I'd have to improve my organisation (e.g not doing things the night before they have to be in like I'm doing now). Would it mean moving around to different places aswell, or would you still be staying put in the same town/city?

Sometimes if you are hired to only visit elementary schools you wil be driving around a bit to visit different ones, but for the most part you live in the same area in Japan for the length of your contract. After you finish the contract, you can request that your company transfer you or you can find a new company to hire you elsewhere.

But yeah, some days you will need to be one hundred percent and others a half tank of gas is all that is needed. It is a bit too expensive to be an alcoholic here anyways, so you should be okay.

That's a really good point. Up till now I've been so focused on covering up all non-English aspects of myself that I never stopped to think that highlighting my foreign background and my experience of living in many countries could actually work in my favour. I'll try this approach in my next application and let you know how things work out.

Thanks for your advice!

~annelie

Interested to come back
 

Send me some information please on what I need to do to be teaching there , I come over a few years back for a month and really enjoyed my stay.

The ALT-JTE Relationship
 

If you don't know yet, an ALT is the foreign English teacher placed in Japanese public schools. The acronym stands for Assistant Language Teacher whereas the JTE is our assigned title for Japanese Teacher of English. I say assigned title because the JTE title is something it seems only ALT's know about and use.

You and your JTE are going to be working together to teach these little buggers English. You are going to do a little something called "team teaching." Well, that is the vision anyways. How it works out always varies by the ALT and the school they are placed in. But I will address the biggest issue ALT's face in working with their JTE's, communication.

Why would communication be a problem? You both speak English right? Wrong! JTE's teach English, they don't speak it. Unfortunately I wish I was kidding, but in some circumstances you will find this to be unfortunately very, very true. Sometimes, you will have an amazing JTE who can read and write beautifully and translate things to Japanese with ease, but when you need to discuss or explain something it takes four or five times to get the message through.

This, you will get used to eventually. You will also get used to pointing out their errors hopefully outside of class but sometimes in front of students. I try to do this as quietly as possible and make excuses for them like, "Oh, I make the same mistake all the time." But what ALT's never get used to is that part of being an "assistant."

An assistant to most of us means someone who is going to help out and follow the directives given to us by our superior counterparts. Now in some if not most circumstances you really are the assistant in your team teaching classes. The JTE leads and you follow. Everything of course planned out and decided before the class begins, you two just breeze through the class together.

Now for the realities you will face. In my case, I make the lessons for our team teaching classes. We don't use the textbooks or any workbooks. My class is designed and assembled by me. Not exclusively of course because one thing you will learn quickly as an ALT is to follow the path blazed by our predecessors. We often take games and activities and simply reshape them and mold them into our own. We get together with other ALT's and in the midst of heavy drinking and on the way to the karaoke booth start exchanging lesson plans. Then there is always the blessed internet. Full of free resources for teachers and English learners alike.

Now for the flipside to my scenario, your JTE controls every minute detail of the class. You, the ALT, are there because someone long ago decided it would be a good idea to have an English helper. Your JTE doesn't think so but rather views you as a hindrance and a waste of time. They resent you because you have perfect, or close to it, English. The result is that often they leave you in the dark as far as what is going to happen during class. They like to spring things on you like, "Oh, Jason there is fifteen minutes left in class. Can you make some game to practice today's grammar?" "What? Right now??" Then there are the ones that will use all Japanese in class and will tell the kids something like, "And now let's listen to Jason read this text." Then simply turn to stare at you along with thirty kids without ever mentioning to you that you are supposed to start reading and you are just like, "Um, what?"

The ideal team teaching situation is where both teachers are contributing to class. Your JTE's are making sure that you know where they are in the program and what the kids are studying. They are actually giving you feedback on lessons and commenting on ways for improvement. At one time, my dream was that instead of planning entire fifty minute activities we could every now and then just give me twenty minutes at the end of class. But now that I have a new JTE to work with and she is taking my plans and implementing them herself, I feel like she stole some of my thunder.

