I just wanted to find out if there’s anyone here that ever worked/or is working in Japan as a English Teacher. I’m serisously considering going and are looking into a couple of places that recruite people to go teach. They all seemed to have just about the same criteria, being having any 4yr degree and a good understanding of english. I will be graduating next year and I do have good understanding of english, as well as I can communicate in Japanese (I’m half japanese) and so I figured this would be a pretty alright job.
Anyways, I was just wondering if I could hear (if any) some of your experiences teaching in Japan, what to expect, how’s the pay and all the goodies. Thanks, waiting for your response
Reoch, a lot of it depends on the school. From what I’ve heard, the big name schools with branches all over Japan are really nasty to work for. The hours are long, holidays short or non-existant, the only good thing is the pay. Generally the smaller schools are more accomodating and friendly.
The school I worked for was a small school with no illusions of grandeur. I was only part time, but still managed to make about 120 thousand yen per month (I don’t know the equivalent in US$). The other teachers were very friendly, the boss was great and reasonably understanding of me needing to take holidays when my kids were sick (I know that doesn’t really apply to you, but nonetheless…). The working atmosphere was wonderful. There were a number of parties and gatherings run by the school throughout the year which I was obliged to attend, but they weren’t a drag, and we usually went out partying afterwards anyway!
If you want to e-mail me and let me know the name of the school you’re thinking of teaching at, I can let you know what I’ve heard about them. My address is camelliadee at yahoo dot com dot au.
As long as you aren’t coming over simply to make money and get a Japanese SO, you should enjoy yourself and make lots of friends.
Look into the government Mombasho program. You work for a real school district. Some of the districts are quite awesome. I knew a guy in Aomori that was given a great apartment, car, etc. Generally, you get taken really good care of and looks a lot better on a resume if you care about that sort of thing.
Now, I haven’t done either the mombasho or teaching English in Japan thing, but I’ve heard a lot also depends on where you live. Tokyo is a rough place to be on a teachers salary, whereas Sapporo might be heaven. Depends on what you feel is important.
Two of my good friends went over for the JET program a couple years back, and both loved their experience (one signed up for a second year, and will likely stay for a 3rd and final year). With JET, teaching in a big city like Tokyo is unlikely; almost always you’re stuck out in a rural or suburbanized part of a prefecture. Both my friends reported feeling alone and isolated when they arrived (which they overcame after a couple months), but if you already speak Japanese then you’ll be hitting the ground running.
My friend over there now doesn’t make lots of money, but enough to keep himself busy and take vacations now and then. He’s also a DJ, so it must be a decent amount of yen he’s pulling in to fund all the vinyl he’s buying over there. JET doesn’t provide you with a car, but you do work with real school districts.
Not sure I have any relevant experiences to relate, but overall I loved the two years I spent there. It was my first experience living abroad, and that may be part of the reason I have such intense memories of it. I didn’t like my school at all (one of the big-name private schools with branches all over), but I loved my co-workers and students enough to make up for the administrative crap. I have sometimes regretted leaving.
If you’re half Japanese and speak the language already, you should have no problem at all adjusting. You probably already know much of what to expect. I especially liked the juxtaposition of the old and the new–bamboo and tatami, chrome and glass, peaceful temple gardens wedged into a corner of an enormous crowded city. The crowdedness sometimes bothered me, but if you’re not in a big city it won’t be a problem.
It’s expensive, but heck, you already live in Hawaii. Isn’t life pretty expensive there? Some of my Japanese friends complained after visiting Hawaii that it was too much like Japan. You may feel right at home from the beginning.
It’s a generalization, but I found Japanese people to be the most polite I’ve encountered anywhere. I did not find their politeness to be fake or insincere, though a certain amount of sensitivity is needed to understand the subtleties.
I say go, have a good time, work hard, and pick me up a bag of kaki-no-tane.
As you can see, it’s been a while since I did the JET program - but there are a few things that I suspect still hold true.
You won’t have much control over where you’re assigned. I had a terrific assignment - Nara, where my apartment was about 15 minutes’ walk from the Daibutsuden (Great Buddha). Other people end up in really remote places. The fact that you speak Japanese will help immeasurably (I’d taken four years and had already spent a semester there). But be prepared to be anywhere.
The program can be pretty intensely political. I worked for the prefectural board and got assignments to various schools all over Nara-ken - that meant I only worked with teachers who actually wanted me there. Other JET teachers (AETs, or Assistant English Teachers) find themselves at a school where the principal/head teacher wants the AET for prestige reasons, but the English department is at best indifferent or at worst threatened or hostile. It takes a lot of tact and patience to deal with that, but it can be done - as long as you know in advance that it’s going on.
