Job Discussion Forums

James Brown · Joined: 02 Oct 2015 Posts: 23

Four Seasons Language School and Cultural Center in Hamamatsu
- horrific bullying, even by Japanese standards

Shane English School
- no brainer? I saw new teachers crying due to abusive treatment

ILC International Language Center
- overall just an average hellish sweatshop

PM me if you need any info.

victory7 · Joined: 22 Mar 2016 Posts: 68

This is good info for those new people or even people experienced at teaching English in Japan who are looking for new eikaiwa jobs.

I'm going to add a huge red flag to this thread based on conversations I've had with friends' friends who have been shafted by schools in Tokyo that should basically not exist. Ive listened to their verifiable stories of how teachers at some schools with a number of branches in Tokyo that pay NOTHING, no basic salary, until students take a class, have been messed with.

Do not work for these kinds of schools. Only go for schools that pay at least some basic salary. When native English speakers start to refuse to work for these places, they will improve their conditions or go out of business.

Lamarr · Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 190

A lot of these places are money factories, purely looking to get as much cash off the customers as possible (and keep on getting cash off them for as long as possible), while keeping their outlay and overheads, including staff wages, down. No doubt the proceeds of this racket are quickly shovelled into offshore bank accounts.

That seems to be the rule of thumb at a place like Shane. I heard stories of instructors losing the plot there, two instructors specifically who were canned for having rows with Japanese staff in front of other students, due to the Japanese staff demanding that they do more lessons, and basically just treating them like pieces of meat.

These places can quite easily ditch you any time they like, and get somebody else in fresh off the boat, paying them the bottom rate of pay. My advice would be to get a proper teaching qualification and experience in your home country, and then try to land a decent teaching job in Japan off the back of that.

Avoid eikaiwa and ALT like the plague, unless there really isn't anything else you can do, and you really want to come to Japan. The whole business is nasty and cut-throat at heart (though you may not see this side of it straight away). These places aren't schools, they're simply money-making rackets for the people that finance them (often associated with organized crime: look it up).

The Angry Brit · Joined: 27 Mar 2014 Posts: 21

I would add Lakeland University Japan. They are particularly frustrating because they have the university title but are actually an Eikaiwa. They hire and fire like rotten candy.

mcsilks · Joined: 03 Feb 2012 Posts: 10

Jmbf · Joined: 29 Jun 2014 Posts: 663

mcsilks · Joined: 03 Feb 2012 Posts: 10

Mr. Kalgukshi · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 7:45 am Post subject:

This thread is being closely monitored by the Mod Team because of since deleted inappropriate postings containing personal jabs and less than professional language. Future similar postings will also be deleted along with the makers of same.

I kid you not.

The Transformer · Joined: 03 Mar 2017 Posts: 69

Shakey · Joined: 29 Aug 2014 Posts: 199

Eikaiwa was never meant to be a career.

The Transformer · Joined: 03 Mar 2017 Posts: 69

The only thing the "big" eikaiwa are good for is to have your fun abroad for a year. Beyond that, the only thing you can do to improve your lot is to try and get promoted to some sort of middle management position, though then you have to start administering the company discipline to the serfs below you, and might find yourself caught between a rock and hard place.

The only thing I'd say in their favour is, if you think you might want to teach English as a longer term career, getting better qualified with TESOL certifications or a Master's further down the line, then eikaiwa are as good a way as any to start out in and get some experience for a couple of years.

One of the more painful aspects of eikaiwa is seeing people stuck there indefinitely in bog standard, dead-end eikaiwa instructor jobs, unable or unwilling to get out. The classic crazed, alcoholic ex-pat, going more and more weird and round the bend. I've seen a few of those, even people with spouses and kids. That is not a position you want to be in.

mitsui · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 1562 Location: Kawasaki

People should not be complacent.
I was at a bar this month, talking to a guy who got divorced, has a kid and is stuck in eikaiwa. If he goes back to the US, he will never see his kid again.

People need to make sure they have the skills that employers want, if they are going to stay in this economy. There are too many teachers now, and not as many students as before.

The Transformer · Joined: 03 Mar 2017 Posts: 69

I don't know what you can do if you're still stuck there from the old days. These days, since the pay and conditions have gone down, at least people who get into it are less likely to stay in it, and are more likely to pull their finger out to improve their lot within it if they can, or do something to get out of it completely.

Vince · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 559 Location: U.S.

The Transformer · Joined: 03 Mar 2017 Posts: 69