But you will learn to adjust the same as the rest of us no matter what situation you find yourself in. Always remember though that just because your title is "Assistant," you are really the one who will decide your effectiveness and involvement in the lessons. If there is something bothering you with your relationship to your JTE, talk directly to them about it in a respectful manner. Afterall, it is not like you are Japanese and need to give them the false impression that everything is alright when it is not. If that doesn't work, well, you have just learned why the turnover for ALT's is freaking sky high.

Another little bit I forgot to mention about working at elementary schools is that you cannot teach reading and writing. Basically, you are tasked to teach English without teaching them the alphabet. How enjoyable is that? Not fun at all my friend and when I get the little snot nosed punks in April have to start from scratch with, "A B C D E F G, H I J K L M N O P." As an elementary school teacher, you are going to have to be full of energy and extremely creative. Also as a Jr. High ALT, I get the good English teachers to work with. Elementary school English teachers I have been told do not necessarily know English all that well.

Now all this changes if you work for a private school. I did an interview one time where even some math and science courses were being taught in English to elementary school kids. I should've taken that job, geez I am such a retard. The school had a freaking aquarium, heated indoor poor, a planetarium and the pay was excellent.

Hi jason, I just want to know something. What kind of degree do you need to teach English over there? Can it be basically any degree as long as your English is fluent? And also if you don't mind me asking, how old are you and what degree do you have?

You have to hold a bachelor's degree and speak English to meet the minimum requirements. A few criteria you can meet that will make getting a job teaching English easier are being a native of a country where English is the official language, choose a major like English or an area of teaching and studying Japanese helps especially if you take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test which is made by the Japanese government. You can also get a certificate in teaching English as a foreign language but all this does is really show your dedication to trying to be a good teacher.

I have a BA in International Studies with a concentration in East Asian studies. I minored in Japanese and studied Mandarin Chinese as well a few other languages which I was horrible at. My Japanese is bad too because I did Mandarin for two years after finishing the minor and studied it in Beijing. When I was applying for a job, I was doing some certification program online but dropped it after I got hired. It did help a little in preparing me to teach and makes you aware of some of the difficulties your students will face in learning English.

Looking back on it now, I should've done the International Business just so I'd have a degree to fall back on since mine is mostly political science, religion, culture and history studies.

Oh and I am 25 going on 26 this year. I was out of school for a full year before coming to Japan. This year I will either stay in Japan as an ALT or start studying Korean and move there for a year. After that I have to decide whether to return to school for business or attempt a Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language, aka TESL.

What's the difference between a bachelor's degree and a different degree?
Will it be different requirements as I will be applying from England?

It is a four year university degree from an accredited university. US colleges and universities offer the following degrees, associates (2 yrs), bachelors of arts or sciences (4 yrs), masters (2 to 3 yrs after bachelors), doctorates (2 yrs or more).

This prerequisite is set by the Japanese ministry that issues work visas and differs for each nation. I am assuming that for the UK it would be any 3 to 4 year degree from a major university. I looked at the Japanese embassy site for obtaining a work visa for UK residents through this link The JET Programme - Aspiring JETs - Participating Countries, but I couldn't find anything specific. It just says documents certifying carreer qualifications. Also if you are a UK citizen, you are eligible for a working holiday visa which means you can probably be hired temporarily while in school.

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Yes, the new school year will begin in April so any ALT companies without all their vacancies filled will be scrambling to do so in March. Technically they are not supposed to hire you before you get the work visa, but they will do just that at this point because it could take up to three months to get the visa. As far as training, ALT's do not receive any training before starting at our schools. We attend conferences throughout the year where we share ideas and troubles alike. If you still have that Three Wise Monkey's link in the document I wrote, that will be all you need to get through the first month or year for that matter.

Hi again Jason, thanks for a great thread!

I am currently working on a cover letter to accompany my applications to a couple of language teaching organisations in Japan, however I feel like I can't think of enough skills and qualities to foucs on in my letter.

Most organisations want candidates to demonstrate (according to their websites, anyway) independence, an outgoing and adaptable personality and good communication skills. I assume you yourself have had to go through a similar application process at some point - can you think of any additional qualities (besides those listed) that organisations may be looking for which should be included in a cover letter?

