Thinking of going to Japan to look for an ESL teaching job

You don't want more than 30hrs of teaching a week. The prep work, marking, paperwork etc adds a huge amount of overhead and you'll be beaten down quickly by the stress and workload.

Also bear in mind that you'll face a certain amount of culture shock and adjustment, which can also take some getting used to and will be stressful.

I've never done ESL in Japan, but I have taught English in a foreign country and it is hard work and can be a tough life. JET sounds like the best option if you want to enjoy your time there.

 

I don't think the big guns make teachers do this. Other poorly abused Japanese employees would be doing that. Prep work for my classes was 15 minutes on the train, and I was teaching high level business English. O_O

 

What kind of overhead do you incure naterally and what do you control? For instance, do they provide you with lesson plans, or do you make them up yourself? Do you dole out standardized tests they give you, or do you make them yourself?

I suppose if you had a lot of control, you could make things really easy for yourself (though, its pretty bad for the students who are learning from you).

 

Working for any big school, they will not only provide everything, they will make you teach "their way" even if it flat out sucks. You're not a teacher... you spew out their English propaganda. They say they'll allow you to gauge the students and find out what's best... but they lie.

Generally, when you're a full time employee in Japan you should have zero overhead. Even your transportation from home to the office is reimbursed.

 

Try telling that to the fuckers I work for. It costs me 30'000 yen or more per month but all they'll give me is 15'000 max ! After a lot of messing about buying 3 month passes for trains I managed to get the total down to 23'000 yen but I'm still out of pocket. Dam, I can't wait to buy my new car :crying: I hate all this 3 trains and a bus to work every day.

Yakumo

 

can i ask what ESL teaching is anyways?

it seems anyone can apply even without knowing any japanese or having any teaching experience?? :shrug:

 

ESL=English as a Second Language

Yes, in most cases the only prerequisite is that you are a native speaker. For smaller language schools even that is secondary. Everyone can apply but generally the market for language schools is declining and it's getting harder to find a good job. One exception is teaching (pre-school) children. There is demand for that but of course not everyone can do that kind of thing.

 

but how does that work if you cant speak japanese? doesnt teaching language atleast require that youre bilingual?

seems to me that it must be really awkward trying to teach someone something when you cant communicate with that person in the first place?:shrug:

 

No, a good teacher can teach without the use of the learners native language. Just think how a baby learns language. Good demonstration and simple words are all you need to start. Kids pick things up fast, adults on the other hand.....

Yakumo

 

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071017a2.html

News from Nova. They won't make it much longer.

 

Well, yeah, I'm sure there's limitations. 15,000 yen sounds about normal. I've never lived that far out, so never had to test it. 30,000 yen? How the fuck far do you live from your work?

 

Hmm, if you can see a map I live in Chofu Shimonoseki and work in Tobata Kita Kyushu. I have to take 3 Fucking trains! thanks to JR pissing about with the lines in January plus a bus. I really hate traveling to work and back. It never used to be so bad. Last year I could get a train right from Chofu to Tobata which took 30 minutes but now I don't get home until about 7pm even though I finish at 5:15. This is why I need a new car :crying:

Yakumo

 

Wow, that is hardcore man. You must be tearing your hair out with the nipper keeping you awake at night!

As for the question about not using native tongue, it is only really tricky when you are teaching absolute beginners. Once you take a teaching course or receive training you are taught methods to teach without use of native tongue and all of their textbooks will have translations or a glossary of the words used in the lesson, so they get the idea. Most of the students you end up teaching usually have a fairly good grasp of the language or there are students in the class that are better than others that will help the weaker ones out.

The only time I wish I knew better Greek was when the cheeky ones used to back chat me. But I soon learned the most used cursing and so on. Skase malaka! Oh really? 250 lines my boy. Yes, I really gave them lines, and the head teacher would make them do them too.