The Price you pay for Showing Up
 

Every now and then, you have to pay out a little bit to do your job. Here are some of the expenses of being an ALT.

Kyushoku (Lunch)-Probably one of the cheapest meals you will eat in Japan and most likely one of the worst from time to time. Price-4,000 yen a month

Enkai-Quarterly or so booze parties for the staff to get together and unwind. Why do they do this on nights when you have school the next day, I have no clue. Price-3,000 to 5,000 yen per enkai

Gifts-You go somewhere and they expect a souvenir (omiagei) or someone gets sick and they collect money. I personally don't buy omiagei. Kissing ass is not an admirable trait to me even if it is a cultural thing. Sick money-2,000 yen.

For the Kids-The students however, I have no quarrels bribing them. Foreign candy is always popular and an easy way to make your the other teachers jealous of the kids and dislike you. I also give out stickers for good work, but they love getting signatures just as much. Some even ask me to make a signature for their name. Price-however much you want to spend.

Big vs. Small
 

Fairly accurate article on teaching in a large company versus a smaller one. Bigger is not always better for Japan's English teachers | The Japan Times Online

thinking about teaching engish
 

My husband, 2 children and I were thinking of going to Japan to teach english. What are your thoughts in doing so with 2 children ages 6 months and 5 years old. We were thinking of going with Nova. I am 30 and my husband is 35. My husband has a degree but I do not. I have a college diploma doing my Early Childhood Education with 7 years experience working with 3-5 year old children. Where would be the best place for us to go?

Hola everyone, hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day and recovered quickly. S-93, here is my few words of advice for your situation.

As far as I know you will be just fine getting a teaching job with your degree in Early Childhood Education. Also with the experience you have, you may even be in a better position to find a job faster than your husband. I would not recommend Nova to just about anyone. I have rarely met teachers who are thrilled to be working for them. They do have Nova kids' schools which may be what you are really interested in, but I have heard that Aeon is a much better company to work for and from the offers I have seen they pay more. They also have a special branch of schools that are specifically for children.

I would also keep an eye out for companies and shools seeking a couple to work for them. You will occasionally spot these types of postings on ohayosenei.com. Maybe they would be willing and able to schedule the two of you in a way that makes it possible to have one parent at home with the kids all the time. This would not be the case if you were both doing the ALT thing like me. You would both be out of the home during the day so in that case you would have to think about finding childcare.

Now all this being said, Nova might be a good solution for the two of you if you can't get work from a private conversation school or somewhere like Aeon. But I would definitely recommend at least one of you working in a conversation school so that they may be able to make a schedule suitable for taking care of your children.

Any questions about children, I would put them to Nyororin who has the thread "I Live in Japan!" She is always helpful and knows much more about this aspect of Japanese life than I do. Best wishes to you and your family, JBvr

Hello Jason, I'm sorry about making a new thread about teaching in Japan, I only skimmed the first few pages of this thread and didn't see exactly what I wanted to know. I've also today, read the first 7 pages and things have only skimmed what I want to know. I plan on majoring in Japanese, taking a full 4 year program. All I really want to know is if there a need in Japan for native English speakers who want to teach there?

Yes English teachers, whether or not they have formal qualifications, are desired almost everywhere in the world. In Japan there are thousands of us but the market is such that it can support the numbers and in fact still needs more teachers. Jobs are available year round since most of the teachers are not in Japan indefinitely and the average teacher only works for about two years in one country before moving. The second reason being that after gaining a bit of experience and acquiring contacts, many English teachers that stay in Japan move on to more profitable teaching jobs or a completely different line of work entirely in Japan.

Since you asked, I will break down the need for English teachers by country. China is really wanting English teachers but the income of your average Chinese family is such that they are not able to attract the number of foreign teachers that Japan does. South Korea compensates their teachers very well, but you have better be prepared for Korea and the fact that you are practically owned by your company. Not only that but there are new stipulations that not only do you have to be born in a selective list of English speaking countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), your degree has to be earned at a university in the country of your origin. That means if you are British and go to school in the US, they will not grant you a work visa. Singapore there is less a need for teachers and those who are needed have to perform at a much higher level. Taiwan pays better than mainland China and on par with Japan but again the expectations are higher.

