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Inflames
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 486
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 Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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Salaries at Nova have been like that since 2011 or so (for new people; old people have old contracts unavailable to new people).
I was talking to a friend (in Japan 20 years) a few weeks ago and pointed out that part-timers at the drug store (Daikoku) were making 1200 yen an hour, plus they actually had a chance to become seishain and get bonuses and raises. Chinese people with JLPT N1 can get 1,400 yen an hour at department stores and get shakai hoken and can become seishain as well. Honestly teaching for any of these places is being reduced to an absolutely terrible job unless you're looking for something just for a year, then to move on.
I work as a temp in an office now and work retail two nights a week and Saturdays - I made more teaching (but then again I was making almost 400k) but I feel I at least have some respect (plus don't have to deal with disrespectful students). |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 10:50 pm Post subject: |
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I have been thinking about getting out of teaching as well. The money isn't that great, plus the amount of kids is going to keep shrinking.
It seems like many businesses will hire gaijin who can speak Japanese. As they can't get enough employees.
So I am dusting off my resume, and going to try and get my JLPT2 in a year or two. Well hopefully  |
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Inflames
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 486
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 8:04 am Post subject: |
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Don't wait a year or two - do it now. Sites like Anki help a ton (I used mnemosyne and it helped quite a bit). I went from basically hiragana and katakana to JLPT1 in 2 years by basically studying during work breaks, on the train, and a bit at home (mostly work breaks and on the train).
I didn't mind teaching overall and actually liked it at times but I at least feel like I could go somewhere career-wise if I wanted to now. |
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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 11:18 am Post subject: |
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Miura Anjin said
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I think if you teach 37 classes a week, agree to those three stipulations and never miss a day of work then you can make between 230,00 to 250,000 a month. |
Good lord, I teach 17 hours a week, have benefits the same as my Japanese colleagues, and get 7 weeks off a year for nearly double that salary.
I love teaching, but I'm also getting into a side business in anticipation of dwindling student numbers.
This year, I'll do the JLPT N2, and if I am successful, N1 next year. The N2 isn't that hard if you are already reading and speaking Japanese every day at home and at work. N1 is a beast, according to all the native speakers around me. Respect to those who pass it. |
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Inflames
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 486
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 12:28 pm Post subject: |
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| TokyoLiz wrote: |
This year, I'll do the JLPT N2, and if I am successful, N1 next year. The N2 isn't that hard if you are already reading and speaking Japanese every day at home and at work. N1 is a beast, according to all the native speakers around me. Respect to those who pass it. |
Honestly, if the native speakers are Japanese native speakers, they are being polite by saying it is difficult. It seems difficult at first, but passing it simply means you can put down the books and begin to really learn Japanese. |
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victory7
Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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| rxk22 wrote: |
Yeah TKSam is a total loser. Guys like that make me shake my head.
He is right, and I agree that ALT jobs and Eikaiwas are silly/pointless businesses. That teaching English, is a low, if not the lowest priority there is, and so forth. But the fact is, he is a big loser, and it immediately makes me want to disagree with any and everything he says. Just out of spite 
I am still in the "it's better to come here for 6 weeks than come here as an ALT/Eikaiwa monkey" As it really is hard to find jobs from Japan, if you are trying to go home. Incredibly time consuming as well. Not worth it, if you want to continue your life back home, without having to rely on someone. |
Actually, I really like Tokyo Sam! Not joking, ever since I first watched his early videos I liked the guy. He is somebody who came to Japan and created his own reality and actually makes a living from doing that. I can't see anything wrong with his larger-than-life personality.
Tokyo Sam is using his time in Japan to live out a dream and make it a practical, everyday one. He used to have a blog and I regret not posting on it because I would genuinely like to meet him. His negative comments about teaching English are spot-on, and he has a sense of the dramatic which can be very funny.
But Ryan is just an oddball. No matter how accurate in some respects his comments are, he just comes across as a malcontent. If you hang out for so long in a country you are so discontented with, then you deserve every second of your extreme dissatisfaction and any difficulties that come your way.