~annelie

Love working with kids, can adjust to living in a foreign environment, always seeking a way to improve your work and open to suggestions, considering a career in teaching English and see this opportunity as a way to begin (even if this is a lie), and serious interest in experiencing Japan, making Japanese friends and learning some of the language would all be good additions to your cover letter. Love working with kids is a big one because I would say that seventy percent of English learners are children. Of course if you are applying for a job teaching business English, this is not going to work so you want to custom tailor each letter to what you feel the employer is seeking.

Also if you are applying to an eikaiwa versus an ALT position, the letter may need to adjust as well. For an eikaiwa you will want to promote yourself as seeking to work with all levels of ability and maybe being flexible to changes in your schedule to adjust to the different needs of your students. As an ALT you want to emphasize creativity, wanting to see how kids in Japan grow up and learn, working closely with Japanese and willing to eat less than delicious Japanese food for lunch everyday. I would save the last one for the interview. Some schools have a kitchen and fix their food there, but others like mine have their food trucked in from a factory that churns out lunch for a bunch of different schools each day.

Wow, loads of info! Thanks for taking the time to reply so often, as I'm sure you must be busy over there. :)

~annelie

It's almost March which means loads of exams, incoming students and ones on their way out. Seriously, I have nothing to do for the next month.

Making Yen
 

This is a little bit about money. Earnings for different types of teachers and a little something on living expenses.

JET ALT's get 300,000 yen a month, private ALT’s range from 210,000 to 300,000 with average being 250,000 and eikaiwas usually start in the 210,000 to 230,000 range for big name companies but you can move through the ranks fairly quick if you dedicate yourself. Small eikaiwas often offer better pay like 250,000 to 300,000 and you will be a lot more important to them.

Contract completion bonuses, most private ALT's and eikaiwa teachers, range from 50,000 to 100,000 on average for one year, but I once saw one for 600,000 on completion of two years. JET ALT's I believe have their return flight paid for and take home the money they paid into the pension program as a bonus.

Extra work taken outside your company will earn you around 2,000 to 5,000 an hour. Sometimes you can get special gigs or group lessons that earn you a flat fee like 10,000 for two or three hours. These are your average rates too for freelance teachers who give lessons legal or illegally on their own. Think of GABA who pay 2,000 to 3,000 an hour to their instructors who do one on one lessons. University and upper tier high schools pay 400,000 to 500,000 per month to start out. The best postions go to those who are published. I don't know what sort of bonus they receive, but consider that standard Japanese yearly bonuses average two months pay.

Out of your pay, unless you are freelancing illegally, comes income tax which seems to be a flat 10 percent. JET ALT's pay into the pension program which you will get back something like 60 to 70%. This usually adds up to 40,000 Yen out of your pay in taxes.

Bills- Keitai (cell phone) 5,000 to 3,000 Gas 5,000 to 3,000 Water 1,000 Electricity 5,000 to 3,000 Of course all of these are based on usage and vary a lot with the time of year.

Rent is one thing that varies on location but average small apartment is 40,000 to 55,000 a month. The closer to Tokyo the more expensive your apartment will be. Also there is key money. Sometimes you get key money back but never all of it if you go through a realtor because they have to eat just like everyone else and have fees that they charge. Some companies provide you with a housing supplement, but this is rare. Also you need to think about internet and appliances. A lot of Japanese homes and apartments are not wired for the net so be sure to ask your employer if your place will be. And try to get the minimums provided by your employer like a futon and pillow, a bike, some pots and pans, fridge, washer and a microwave or toaster oven.

A car is probably one of the most expensive things you can own in Japan. There are businesses that will lease you a vehicle if you plan on only doing a year or two. Car expenses include 1) the cost of your car 2) the gas you spend driving around 3) driving on toll roads 4) vehicle tax 5) shaken which is an inspection and repair service done every two years 6) getting rid of your car when you leave or it breaks down 7) parking (you pay like 3,000 to 5,000 a month to park at your own apartment). If you want a car and find a job that says you are going to be driving around a lot, take it because this means they will give you a car and pay for half of this stuff. To get an idea of car costs check out the infozone on jetsetjapan.com in the links I will post below.

