Oppertunity to Teach in Japan

SpicyDuck

SpicyDuck

SpicyDuck

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10 Dec 2003
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One of my Japanese contacts on MSN has spoken to me about an opportunity to go live and teach in Japan. Which is quite exciting and will take me out of this temporary situation I can't seem to get myself out of.

Car ('though I can't drive), apartment and a wage of $30 (£17) per hour, in Chayamachi, but teaching in Kojima.

The job is to teach Japanese school children to speak English and they're looking for someone from England who is interested in the language, country and to help Japan in it's development of trying to teach everyone English. Although, I can't teach the whole country. :p

Nothing is for certain but it's quite exciting to think it can all work out and I can go live in a great country whilst earning a decent wage.

The person who is telling me about it has been speaking to me for a while now and she can be quite persuasive for my application, if you know what I mean. :)

I love languages and Japanese is one which I'm currently learning, although I'm nowhere near conversational level. But that isn't a problem as there will be another Japanese teacher in the class with me, who can speak English.

I know a couple of people here do the same thing and I'd appreciate your advice or any other information you think I should consider before commiting myself.

All I can say is... woo hoo! :)

Phil.
 
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do it. Anytime you get the chance to travel and see the world, do it.

You can always come back if it doesn't work out, but at least you won't be sat there wondering 'what if' :)

Oooh you should ask Piggy what her brother thinks - he lives in Japan! :D
 
good luck and Japan is great, my friend went there to teach english on his gap (he is japanese tho) and ended up becoming some kind of model too lol!! He had a great time!

ps learn to spell might help :p

(opportunity)
 
another Outpost 9 reader :)
That site has brightened up my day quite a few times :)


With regards to the original question, I think Kamikaze_Pigeon (piggymon's brother) was an english teacher in Japan*, although I haven't seen him on the boards much recently.





*He got hitched and lives there now.
 
My flatmate recently got a gig teaching English in Japan. 20k pa for 1 year. She can't wait. Even if you simply want to indulge in the culture for a year I'd recommend it. Good luck if you decide to go for it. :)
 
fieldy said:
do you have to have any qualifications for this? I'd love to do this :)
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Nope, but that's ok. This is a case of who you know, not what you know. But I consider myself quite proficient at the use of English language. Considering I'm English and all. :p

I think I will go. I'm getting a call tomorrow to talk to my Japanese friend and we're going to talk about it a little more. :)

It's quite exciting and I hope it doesn't all fall through.

Phil.
 
OvertoneBliss said:
Nope, but that's ok. This is a case of who you know, not what you know.
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Not really, more of a case of Japan being desperate for English language teachers...they take loads over there each year.

Good luck if you do decide to do it though...looks like an amazing country!
 
How are you going to teach children to speak another language if you can't speak their language? Surely to employ you saying "it's ok, there's another guy there who can speak Japanese" would just be placing a large burden on the other teacher, and to be completely honest, you'd probably be pretty useless. I know that I wouldn't try to learn a complex other language with completely new characters from someone who can't tell me where I'm going wrong in English.
Also, being English doesn't mean that you know the language well enough to teach it.
 
For once do it, instead of posting about it on here and not bothering!

Get on this ASAP. I have a friend who's teaching in China at the moment, he's only my age too, its a great oppurtunity for him and he loves it :).
 
LeperousDust said:
For once do it, instead of posting about it on here and not bothering!

Get on this ASAP. I have a friend who's teaching in China at the moment, he's only my age too, its a great oppurtunity for him and he loves it :).
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In the name of Alex, I shall! :p

Nah, seriously, if it all goes through nicely I know I will... I just don't want to big my hopes up too much and see it fall through. :)

Regarding me knowing English, the other teacher in the class will be Japanese who can speak English. It's more about the speaking and listening part of the language they're worried about, and wish to develop.

Bracco, why do you think I'll be completely useless? I already know a little bit of Japanese and it's not a job requirment. Sure, I won't be able to communicate my teachings in Japanese but as I just said, it's mostly about the speaking and listening.

The guy who's job I'll be taking basically treats it as a holiday and is getting fired soon for being no good, as his students haven't progressed much over the year.

They're still stuck on introductions and tenses, which is terrible for a years work. I learnt that much by myself in under 6 months, including reading and writing. In Japanese of course. :p

Phil.
 
I don't think that someone who can't communicate with the children would be able to help very much. Yes, you can say they are pronouncing things correctly, but even with word order and such like, you need to be able to communicate in a language they will understand. It's all very well saying the other guy can translate for you, but surely he has his own job to do, and won't necessarily want to be standing in the middle every time you want to have a conversation with a student.
 
My friend did this, usually called TEFL isn't it (teaching english as a foreign language)?


He's been there two years and comes back July, he's loved it. I'm going out there in June just before he comes back to stay with him for two weeks, can't wait :) :)
 
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