Ryan seems incredibly immature. I love how Thailand is supposedly going to save him from all the terrible things in Japan and how he has been 'helped' by strangers. There's no such thing as a freebie in Thailand. I haven't kept up with his videos but he is bound to flee Thailand soon if he hasn't already. People who find Japan too hard and express it in his way cannot cope with other countries. Go back to the US already Ryan.
If Tokyo Sam is on these forums, please drop me a private message. I genuinely respect what you've done. |
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victory7
Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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| mateacher wrote: |
| I said I doubt anyone is making more than 350.000 yen per month base salary as an eikaiwa teacher, whereas in the 90s a base salary for eikaiwa was close to 350.000 |
No it wasn't. Eikaiwa teaching paid the base rate of 250,000 yen regardless of age and experience with a relatve few teachers earning more to the tune of about 280,000 yen if they were lucky.
If they were supplementing their eikaiwa income with other work then it could get up to around 300,000 yen but those were the exceptions rather than the rule. The best most eikaiwa teachers did was about 270,000 yen per month. And this was all before tax. |
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victory7
Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 68
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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Japan was also significantly more expensive in the 1990s. Not just in the previous decade's Bubble Economy.
NTT landlines had to be 'bought' and the average price was around 70,000 to 80,000 yen if you bought it from another person who was selling their line and not from NTT. Rents were higher and there were very few fudosan who would even look at renting to a foreigner without big extra fees and strict criteria for guarantors etc.
Food was expensive and outside Tokyo, very limited for import food which cost double or triple more than it does now. And it wasn't that great in variety from what I saw when I managed to get to Tokyo back then. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Inflames wrote: |
Don't wait a year or two - do it now. Sites like Anki help a ton (I used mnemosyne and it helped quite a bit). I went from basically hiragana and katakana to JLPT1 in 2 years by basically studying during work breaks, on the train, and a bit at home (mostly work breaks and on the train).
I didn't mind teaching overall and actually liked it at times but I at least feel like I could go somewhere career-wise if I wanted to now. |
I am studying now. I hope to pass the 3 this year and the 2 next year. I am using anki and RTK as a means to study. I wish I had more time. I have little kids at home, so it is really hard to get a lot of studying in outside of work. |
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rxk22
Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| victory7 wrote: |
Actually, I really like Tokyo Sam! Not joking, ever since I first watched his early videos I liked the guy. He is somebody who came to Japan and created his own reality and actually makes a living from doing that. I can't see anything wrong with his larger-than-life personality.
Tokyo Sam is using his time in Japan to live out a dream and make it a practical, everyday one. He used to have a blog and I regret not posting on it because I would genuinely like to meet him. His negative comments about teaching English are spot-on, and he has a sense of the dramatic which can be very funny.
But Ryan is just an oddball. No matter how accurate in some respects his comments are, he just comes across as a malcontent. If you hang out for so long in a country you are so discontented with, then you deserve every second of your extreme dissatisfaction and any difficulties that come your way.
Ryan seems incredibly immature. I love how Thailand is supposedly going to save him from all the terrible things in Japan and how he has been 'helped' by strangers. There's no such thing as a freebie in Thailand. I haven't kept up with his videos but he is bound to flee Thailand soon if he hasn't already. People who find Japan too hard and express it in his way cannot cope with other countries. Go back to the US already Ryan.
If Tokyo Sam is on these forums, please drop me a private message. I genuinely respect what you've done. |
I hear ya, and understand your POV. I just don't like the guy is all. Just rubs me the wrong way |
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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2016 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Ryan seems incredibly immature. I love how Thailand is supposedly going to save him from all the terrible things in Japan and how he has been 'helped' by strangers. |
I watched a few minutes of the videos. It's not just the immaturity, but the lack of judgement he demonstrates. It's not hard for coworkers and employers to trace someone's digital trail. With profanity and attitude, who'd want to work with him? |
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