The bottom line being that Japan is one of the most desirable places to teach English in Asia. Things are convenient. Japanese are polite. The pay is sustainable even without experience or qualifications. While this does make getting a good location in Japan a bit more difficult since we are all competing for that dream position of some little eikaiwa off the beach in Okinawa, there are still plenty of jobs to go around and with the economy picking up steam will be more and more of a need for native speakers.

Thank you so much, because I'm really nervous about spending my money on getting this degree because my family is very against me doing this. They have the misconception that everyone in Japan speaks English already and that I'm pretty much going no where with this.

Do you know anything about the University of Findlay and their japanese program. I mean.. I've been researching it like crazy and it seems absolutely wonderful to me, but I haven't really been able to talk to anyone who has been there.

Can't really say that I know anything about Findlay. I am from NC originally, but I can offer this word of advice. You should probably double major or something. Majoring in Japanese will help you get a job teaching English here, but then again you could get your bachelor degree in something like art or something and still get a job teaching here. What I am suggesting is having something to fall back on or something that allows you to transition easily from teaching English. I really wish I had done something like international business instead of international studies which is more political science and culture oriented. It would make getting a business job a lot easier after I finish teaching in say two to three years.

I kinda agree with this. I am planning on doing a computer science degree, and learn as much Japanese as I can before I come over. (In about 5-6 years) I want to then maybe teach English for 1 or 2 years. I am hoping my Japanese is good enough after that to get a normal job in Japan.

NOVA in Korea!
 

What!? I don't know how long they have been there, but apparently Nova has expanded into South Korea so they can rip off teachers in two countries! Check it out, Gaijinpot-Nova Listing I really want to meet one of their South Korean teachers, but from what I hear about hagwons Nova are probably angels by comparison.

Spring is the Season
 

If I have not mentioned this before, the Japanese school year ends in March and begins in April. The seniors at your school all graduate in the beginning of March and the rest of you take a little rest for two weeks before beginning the new year.

Spring is the appropriate season I suppose. With all the flowers blooming and new growth around, it seems right for new students and teachers to be coming in. Some of your staff may retire at this time. Some may be moved to new schools. Along with the new students coming, I will have the privilege of beginning work with my third Japanese English teacher in one year. This is particular odd I think for an ALT to outlast not one English teacher but two! Then I will have the new ALT's coming into the area to meet and guide along the path to smooth integration to our Ota/Oizumi area. Yes the joyous season of spring is upon us, and if I here one more thing about the freaking cherry blossoms my head will explode. If there is one more thing I hate more than the end of winter, it would have to be fanaticism which is what I view the Japanese fascination to be with the cherry blossom.

And I just got a note saying that I would have to start teaching at elementary school in April. Now, I really want to blow my brains out!

edit: Since writing this post I realized that working at the shogakou won't be so bad. My English coordinator there speaks English (WOW!), and they will be more excited than my chugak-sei who look like death somedays on account of all the stress the poor kids go through.

cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms....:vsign:

Hey all, I'm new to this forum...
Anyways i have a question:
I live in Israel, Do all of these english teaching companies in japan has also maybe Hebrew teaching? Because i do want to go japan and teach there but i don't know english THAT well to teach it...
Oh yeah, and do teachers (privat lessons) need to pay taxes or something like that in japan? i don't really know anything about that...

My posts amy bea a beiat difficualt to aread singce my head expolonded thatnks to Aldiane mentiona\g suakra blaoosms so I acaon no longers ee thae scerean tocheck my spoeling. agnabattena...

Anyhow, in regards to teaching other languages such as Hebrew, Swedish, Swahili or what have you, I would contact one of the big two directly requesting if there is a place for you in their company. The biggest two being Aeon and NOVA. Berlitz may also be worth a try. Legend has it, I would not know for certain, that NOVA has these multimedia centers that work with a number of different languages. The languages other than English that will certainly land you a job would be French, Spanish and German. Here is what I would write, feel free to copy, paste and use it as you wish:

Dear (NOVA or Aeon),

My name is (your name), and I am a native of (your country). I am writing to inquire about language services your company provides outside of English instruction. As a native speaker of (your language), I feel that I would be a valuable asset to your company and Japanese companies or persons seeking business or travel in (your country). Thank you for your time and best wishes to you and (company name).

