English teaching in Japan. Great time or Complete Nightmare???

[Tatsurou]

acid = shinjuku
velfarre = roppongi

[aquamarine]

Teaching can be fun, but it will all depend on what kind of teaching you want to do. Class-room teaching, one to one, or private lessons out of your apartment. When I first moved to Japan, I was an English teacher and started off at 2,700 yen/hour. I moved up because I was a good teacher and received any good reviews to a final pay grade of 6,100 yen/hour before becoming manager.

It's a good job, but you're going to fall into the cracks as far as job security goes unless you are working for a university or actual REAL school (eikawa's don't count as real schools, sorry kids). You will receive no health insurance. You will receive no dental or personal insurance. You will be expected to pay for everything (sometimes as with the case of Nova) they will pay for your shitty little apartment. In which case, I'd suggest you go and find your own apartment as you'll be a LOT better off. If you think that you'll be able to save up a LOT of money and do well for yourself, think again.

Don't forget kids, teaching English is equal to working in McDonalds. It's the Mickey-Mouse of jobs in Japan and CERTAINLY not something you'd want to brag about, lol.

I quit after seven months. It was fun, I did my time, I became a manager and that was enough. I moved into another industry which has job security, gives me a pension and where I can routinely make $6000/day. Teach English... go get a degree, then come over here and get a REAL job. There's nothing more pitiful than seeing a 45 year old man who can't get a real job because they have been teaching and making a shitty wage their entire life.

As a final note... don't expect teaching English to give you ANY relevant experience should you decide to move back to your home country. "I can teach English! So i can be a teacher back home!" =====WRONG====== With no Education degree, you're pretty much fucked and will have wasted god knows how many years of your life doing a remedial job and earning poor wages.

IF you want to teach English, go out and do it. It's fun for a while. But don't expect to have any relevant experience in any other teaching field.

[namelessbum]

Amen bro. Left Japan a few years ago after teaching in JET for a few years. Before starting JET the "JET alumni" kept spewing how awesome "working in Japan" will look on your resume. Sadly, there was a reverse correlation between years worked in Japan and career building back home.

My friends who realized how shitty their JET/eikaiwa/university job really was fastest could return to their home country the easiest. The longer people stayed, the harder it was for them to find good jobs back home, and more likely they were to be hitched to some bitchy, whiny, demanding J woman who spent all their money.

I had some connections that I kept and got lucky upon returning to the States, but some of my friends from Japan with Masters degrees stayed longer than me and went back to America with the only job they could find, working at a Best Buy.

Go there and do it as a notch under your belt, keep your uni contacts, and return to your home country (single) a year later and remember the good times.

Originally Posted by aquamarine

Don't forget kids, teaching English is equal to working in McDonalds. It's the Mickey-Mouse of jobs in Japan and CERTAINLY not something you'd want to brag about, lol.

As a final note... don't expect teaching English to give you ANY relevant experience should you decide to move back to your home country. "I can teach English! So i can be a teacher back home!" =====WRONG====== With no Education degree, you're pretty much fucked and will have wasted god knows how many years of your life doing a remedial job and earning poor wages.

IF you want to teach English, go out and do it. It's fun for a while. But don't expect to have any relevant experience in any other teaching field.

[aXemeXa]

i've been looking into this recently.

and this thread is quite a downer.

but i appreciate the information.

i still have lots of research ahead before i decide if this is something i want to do. i do know i at least want to visit, though.

[armstrong]

I teach at a univerisity, but have a lot of time off.

I've started to teach English at cram schools with the explicit purpose of trying to get action.

Sad? Or Lucky?

We'll see pretty soon.

[aquamarine]

Originally Posted by armstrong

I teach at a univerisity, but have a lot of time off.

I've started to teach English at cram schools with the explicit purpose of trying to get action.

Sad? Or Lucky?

We'll see pretty soon.

That's pretty disgusting.

Way to be a pedophile there buddy.

For those who don't know, most cram schools are filled with children. Other than admitting you're into children, why post? You're not even in Japan and last time I checked, this wasn't a Taiwan discussion section.

[armstrong]

Actually, there are many cram schools that cater to late high-school or university students (and working adults too, for that matter). The students I have taught so far are in their early 20s.

The OP stated:

>Ok. A lot of you guys want to go to Japan to meet girls and I know you've all researched on the internet about the possibility of being an English teacher.

Granted, Japan <> Taiwan, but Japan is in Asia, Taiwan is in Asia, Meeting Girls = Meeting Girls, and English Teaching = English Teaching.

Not a lot had been posted DIRECTLY RELATED to the gist of the initial post so I chimed in. I'm sorry you found my post so offensive.

[Bellotizio]

The problem is that a lot of people watch too many shows which give them a totally different perspective aka bullshitting them about certain things about being at another country. First off, how much does an English teacher make in USA? Shit. How much does one make in Japan or another country? Maybe a bit more, but with all the problems you'll have and expenses without having anyone close will still be shit like in your original country.

Everyone clouds their heads up with "going to Japan" rather than "making some real money in a foreign country."

You don't leave a your own country where you're sure you can make some type of bread, to go to a country where YOU'RE the immigrant!

The aspect of going to a new country (especially Japan in most people here's case) is fucking sexy, but in the long run, you'll probably regret it, unless you marry there, but then you'll just probably have two mo' problems to worry about, lol.

[guy]

Originally Posted by Bellotizio

You don't leave a your own country where you're sure you can make some type of bread, to go to a country where YOU'RE the immigrant!

You leave your country when it's in the middle of an economic crisis and all your friends and acquaintences can't get jobs back at home.

No one goes to Japan to teach English as a permanent career (although some have ended up that way for lack of being proactive). The whole point is precisely because money isn't the number 1 factor. Everyone has different reasons, but the most relevant is because the job availability and salary is still relatively stable compared to a lot of other markets.

The only people who end up regretting these kinds of experiences are the ones who didn't really think it through properly, such as those who thought it would be "easy money". But there is no shortage of people who have come to Japan as English teachers and have had little or no regrets -- even if the salary isn't enough for you to retire on (although it is still enough for you to pay for everything, and treat yourself to some fun every few weeks).

[inugami1735]

I am saving every penny as of now. I'm 52 but, in a year I want to go. Idon't care if I die there!