questions about teaching in Japan :D

[Gspot]

Hi,
i'm 20, no Bachelor(tho i'm considering going for one later, however..) in Tas,Australia.
for Visa i would get the Working holiday visa which doesn't require a degree.

i'm really! interested in teaching in Japan, probably in Fukuoka but not sure yet, there's just a few things i really need to learn..

firstly the certificates... ESL, TESL, TESOL, etc what's the difference and what is well recognised, good to go for?

http://www.seeklearning.com.au/global-tesol/ this is the one i'm most interested in at the moment, it doesn't require a degree. they have various courses, specialised courses and a '5 day course' which i can do here in hobart, does anyone have experience with this group and is the TESOL certificate from one place different to anothers? or is TESOL the same certificate everywhere but you can study it from various places..

the specialty courses would add to your credentials, how much is needed to find a job easily in japan? would the 5 day course, which i think includes a specialty course done from home, and maybe if i did an extra specialty course too, would it be enough?

sorry for so many questions, i'm just trying to learn as much as i can about this before i go out and take a course..

i don't need a degree for the working holiday visa or to do the course mentioned before but is it fairly necessary to the schools i might try to get work at? would most refuse someone without a degree?

working holiday visas don't allow a full time job.. how much could i possibly make working a lot of part time hours? and how long are contracts often for?
i think i may also be able to get some money on the side teaching guitar to help out.

also rent, i may be able to rent with my girlfriend(she is living in japan at the moment) but either way how much would a good place be approx?

thankyou so much for taking the time to read this if you did, let alone if you could answer any of it

[ESL Teacher]

First time I've come across the Global TESOL course at the http://www.seeklearning.com.au website so can't really comment on it. It looks decent enough though. I think this site is just a front for http://www.globaltesol.com.au. If this is the case, then YES, I've heard of Global TESOL, and know they are a good group.

When teaching overseas, it really doesn't make much of a difference where you get your teaching certificate from. Places like i-to-i, ICAL, onlinetefl etc.. pretty much all fall into the same category, ie. Short courses on becoming an English teacher with very few or no accreditations.

HOWEVER, if you were to get your teaching qualifications at University, then it would hold a lot more weighting. Some uni's do offer short courses for those aspiring to be a teacher. I would also suggest looking into those.

The acronyms TESL, TEFL, TESOL etc.. basically all mean the same thing:

• TEFL: teaching English as a foreign language
• TESL: teaching English as a second language
• TESOL: teaching English to speakers of other languages
  or Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (this being the organization)
• ESL: English as a second language
• EFL: English as a Foreign Language

Whatever the schools flavor is, they will choose one of these acronyms and create a course around them.

Whether you do a 5-day in-class course or 60 hour online course, the weighting would be pretty much the same when looking for an ESL job overseas.

There will be no problem for you getting a teaching job in Japan if you have your Working Holiday Visa. Many schools also will allow you to teach full-time (full-time is around 25 hours per week). If you want, there are some online sites where you can also search for students.

www.Findateacher.net and www.eigopass.com. There are a number of Japan specific job sites with teaching jobs in japan, so do make use of these resources.

Don't think it will be easy getting students for teaching the guitar. But good luck if you go down this path.

If you rent in Japan, the key money required is usually about 4 months in advance. Quite hefty.... The alternative is a gaijin house. They are clean and offer good facilities. This would be your 1st step until you get confortable and have the time to look around if you then think it necessary.

Plenty of gaijin houses scattered throughout the bigger cities in Japan. Expect to pay about ￥50,000 to ￥60,000 for something comfortable.

Let me know if you need more help.

