ppko
Master Black Belt
Me and my wife are looking to move to Japan (Okinawa is really where we would like to go) for those of you that do or have lived in Japan do you know the best resources for finding an English teaching job there
Looking at moving to Japan
- Thread starter ppko
- Start date
The foriegn exchange of Education if you are looking to teach at a school type enviroment.
Hope that will help PPKO.
Terry
Hope that will help PPKO.
Terry
bushidomartialarts
Senior Master
Go. Seriously. Go. It's a great experience. Literally life changing.
For teaching english you have two routes: private sector and public sector.
Public sector you want to go with the JET program. It's run by the Japanese government and will put you in as a classroom teacher in a Japanese school. http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/jet/ for more information.
Private sector is one of several private English tutoring firms. Smaller classes, fewer benefits. NOVA and GEOS are two of the biggest. There's a third one, but I can't remember the name. I worked for NOVA and you can find out more about them at www.teachinjapan.com.
My wife worked with JET. We met there, even though we grew up an hour's drive away from each other. JET has better benefits and will immerse you more deeply in in the culture. Private firms pay less, but the workdays are shorter and you have more time to pursue outside interests.
Please feel free to email me directly if you have any further questions on this topic. I cannot overemphasize how great the experience is.
For teaching english you have two routes: private sector and public sector.
Public sector you want to go with the JET program. It's run by the Japanese government and will put you in as a classroom teacher in a Japanese school. http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/jet/ for more information.
Private sector is one of several private English tutoring firms. Smaller classes, fewer benefits. NOVA and GEOS are two of the biggest. There's a third one, but I can't remember the name. I worked for NOVA and you can find out more about them at www.teachinjapan.com.
My wife worked with JET. We met there, even though we grew up an hour's drive away from each other. JET has better benefits and will immerse you more deeply in in the culture. Private firms pay less, but the workdays are shorter and you have more time to pursue outside interests.
Please feel free to email me directly if you have any further questions on this topic. I cannot overemphasize how great the experience is.
Saitama Steve
Blue Belt
- Joined
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You won't be able to train if you join "No Vacation" Nova. Their hours are a bit restrictive.
If you have a bachelors degree from an accredited University, you should be able to land some work as an ALT (Assistant language teacher). The JET program is one of the easiest ways, but you cannot always guarantee you will be posted where you want to go. More often than not, you might be sent to the boonies in the end of nowhere. However, JET teacher's hours are quite good and since most budo keiko is held in the evening, you should be OK for that.
It should be noted that the JET program is on it's way out. Very soon, JET will have only a token presence in the near future. When I lived in Japan, most of the language teachers working in public schools were contracted by the local education boards via dispatch companies. There were very few JETs and those that were there, were only working on a prefectural level, for the High Schools. The Junior High School and Elementary School systems were run on a city or ward scale, so they had the authority to hire from outside the JET program due to budgetary constraints.
Look to smaller companies too for job opportunities, since most do deal with ALT/AET jobs in a minor way.
search the net and try gaijinpot.com as well for job vacancies. Maybe you might be able to take up a job in the business sector instead of the education field.
hope this helps.
If you have a bachelors degree from an accredited University, you should be able to land some work as an ALT (Assistant language teacher). The JET program is one of the easiest ways, but you cannot always guarantee you will be posted where you want to go. More often than not, you might be sent to the boonies in the end of nowhere. However, JET teacher's hours are quite good and since most budo keiko is held in the evening, you should be OK for that.
It should be noted that the JET program is on it's way out. Very soon, JET will have only a token presence in the near future. When I lived in Japan, most of the language teachers working in public schools were contracted by the local education boards via dispatch companies. There were very few JETs and those that were there, were only working on a prefectural level, for the High Schools. The Junior High School and Elementary School systems were run on a city or ward scale, so they had the authority to hire from outside the JET program due to budgetary constraints.
Look to smaller companies too for job opportunities, since most do deal with ALT/AET jobs in a minor way.
search the net and try gaijinpot.com as well for job vacancies. Maybe you might be able to take up a job in the business sector instead of the education field.
hope this helps.
bushidomartialarts
Senior Master
Saitama Steve said:
that wasn't my experience when i worked for them, although i also heard (and got) the 'NOVAcation' joke. it's true that you don't get vacation time like a JET or prefectural language teacher would (2 weeks as opposed to 2 months or more). on the other hand, the workday is shorter so you do have more time to make it to class. on the other other hand, most schools have some good martial arts teachers on site so you can sometimes work it out to participate as part of your job.
it depends mostly on your goals for heading over there. are you looking primarily to train? are you in it for the money (really good money, btw)? are you mostly interested in the culture? personal growth?
a note of caution: most of the western martial artists i met over there had come to train and were a little disappointed with the training over there. i was. in retrospect i realize we weren't approaching it fairly. most of us thought the training there was lackluster, not as inspired as we imagined. but here's the thing: we had left home and moved to another country to pursue the arts. our japanese training partners were just taking class at the neighborhood dojo. of course they weren't as dedicated or intense about their training as we were.
i hope it works out for you. go if you can, it's an incredible experience.
G
gtmazzeo
Guest
hey i want to move there in a year or so so i can study there . maybe you can let me know what you know . you think i could teach english if i dont know japaneese ? i want to go so bad . i still have to convince my wife !ppko said:
Garth Mazzeo
I would like to live and work in Japan for a year after I have finished university (four years time...). Although I can only say Judo moves and some very, VERY light conversation in Japanese, I reckon I could pick up enough something by 2010. Is Japanese a hard language to learn? I assume it must be very hard to learn to write and read it due to the symbols.
pstarr
Master Black Belt
Go East, young man!