Sincerely,

(your name)

I would email the department in charge of recruitment around the end of April beginning of May since in theory they will not be in the midst of a lot of hiring and have the time and patience to provide you with a decent response.

Regarding working private lessons on your own, it is going to be a bit more difficult to find students since your are not teaching English. I do not think that the income will be such that you would be able to support yourself on this income alone. Also, I will reiterate that working without a visa is illegal and you could be deported and fined if found out. Since it is under the table (illegal), no you would not pay taxes.

Thank you very much^^

:eek:!!! I can't believe there's a thread on this.. extremely helpful!

Literally just last night I started considering the idea of teaching English in Japan!

Okay.. i have a few questions..

1) Do you need to speak fluent Japanese..?
2) What qualifications do you need? Major/Teacher training..?
3) Is it a hard field to get into?

Many thanks! xx

P.s.. I'm sorry if these questions have already been answered throughout this thread! xx

1. Not at all. Many require NO Japanese knowledge

2. 4 yr degree, minimum, in any major from any University

3. No. If you can't get a job teaching English in Japan it is probably because you don't want one.

Good luck!

Just to add to what Pachipro has written...

1) Any Japanese ability will help differentiate you from the hordes of teachers looking for a job. This may result in a) getting a job faster and b) a better job than Joe Schmoe.

2) Since I am assuming you are British, you are able to get a working holiday visa which means you don't necessarily have to have completed your degree already. But in general yes, a four year degree in any field will do.

There are tons of those TESL teaching programs online. Let me say it once again, while these (in my opinion) will not make you a better teacher and do not give you proper training, they will differentiate you from other candidates.

3) Answer to number 3, no. Especially easy if you are 1) young 2) female 3) really friendly. Why do I say female? Well, the ratio of female teachers to males in Japan is maybe 5 to 1 so finding a female teacher can be difficult. Then you have reason number B, women are generally viewed as better with children which make up the majority of your students.

Any questions you have, don't hesitate to ask. Especially when it comes time to sign a contract. If I knew what I know now, I could have gotten a much better deal worked out by just a few minor changes.

omg thank you both! that information REALLY has helped me..

to begin with teaching English in Japan was just an idea i loved, but i never thought i'd be able to do it due to the questions i asked above..

you've both put alot of faith back into my dream job :D!!

im currently still only at high school/secondary.. but leave for uni next year.. id like to have a gap year though, and was thinking if i took it and taught Eglish in Japan then i'd have even more experience?

would that help? or would it be much better to just go straight onto uni and then go over to Japan?

Many thanks again :) Arigatou gozaimasu xx

I have looked before for information concerning the working holiday visa and have thus far not uncovered any specifics. I would suggest inquiring directly with the Japanese embassy in the U.K. to find out your eligibility to qualify for the visa. I know for a fact that the work visa is your potential employer's biggest concern in regards to education requirements. This is primarily true of working in the public schools as an ALT or eikaiwas that focus on small children. You would probably not be eligible to work in one that teaches business English.

I think that you may only face difficulty when it comes to your age. Some companies may view you as too young to be placed in a public school, but I think an eikaiwa who focuses on small children would love to have you. This doesn't mean don't apply as an ALT because you want to explore every opportunity that is available. I really don't know what response you would receive in response to your age. It would be very interesting to find out and appreciate you filling me in when you get to the interview/application process.

This is what you could write to the embassy in the UK:

To whom it may concern, (Dear whoever if name is available)

My name is (your name), and I am a native of the United Kingdom preparing to begin my university education. I am writing to you concerning the issuance of working holiday visas to citizens of the U.K. I am interested to know if I would qualify for a one year visa to live and work in Japan prior to entering the university. I am very interested in living and working in Japan after finishing my degree and feel that the experience of working there now would encourage and embolden me in studies at the university. Thank you in advance for your time.

