I teach English in Japan - any questions?

[skankfish]

I have a lot of free time at work, so if anyone wants more info on life working in Japan ask away. I work in juniour high (and elementary once a week).

[Cicada]

Did you have trouble finding a job, through what channels did you achieve it? Did you have any experience in teaching English before going? Are you fluent in Japanese? How did you sort out accommodation?

I'll be looking to get to Japan to work by mid-year. Planning to sort out the visa issues this or next month. I don't particularly want to teach English, but might not have much of a choice at first.

[skankfish]

My girlfriend and I got our jobs through a friend, conveniently.

There are several websites that list jobs here though, such as gaijinpot (I think) and some others. However you need to have a visa sorted out in advance with the help of your employer (you must already have a confirmed job).

There are many agencies that employ in Japan - JET, GEOS, Interac etc etc. with slightly different deals. We hit the jackpot and got employed directly by the local government. We get paid (slightly) more than any agency and have a pretty good arrangement otherwise. They helped us find an apartment, though it is not subsidised or anything like that.

All you need to qualify for employment in Japan is a degree. No Japanese is necessary, nor (in our case, at least) is a TEFL qualification needed (though we do both have one). Some agencies ask for one, some provide one, some don't care. I have learned a fair amount of Japanese whilst out here, but it is not easy. Especially because as a teacher you are not required or even supposed to use it during the day.

Hope that helps some.

[ParaParaJMo]

I have a friend who teaches in Matsuyama which is 2 hours away from me by train. He doesn't have a degree and he's the head ALT supervisor there. He's really in the Army reserves and his visa issue is handled through the army. I work in Kagawa through the Hiroshima branch of Interac. There are a lot of bad stories of Interac on the web, but they're not that bad compared to Nova and Heart. And whatever you do, NEVER EVER work for Nova. I actually know a few people in homeless shelters after they went under.

[skankfish]

Originally Posted by ParaParaJMo

I have a friend who teaches in Matsuyama which is 2 hours away from me by train. He doesn't have a degree and he's the head ALT supervisor there. He's really in the Army reserves and his visa issue is handled through the army. I work in Kagawa through the Hiroshima branch of Interac. There are a lot of bad stories of Interac on the web, but they're not that bad compared to Nova and Heart. And whatever you do, NEVER EVER work for Nova. I actually know a few people in homeless shelters after they went under.

That's interesting. Is he just the supervisor or what? I found out the other day that you don't need a degree to be a pre-school teacher, but other than that I was pretty sure that that was the deal.

Also, a master's degree will get you a university position.

I've heard about that business with Nova, though. What a heartless company.

[Cicada]

skankfish, Do you know whether it is possible to be hired directly by the local government without the kind of contacts that you had?

[Lemur]

Originally Posted by skankfish215

That's interesting. Is he just the supervisor or what? I found out the other day that you don't need a degree to be a pre-school teacher, but other than that I was pretty sure that that was the deal.

Also, a master's degree will get you a university position.

I've heard about that business with Nova, though. What a heartless company.

(Seriously, though, with a name like 'Nova' how did they not see it coming? That name is almost as ominous as 'Black Water'. o.O)

[skankfish]

Originally Posted by Cicada

skankfish, Do you know whether it is possible to be hired directly by the local government without the kind of contacts that you had?

Yes it is, although in many cases they do require a knowledge of Japanese. When they did their bi-annual recruitment drive here they advertised on the internet (in Japanese) and then employed two more teachers. However, and this may also be common, they were asking for people who were already in the country. Many jobs I have seen advertised ask for that. Processing work visas for foreigners is very expensive if they aren't in the country (at least I get that impression), so that's why.

Having said that, I didn't get this job only because of my connections. I found out about it through them, and probably got preferrential treatment; but the jobs were open to anyone who cared to apply. This process has changed recently, but only because of an internal complication too boring to get into and certainly not typical.

[ParaParaJMo]

That's interesting. Is he just the supervisor or what? I found out the other day that you don't need a degree to be a pre-school teacher, but other than that I was pretty sure that that was the deal.

Also, a master's degree will get you a university position.

I've heard about that business with Nova, though. What a heartless company.

Yeah, it is a bummer what happened with NOVA. I heard even under their new management, they still suck.

skankfish, Do you know whether it is possible to be hired directly by the local government without the kind of contacts that you had?

I'm pretty sure the local government like he says, will post the jobs on their websites. I know Matsuyama and some places outside of Tokyo do this.

As for knowing Japanese, I heard that Tsukuba (which is also not too far from Tokyo) requires you have level 2 Japanese based on JLPT

[midgetonfire]

so how long have you been in japan? and how well would you say you know the language by now? is it easy to survive on basic knowledge of japanese? i'm actually taking japanese this semester and plan on taking another semester of it but i know this will not be nearly enough for when i study abroad there for four months my junior year so i was curious about how it is over there in your opinion of having to have to know the language.