[Gspot]

thanks for the info, definitely really helpful!

you said full time work would be possible.. it says on this site i found... "The Working Holiday visa is not appropriate for those wishing to enter Japan to engage in full-time employment or to enrol in academic institutions."
http://www.japan.org.au/Wvisa.htm

doesn't this mean it's not allowed? or just not encouraged?

the guitar thing is nothing, just something i can do on the side for small cash if possible and i decide to. i'd just advertise at the local music stores or whatever, i've been involved with it here for a bit

[Gspot]

Originally Posted by ESL Teacher

HOWEVER, if you were to get your teaching qualifications at University, then it would hold a lot more weighting. Some uni's do offer short courses for those aspiring to be a teacher. I would also suggest looking into those.

do you mean getting a TESOL type certificate through uni? or just finishing a general teaching language/english type course?

i'll take a look at what my uni is offering

[ESL Teacher]

"The Working Holiday visa is not appropriate for those wishing to enter Japan to engage in full-time employment or to enrol in academic institutions."

Yep, but many schools are relaxed on this ruling. Even know someone who worked full-time in a chain hotel up north without any troubles.

First take a look at what your local university or a correspondence university is offering. Other than that, take your pick of either an online or classroom based course. The i-to-i seems to be the most popular amongst teachers. They also have classroom based TEFL courses in Australia.

[Gspot]

thanks,
seeklearning has simply partnered with global TESOL college, the two are the same.
i think i will go with Global TESOL, is there anything i should know?

i'll have a number of choices for specialty courses too, i want to be working at an actual school. is there much difference working situation wise, between teaching children, adolescents and adults at a school?
i mean, if i taught adults, that'd mainly be night courses? etc

[Antonio]

If you are full-time teaching adults, then yes, it can span into the evening. If you only teach adults part-time, then the majority of your classes would be in the evening. Unless of course you teach groups of housewives etc. during the day.

Working conditions are all pretty much the same if you teach adults or children. Only difference is that if you gain entry to teach at a high school or university, then the pay is often better. However, you would have to wear business attire then. Teaching children you can wear casual clothes which is nice.

[Clancy]

Hi,
I spent 10 months last year teaching in Japan. It is very difficult to get a work visa without a degree. None of the large english institutes will hire u without a degree. Some of the juku's (coaching schools) might with a TESOL certificate. You might actually need an employer to sponsor u. It is very expensive to live in Japan and part time work won't give you a lot to live on. Example of prices are Pizza Hut pizzas range from $30 to $40. Beer is more expensive but spirits are cheaper in the supermarket than Australia. Milk is about $3 a litre while bread is $2-$3 for 10 slices (thats the size of the loaves). The price above for an apartment is for a small bedsitter, basically one room and that will go up if you live in Tokyo or Osaka. Transport costs to and from work is usually paid by the employer. if u want any more info let me know.

[Gspot]

thanks, yeah visa is no problem cos i want to use the working holiday visa. i probably will work fulltime, if it was parttime i'd atleast be doing a heeap of hours, maybe 4 days a week full hours.
i'd probably be looking at teaching in a high school or college too rather than an english school

how far would 100,000yen get you per month for living costs?, assuming it's a 270,000yen or so job and i spend maybe 70,000 on rent, i mean how much could i be saving per month?

[mycolumbus]

I don't know, maybe I just have a way of saving money in Japan.

If you know where to shop, then living in Japan is quite reasonable. Your budget of 70,000 yen per month is quite high for rent. If you go to the gaijin houses, then expect to pay about 55,000 yen per month inclusive of utilities for a 1 room and shared kitchen, loungeroom etc.

I pay ￥198 for 1 litre of Soy Milk. Normal milk is cheaper and can range from ￥99 to about ￥179. It's not hard to buy ￥99 milk, and the taste really isn't that different.

Bread comes in sizes of 4, 5 or 6 slices. The length is always the same, but the thickness of each slice will vary. Again, I pay ￥99 for bread. 1 packet would be about 15cm in length to give you an idea.

Not sure about pizza, but I know the supermarket pizza is not bad and costs around ￥600.

On the other hand, you can waste your money here in Japan if you don't know where to go. Recently, there have been a heap of ￥99 and ￥100 shops spring up. Some great bargains at these places. The other day I bought 4 bananas for ￥99 and 1 pinepple for ￥99 at one of these shops.

Don't let everybody's comments on expensive Japan deter you. I have put the prices here in ￥ and please conver them to your local currency. Everybody tends to inflate things when making their own exchanges in their head.