Sincerely,

(your name)

I would only write in the event that you can not uncover anything on your own. Also I really don't know that much about doing a gap year, do you apply for your university after the gap year or before? If you apply before your overseas experience, I believe you are technically then a student of that university. In that circumstance the letter I have written above would need a bit of editing and your school's study abroad center may be able to assist you with the visa process.

Be sure to let me know how it goes. In this way when another comes along with the same question, I'll be able to help a little more.

How young is young? I am in my 30's...not so young anymore?

I will deffinately give it a go! Your letter was superb! Very helpful.. :)

Thank you again, and i will be sure to keep you informed with how it goes! xx

What a wonderfully busy Monday, just the way I like them. You will have no trouble finding a job in your thirties, forties and so on. In general I think that schools would prefer to have ALT's who are young because maybe they believe students and ALT's will relate to each other easier. Actually, age may only be a factor when applying for the JET program. They have all sorts of ridiculous stipulations on eligibility like not having lived in Japan for more than three or five years. You can only apply in your home country, not from Japan. It is pretty dumb.

help
 

hey pple. im new to this thread so please show me around. thanks. my little sister is going to japn for around 2 months and she wants to get a tutoring job. can someone help her? she's only 18 years old. thanks please pm me or email me at [email protected]. thanks

JET is not a company but rather the government program. Originally all ALT's were JET's, but the trouble is that they don't find and hire enough JET's to fill the positions in all the schools. This is where the ALT companies come in the picture. They lobby for vacancies and find teachers to fill them.

As far as Heart, I think it depends a lot on where you work. As far as I know, Heart teachers are some of the lowest paid ALT's around. Working for them would not be bad, but I wouldn't ever settle for anything less than 250,000 yen a month. That really goes for any company and anywhere in Japan. Some teachers are in such a rush to get over, they'll sign anything.

I work for a regional ALT company called Fifth Wings. From what I have heard of other teachers is that Fifth is really the best to work for in this area although certain parts of my contract are not in compliance with Japan's labor laws. This could've have been easily avoided if I negotiated and knew these things before signing, but I didn't. I have yet to argue with them about it and probably won't because I am figuring out a sly way around it. That way if I resign in August, I can get a better deal because they see me as being a trouble-free employee.

Other companies I know of, Borderlink is fairly new in are region so I don't know much about them. OES, I have never really talked to anyone who works for them. RCS has lost a lot of teachers and a lot of staff. Some complain of having trouble but overall they really seem average to me. Interac sounds very appealing to me. Although they are national and say couldn't take me to the doctors if I had some trouble like Fifth would, they seem very professional and the pay is good.

A lot of your contract stuff will actually depend on the area you work in. Take my situation for example, in Ota we come to school even though we don't have any classes. Take my friend in Oizumi, she doesn't go to school for the holidays but also was paid less those months.

So what it boils down to is 1) the area you work in and 2) what you sign to in your contract

I may have posted it before but in case I didn't, I am very interested in anyone who is in the interview process and talking about exactly what they are offering to you.

Here is a few reasons people like Fifth:

They set up a cellphone for you before you arrive.
They give you a bicycle.
They put you in an apartment and give you a futon, pillow, blanket, sheets, a small saucepan, a frying pan, a coffee mug, forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks, and food when you first arrive.
If you get sick, arrested, or your scooter breaks down and you are going to be late for school, Fifth saves your ass and doesn't complain much about doing it. (Although to my knowledge no Fifth employee has ever been in trouble with the police outside of traffic violations.)

Now why I think Fifth does all these things, very simply put it is owned and run by women. Besides the managers that do the hiring, the whole operation is run by very kind ladies who treat their teachers like lost children. Then again maybe it is just me because women always treat me like a big kid.

newbie
 

Hi!

So I'm new to the forum. I have been thinking about going to Japan. But I'm not really a die-hard like most of the people here, I just wanna go for 2 or 3 months... Thing is, I'm a student so I don't have loads of money or something so I was thinking about getting a job for this period. Is it possible to do this? I mean, since teaching english is kind of good business, is it possible to do this only for 2 months? I only thing I want is to cover lodging and meals expanses as much as possible.

