Anyone have anything to say about the high roads to teaching english in Japan? How do you get in contact with the big corps who want their employees to learn the right way? I see applications for the teachers of students, but I think I may be able to bypass this. Is this some sort of ‘connections only’ situation? Hey, and it so, want to consider being my connection?
What exactly do you mean by learning the “right way”? Most educated Japanese people are already at least bilingual in Japanese/English by adulthood–and the ones working in big corporations will all be educated. They already know how to speak English, so I’m confused as to what more you think you have to teach them.
And do you… um… know Japanese? Sorry if it’s a stupid question, but you’ll need to be bilingual before undertaking this.
Are you saying (or would you say) all corporations in Japan do not hire english instructors that do not know how to speak Japanese?
I’d say it’s a fairly safe bet that Japanese corporations who want their employees to learn English “the right way” would not hire some random non-Japanese-speaking American to do the teaching. JET is how random non-Japanese-speaking Americans (or, for that matter, citizens of other countries) get to teach English in Japan, and this is to children, not corporations.
Also they would not be likely to hire people who don’t know that proper nouns are capitalized.
All Japanese study English in junior high and high school (total 6 years). College students often study some more, although I don’t know if it’s a requirement. They end up with a pretty good understanding of grammar, syntax and (to a lesser extent) vocabulary. What they don’t have are understandable accents, or the ability to carry on a conversation in English.
I worked for a short while at a school that taught adults. What I taught was simply pronunciation, so it was mostly conversation practice. I did not have any credentials, and I was also not supposed to be working (student visa) but they paid me in the regular way and took out withholding for taxes. I got the impression that most of the fees were paid by their companies.
I imagine it might be possible that larger corporations might employ native English speakers (British and/or American) if they want to be sure that those of their employees or executives who have to interact with English-speaking foreigners can carry on a conversation. But I doubt they would hire some Charlie off the street - I’d bet they’d still want someone with a TOESL certificate at a minimum. So that’s where I would start - get some credentials, and in the process you will probably develop useful contacts for getting a job in Japan.
Roddy
From what I understand, most of the time that you have native English speakers “teaching” English in other countries, it is, as RF stated, not a matter of learning basic vocabulary, grammar, etc, but has some other goal such as fluency.
Another aspect can be cultural. The reason for learning a language is so you can deal more effectively with some population that speaks it. Usually that means selling them shit. Potential customers want to be able to talk to you in their normal idiom and be understood. They don’t want to have to speak slowly and only use words that were covered in your English courses.
So in addition to fluency, there’s also a need to “get” enough of the culture and slang, or quasi-slang, that is likely to come up in a typical conversation. The more important customer support is to a potential client, the more important these factors will be.
Wrong and wrong. The OP’s questions are a little misguided, but no need to give out misleading information here. I lived in Japan for 3 years–taught on the JET program for 2, and did private lessons in Tokyo (on my own) for the last year. Almost all of my students were adults, and most were businessmen. These included: an NHK reporter, an analyst for a large Japanese bank, numerous stock traders and consultants at prestigious companies, lawyers, and doctors. Only one of them was even close to being “bilingual.” I also never spoke Japanese in a professional context. My Japanese abilities did help me to acquire a few especially timid students, but it is definitely not necessary for the JET program and few companies care if you can speak Japanese. That’s very low on the list of necessary skills for an English teacher in Japan.
Important things to have for an English teacher in Japan are:
-
Low standards.
-
TOEFL qualifications or teaching experience.
-
An extremely outgoing attitude.
-
Willingness to teach children.
-
Perseverence.
Without qualifications, you can probably just show up and get a job, but pay will be low and you will be working the shit hours (weekends and nights.)
I knew a few people who used to teach at companies. Those jobs are few and far between and highly valued. Your best bet would be to get some experience and then look for companies that send their teachers to business clients. Companies will also generally expect qualifications–EFL certificates or master’s degrees, etc. Other jobs are easier to come by and have fewer expectations.
In my experience, it also helps if you’re a pretty blond boy or girl. Japan is still a fairly racist country, and they expect their English teachers to look a certain way. Play up your exotic American/Western looks, always be punctual, and keep an up-beat attitude, and you’ll get students.
But there’s no magic high road to skip over all the other poor schmucks who are waiting in line for a decent job after years at the fast-food English school grind. Sorry.
Heh.
Start here and read forward to experience the adventures of Great Teacher Yurubi: