Teaching English in Japan.

[shumitto 417]

Just out of curiosity, what are the prerequisites for teaching English in Japan ? I know some forum members make it for a living, so they could tell me which qualifications are needed + if they hire, let's say, Germans for this post.

[ilovesumo 12]

Sure, Germans are needed too, but for native English-teachers the market is far better.

As a male, the girls wanna date you rather then studying...

[ilovesumo 12]

Whatever you say...

[Fay 1,676]

As a male, the girls wanna date you rather then studying...

You date your japanese teacher??? Oh that's new ...

[ilovesumo 12]

Well, She is married actually

[ilovesumo 12]

But that is exactly what everybody thinks- doesn't need to be realistic.

Anyway, Sayonara

[ilovesumo 12]

be a waiter.

Where to find those type of Japanese girls. (=girls trying to get a foreign man) [...]

Or, work at an language school in Japan.

You might not live into Tokyo. In that case, you can absolutely meet those Japanese girls at a language school where you can teach your language. [...]

http://www.meet-japanese-girl.com/date-Japanese-girls.htm

I am not talking without having experienced several stories like that...and I do know more then our forum-friends who are teaching languages in Japan. Guys I lived with at hostels, friends from my university etcetc. Am not calling names here- it is not about our forumers. For example I am friend of people who met like that, got married and now she want's to divorce him cause he is not as good as she thought a German must be... (cannot afford buying her Vuitton stuff I guess)

And I am angry about that story.

Edited December 9, 2009 by ilovesumo

[shumitto 417]

Thank you very much for the information. Just one more question, can CELTA be of some use ?

[ilovesumo 12]

Thank you very much for the information. Just one more question, can CELTA be of some use ?

Maybe.

But a Master in English Specialist Translation doesn't.

Tell me, who needs a degree which is totally useless?

Edited December 9, 2009 by ilovesumo

[Fay 1,676]

be a waiter.

Where to find those type of Japanese girls. (=girls trying to get a foreign man) [...]

Or, work at an language school in Japan.

You might not live into Tokyo. In that case, you can absolutely meet those Japanese girls at a language school where you can teach your language. [...]

http://www.meet-japanese-girl.com/date-Japanese-girls.htm

I am not talking without having experienced several stories like that...and I do know more then our forum-friends who are teaching languages in Japan. Guys I lived with at hostels, friends from my university etcetc. Am not calling names here- it is not about our forumers. For example I am friend of people who met like that, got married and now she want's to divorce him cause he is not as good as she thought a German must be... (cannot afford buying her Vuitton stuff I guess)

And I am angry about that story.

You can find those girls everywhere, it's not specific japanese.

[shumitto 417]

... got married and now she want's to divorce him cause he is not as good as she thought a German must be... (cannot afford buying her Vuitton stuff I guess)

And I am angry about that story.

Opening a can of worms was far off my intentions here. However, I get what you mean.

Every country has its own set of "construes" for alterity; and many forumers here, apparently, have stricken up a following for Ozumo based on some particular ideas on Japan which don't stand up after proper observations. Japan may be somewhat special in this regard for the cultural and geographic distance to what is seen as the West both in the way it perceives and is perceived. But a Japanese citizen arriving today to Germany would by no means be unliable to it.

Edited December 9, 2009 by shumitto

[Asashosakari 16,974]

You can find those girls everywhere, it's not specific japanese.

Bingo. As an added reminder of basic logic, let's keep in mind that "all A do B" does not imply that "everybody who does B must be an A". Maybe foreign guys who want a Japanese girlfriend (and vice versa) end up predominantly in the language schools, but that's surely not the only reason for people being there (and almost certainly why John immediately bollocks'ed that statement). Of course, if your only exposure to language schools is through people who are there for that one reason...well.

(In a related note, I hear that every Japanese person's view of Germany is based on what they've seen/read in Legend of the Galactic Heroes and similar works. I mean, what other possibilities could there possibly be?)