Hope anyone can give me some advise...

M

All the places I've looked at a few different places and they all say it's year contracts.

Short term positions lasting only a few days, a few weeks, or two to three months are usually only available to those already in Japan and have the proper work visa. Working as a student studying in Japan, you have to have the consent of the school at which you are studying to get the work permit.

Contracts lasting only six months are available through Interac and some other ALT staffing companies starting in August/September. This is because some companies need to fill vacancies mid-year since the school year starts in April. A lot of schools prefer to start their ALT's in April so that they will be there for the entirety of the school year, but due to the fact that most people graduate in May/June in North America, GB, etc. a lot of schools compromise and take them in August.

Now, you mentioned being a student. If you are living and studying in Great Britain, Australia or New Zealand, you will qualify for the working holiday visa. Without the working holiday visa say for someone like me from the US, you need to have finished your degree to qualify for the working visa. If you can get the work visa, that is all that it really comes down to. There are short positions out there, but you've got to have the visa or be able to qualify for it.

thnx alot you guys! Yeah, I'm Dutch so this work permit won't be an option I guess. Just wanted to go on adventure in Japan, but I wanted to work a bit over there so I can earn the money back I spend on the flight and lodging and stuff.. ah well...

thnx again, I'll just keep saving my money till I can go to Japan.

peace :vsign:

The requirements for getting a work visa differ from one country to another. I would suggest looking at Japan's embassy page on the net for your country and maybe contacting them if you have any questions.

wow ... I bask in your knowledge ... thank you for the info it is greatly appreciated. :D

edit: does fifth or heart have a website or info pack ? Googled it but too many matches to sort through.

Jason is the best source of information on this subject.

There is a lot of stuff in this thread to read through. There is a post I made that had tons of links, but for job searches I simply look at O-Hayo Sensei and GaijinPot. Ohayo is the best in my opinion but you will spot some different posts in gaijinpot every now and then.

A lot of these smaller regional companies are not going to have websites, and to the best of my knowledge Fifth and Heart both do not have sites. I don't even think RCS has one, and they are a fairly bigger company.

What I did when I applied last year, I made a list of well over twenty potential employers and sent them my resume and cover letter. About a week later I had something like ten responses. Then I looked at a map of Japan where each company would place me and basically chose based on that. There were a few key questions I should've asked that I know to ask now and a few things that I probably could've had rewritten in the contract had I asked for it. But I was ready to come over and tired of searching after three weeks so I signed and two months later ended up here.

I am really happy with my school even though there have been loads of ups and downs. No matter what type of teaching position you take and what company you end up working for, there is going to be a lot you will need to learn about English education in Japan and living here in general.

I keep saying this but have never gotten any responses. If you are looking at job offers, show me the offer and I'll give you my two cents. Basically you are going to have to just put yourself out there and talk to the recruiters, teachers, managers and owners who are going to interview you. The companies with websites and info packets represent maybe 10% of the opportunities available, and I really think that it is probably less than that.

What sort of portfolio should I put together? Does general work experience help or would they rather just see schooling and grades/reccomendations? It wont be for awhile since im still in college but im trying to get it together fresh that way I have more time to perfect it for em when it counts.

You basically want to keep it as brief as possible while highlighting aspects of yourself or your background that make you appear like a teacher and master of the English language. Both your cover letter and resume should be no longer than a page. If you were applying for a job at a university or upper tier high school, then you may need a portfolio showing grad school credentials and any publications you have written or co-authored.

Maybe later on today I write up a sample of what I sent out last year when job hunting. And yes, two to three reccomendations from professors you've had will go a long way. (Especially if one of those was your Japanese teacher. Not that I learned anything, but that is neither here nor there.)

Oh, and grades/gpa don't really mean a thing unless they are really good. All they want to see is a diploma. Then when you get the work visa, all they want to see is the visa. I didn't mention nor was ever asked about my performance or lack thereof in school.