The Internet is your Friend
 

Here are the websites I visit the most, other than JF.

Info on Yen Exchange and which way it is looking to go
Bloomberg.com: Benchmark Currency Rates

Job Searches
O-Hayo Sensei
Gaijinpot

ALT/Living in Japan Info
Jetset Japan - Serving JET Programme Participants

Teaching Materials/Lesson Ideas
Genki English
MES-English.com
Three Wise Monkeys "Greatest Resource for ALT's Ever!!"
Welcome to DiscoverySchool.com!
Free Clipart

Language
Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar
JEES Japanese Language Procifiency Test Home
JLPT Kanji Project - Japanese study tool

Trains
Welcome to Jorudan Co.,Ltd.

Snowboarding
Snow Japan

Tokyo Happenings
Metropolis

Art Exhibitions
東京アートビート - Tokyo Art Beat - 東京のアート・デザイン展カレンダー

Not teaching related, but very important
 

When you start looking for a job teaching English here, you will want to think a lot about location. Japan is an expensive place, and one of the biggest expenses you will have to budget for is your travel. You want to think about the area you will be living in and what you will be able to access from that area. This was my primary reason for not applying to the JET program. You can make your preferences known, but where they place you is where you go.

Now here is a question that was sent to me and my page long reply because I had two hours to kill before any lessons.

What qualifies as a good place to live in to snowboard depends on a few other criteria. First, how far away from the rest of Japan do you want to be? Second, do you intend on driving, riding the train or taking the bus?

I'll start with the least obvious place, Tokyo. From Shinjuku station in Tokyo you could probably take a bus to just about anywhere in Japan. Especially all the major ski-jo's as they are known in Japan. For example, Hakuba in Nagano (one of the sites for the Olympics way back when) would cost you about 3500 yen. Compare that to taking a train to get to the shinkansen to get to the bus in Nagano city for me would cost around 6000 yen. For me right now the cheapest and most accessible option is Kusatsu. Nice hot springs town but they receive less snow because it is surrounding by the mountains in Hakuba and Niigata. One way to Kusatsu costs 2200 yen.

The method I actually used to choose my location, I looked at a map of Japan finding the company that was interested in hiring me and simply compared the distance to the nearest ski resort. At the time, I couldn't find anything in Nagano or Niigata so I came here to Gunma. Now Gunma is not all that bad, during a good season. This season was not good. The trouble is though, I live at the very southern tip of Gunma. The best places in my prefecture, are actually almost inaccessible by train. This region is called Katashina-mura. The nearest train station is a one hour bus ride from the hills which will cost you 2200 on top of the 1500 fare to get to the station. If you had a car, a whole world of opportunities would open up in Gunma. But again, owning a car is expensive. The only time I think it is worth owning one is in the winter.

Now concerning that first question about getting to the rest of Japan, places like Niigata, Nagano and especially Hokkaido and northern Honshu are far, far away from places like Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and the bajillion other places you will want to visit while in Japan. Niigata's mountains may be a bit closer to Tokyo than the others. Also you would find more cities in Niigata from what I have been told. Nagano would be a bit more barren as far as getting to big cities and a little more difficult getting outside the prefecture, but the northern end of Nagano is the Japanese Alps. The southern tip of Niigata I guess may be considered part of that as well, who knows? Hokkaido and northern Honshu will definitely provide you with the most snow, but the mountains are smaller and to get away from there is going to cost you an arm and a leg.

Well there you have it. My take on the options Japan has to offer snowboarders. Next year, you can either look for me in Nagano or Tokyo. I have yet to decide if I want to be a hermit or not. If the winter was anything like this year, I may even consider Hokkaido.

Check out Snow Japan and you can look at all the maps of resorts by prefecture. When you do start looking for positions, feel free to send me the details and I will give you my two yen on it. Also I will tell you if I am applying for the same position, because I am watching every position that comes up in Nagano and Niigata like a hawk in preparation for when my contract ends in August.