The Eye of Patrick

Before I start to talk about the JET (The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) program, I will give a short history of how I ended up in the JET program.

During my one-year exchange in Japan, I started to fall in love with the place. It felt like I belonged here and that it was natural for me to be in Japan. Do not get my wrong; my Japanese is not great so there were many communication problems. Nevertheless, while in Japan I felt a sense of belonging. The people, the environment and culture where all things that had grown on me and caused me to want to be there longer. I realized finally that I wanted to return to Japan when I noticed things I did not like about Japan. The long work hours of family friends parents, the practice of following most rules to the T and so on. However, even with all those things that were not great about Japan I still liked it more then ever. For me that is a true test of whether the place is good for me. That after being there for a while and seeing the things that I like and dislike that is still like it.

So back to my exchange, I was nearing the end of my stay at Kansai Gaidai in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan and realized I wanted to return.

The common way to return to Japan is teaching English. If you make the decision to be an English teacher there is another two routes you can go. First, the common things required for both JET and Eikaiwa or English Conversation Schools are:

- University degree – this is required to get a work permit in Japan.

- Native English speaker for the majority of the education, though it may depend on the company you are applying for.

The first being ‘Eikaiwa’ or English Conversation schools. These are the large English schools that you usually find at the exits of major train stations in Japan. They are everywhere and the big schools are Geos, NOVA, ECC, Aeon and so on. While there are many other smaller English conversation schools.

When you apply to one of them, you must go for an interview in one of the cities they have listed for interviews. During the interview, you will probably have to give a demo lesson and they will test how you handle a class (the interviewers will probably pretend to be students). My knowledge of this area is very limited because I decided to go the JET route.

I know that the large schools will help you to get a Visa, but will require you to make payment on your own plane ticket, but will reimburse you after a year and may pay for you to go home in the holidays. They just want to make sure that you don’t ditch them when you get to Japan.

They usually will provide company housing, where you will share a room with other English teachers. This can be a positive thing as it gives you a small of group of people you know when you move to a new country. But it can be a negative in that they will deduct the cost of rent from your salary whether you occupy the apartment or live outside in your own private residences.

The pay for these schools is usually very similar and in writing this article, I checked out NOVA. They have two types of employment, one is Sponsored Instructors and these are people who probably work around 29-33 hours a week and they earn between 2,768,000-3,624,00￥ or 24,783-32,448 USD per year.

NOVA also has a program called “Flexi-Schedule teachers” they are teachers who work less hours; this is probably a good way to test the NOVA environment without committing to it full time. The pay is obviously less and it ranges between 2,340,000-2,613,000￥ or 20,939.60- 23,382.55 USD.

The reason that many people decide to go this route and use the private communication schools is because they are located in the city. If you want to have a chance to see Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto this is the route to go. They usually have many openings and are fairly accommodating about where you end up. Many people use the large schools to get to Japan and then look for employment elsewhere. This is because many of the smaller schools in Japan will only hire you if you are already in Japan and have a Visa, while the large schools will usually sponsor your Visa. That is why they require you to buy your own plane ticket.

I personally can’t say whether or not this is the route to go to end up in Japan. I can tell you that I have read many stories of people either loving or hating it. It really depends on your where you end up. Though if you decide to teach in one of the large schools, you will not have much freedom in what is being taught as the course material is tightly controlled and you are required to follow it exactly. This can be a bonus to someone who wants to come to Japan and party and have a good time and not worry about doing much work. But some people have felt like they became trained monkeys.

Some websites to check out if you are interested in teaching through an agency or private conversation school are:

Schools

Nova - http://www.teachinjapan.com/

Geos - http://www.geoscareer.com/

AeonNet - http://www.aeonet.com/

ECC - http://www.japanbound.com/

General Job sites in Japan

A popular site for jobs in Japan - www.gaijinpot.com

Has lot of information, and resources - http://www.eltnews.com/

Helps you find students while in Japan - http://www.findateacher.net/

This is the conclusion to Part 1 of teaching English in Japan. In this part I covered the private converstation schools or “Eikaiwa”. I hope this information provides you with a general introduction to the field, if you have any more questions please do not hesitate to ask by leaving a comment. Next time I will go into the JET program and how it works. This is the route I chose to come to Japan on and I hope I can provide you with a understand of why I chose JET.

So till next time,

Ja-ne,

Patrick