On the other hand, and at the risk of getting a bollocks of my own, the issue certainly does exist, and from what I've read it's far from guaranteed that somebody - just because he's a native speaker of English - will know how the hell to teach his own language, and I'm willing to bet that there's a lot of (skill-wise) riffraff floating around the English-teaching market. If somebody like shumitto (who obviously knows English well enough to be near-indistinguishable from a native speaker, at least judged on his writing) wants to give it a try, I'd be shocked if he couldn't be to somebody's benefit. Getting "in" might admittedly be harder than for somebody who can just wave around the right passport...

Edited December 9, 2009 by Asashosakari

[ilovesumo 12]

Am on some Japanese boards were females want me to become their pen-pale for language reasons. I turn them down cause my English is still shit...how could I ever teach what I cannot use myself???

The man who tried that, get...let's say ,nasty and personal after a while...

I am confused about attention in any way. Just cannot understand that the reason why 50% hate me is the reason why 50% like me in Japan...

Many successful foreigners in any country say the same thing- get the vocabulary by studying hard yourself and the rest you get while using it...

that is why the dictionary is my best friend...

Any gaijin who needs a job to got to Japan- language teaching might sound good, but I was glad that my Japanese language teachers had a degree to do so...(but I still gotta do self-studying...)

Why not setting a future in Japan and join a major cooperation?

When I went there the first time- I couldn't, cause I was still a student- but had opportunities like "If you join right now, in 2 years you already could be...."

Now, INTO the excamination time- I just wish I had taken that...or better not? Dunno, confused!

(You kids out there, go to Japan BEFORE you enter a University!!!!!!!!!)

Best page to find a job for me:　http://www.gaijinpot.com/

[Harry 67]

A friend who taught English in northern Japan was lonely because she couldn't speak Japanese and the other English teachers had such poor English (not native) that she couldn't speak with them! A different friend went to Japan for a year not officially to teach, but to speak in an English class so they could copy her accent. She lived in Nagoya for a year and hated it while I spent 9 days there and loved it (10 hours a day in the Aichitaiikukan of course I loved it!). She studied Japanese at university. When I worked there this summer most were surprised that I was doing something other than teaching English. All the learn Japanese ads sure looked like personal ads to me.

It used to be that any English person could teach English but a few of the major schools went belly up. I think they want real teachers now which is a good thing I think. Expensive though, some co-workers there say they spent $100000 on English, not sure if he misconverted from yen or what but my English teaching friends would like to find people who spend that much on it.

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

Shumitto,

The large English conversation school chain I worked for requested applicants have 12 years of education (primary and secondary school) with English being the main language of instruction. If you wanted them to sponsor your visa, then you were also required to have a university degree (this was due to the regulations of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs). We had teachers on staff from all over the world, but naturally the majority of them came from countries where English was an official language.

Some local boards of education that hire teachers directly accept "near-native" English speakers, often determined through a job interview. The district I work in now does that, and I am aware of others with similar policies. There is a German lady working in town as a primary school assistant English teacher, and she teaches German in her spare time.

I do agree with Asashosakari that merely being a native English speaker does not automatically make one an effective instructor in the language. Often, those who've learned it as a second/foreign language have a better insight into the learning process, and can often better explain the details that come naturally to those who grew speaking English. Teaching is a skill that can be improved through dedication and hard work, and I've also seen those who came on a lark and with no formal qualifications develop into excellent instructors. YMMV.

[Jejima 1,000]

A decade ago, when I was living in Japan, I had a friend from Papua New Guinea, who was doing a post-doctorate degree in linguistics at Hiroshima University. Papua New Guinea has a quarter of the world's surviving languages (one of my favourite facts), and so English is used as the Lingua Franca. My friend's English was perfect, and he was an expert in languages - yet he could not get a part time job teaching English to help fund his studies, because (according to him) 'his face didn't fit what was expected'. Meanwhile, I met a few US marines from the nearby Iwakuni base (They would descend on Hiroshima at the weekends) who were giving English lessons as a 'little extra money earner'. I imagine that many (if not all) had left the field of education before the tertiary level.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Jejima