I worked almost exclusively with junior high students - mainly 7th and 8th grade. Those are by far the easiest students to teach, since they’re just beginning their English education and have no idea how damn difficult it is. By high school, an awful lot of students have given up, which can make it hard to engage them - unless you’re able to focus on having fun with them. Peculiarly, that can be easier at the less-prestigious high schools. One of my friends taught at Nara’s top high school, Nara High, which regularly sent kids on to Todai and Kyodai. He found teaching there completely boring because the kids only wanted to know the answers to the abstruse, illogical questions Mombusho asked on the college entry exams. His kids at a vo-tech school were a lot more interesting.
Regardless of where you teach, you’re going to have a lot of unique experiences as someone who’s “hafu.” A couple of my JET friends were part Japanese, and found that a lot of Japanese were totally discombobulated by their very existence. “Waaaaiiit…you look Japanese, you even sound Japanese, but you aren’t, you’re really a gaijin, but gaijin have blond hair and blue eyes…what am I supposed to do with you?” Most of the time it was just funny - both of my friends had a good time. They just had some weirder stories at the end.
Are you going to be teaching at a private specialist English school, or as a JET/AET? There IS a big difference.
Can I make a suggestion? In my area, I get totally disgusted with the AET’s. Most of them are here to make money and have a good time, and that’s it. They don’t respect their co-workers, they don’t respect their students, they don’t respect any Japanese who want to teach them about Japan…its an embarrassment and it makes life difficult for us foreigners who are here for the long haul.
From your OP, it seems like your purpose is to come and learn about Japan as well as teaching English. Don’t forget that.
Wow, thanx for all your info…actually, the only ‘research’ I did was look online and check out all the big companies (the ones you guys said to stay away from) such as NOVA(sp?). I saw that they provide you with a fairly priced apartment, pay you pretty well, etc. How’s the other programs treat ya?
I am not going for the money…well, money is good, but if I plan to go, I’m looking more to interacting with the Japanese and their culture…something I lack due to the fact that I haven’t lived in japan since I was 3:D
I would appriciate it if you guys can send me some links to sites that you guys mentioned JET/AET, private schools, etc. I would like to keep my options open but I am seriously considering going…thanx so much for your help!! I just started looking into this teaching abroad thing and upon talking to you guys, I’ve realized that there are A LOT of choices…thanx so much!
Oh, also, can some of you tell my the application process… how strict or picky the people are, the interview process…etc. Thanx!
I have never taught English here, but have friends who do. JET would not seem to be overly picky. By which I don’t mean to say that it is full of morons, but that if you are a college graduate with reasonably good prospects, you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting accepted.
Many people I know who teach at English School chains saved their money and came here with no job, living at guest houses (available in major cities where there are lots of foreigners) and job hunting until something came along.
I also know some folks who teach English for corporations. The Corporations retain their services to teach English exclusively to their employees. The pay tends to be better, and the hours shorter. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how they got hooked up with these jobs.
If you live in Tokyo, an English teacher’s salary will keep you comfortable, but you won’t save much. On the other hand, my friend out in the country in Hiroshima prefecture lives in a small town with no night life and low prices, and saves something like $1000 every month, if you can believe that.
Having said all that:
If you speak Japanese, are you sure you want to be an English teacher? You could be making two to three times the money and gain more valuable skills working for an international firm: consulting, investment, etc. For many English-speakers who want to get to Japan, teaching English is the most obvious (and sometimes only) option. There are many other options open to you if you want to look for them.
On the other hand, though you may lack cash, you will probably have more free time as An English teacher than as a consultant. (Though again that does not ALWAYS hold true). And there are no consulting jobs available for people who want to live in the countryside…you’d be pretty much limited to a big city.
I did think about teaching for corporations but my choice is to teach kids how to speak english. I’ve always thought about teaching and I guess it just stuck that I want to teach Japanese to kids.
I don’t really have any preference as to where I’ll be placed (hopefully not too laid back) and I don’t really spend much and I don’t intend to drive when I get there (don’t have the balls to drive in the narrow road of japan) although I think I still won’t be able to save much since EVERYTHING there in Japan’s expensive… Hawai’i’s not at bad as Japan…
I do speak Japanese but not REALLY fluently. I can read it pretty well (except for those hard kanji) can’t write for crap, but speaking, I tend to stutter and lose my words…but I think it’s enough to communicate…don’t speak it much often…now that I’m away from my mom (she’s the japanese one) and here in Hawai’i.
reoch
Typing “JET program” into Google came up with a list of sites, the first one being the official site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Typing “English school Japan” comes up with some schools, as well as some sites which offer things such as “Secrets on Teaching English in Japan”, which may be useful.
