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johnwusa
Joined: 22 Sep 2004
Posts: 1
Location: california
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 Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 1:33 am Post subject: On My Way to Japan...Humbly request insight and advice |
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Howdy expats et al:
Name's John. A bit about me.
I have a BA in English literature from a state college in California, a A Graduate Diploma of Humanities in English from Massey University in New Zealand, and I'm finishing my thesis for an MA in English Non-fiction Prose/Creative writing in the next few months.
I have 2 years teaching experience at the high school level, 2 years experience teaching writing and literature to freshmen college students and have taught 4 summer college writing courses.
Next month I'm taking the CTESOL course in San Francisco from Transworld Schools to complete my certification with the hopes of leaving for Japan with a contract in hand March/April 2005.
My questions;
With my qualifications and teaching experience, what type of positions should I be shooting for in Japan? and Why?
Economically, what type of salary should I expect?
Would it be possible to work day and evening 5 days and still save $2500-3000US per month? If so how?
I'd like to be in Japan for about 3 years and experience the culture, learn the language and develop lasting relationships. When it comes to negotiating a package for myself, what suggestions do you all have?
I also would like to do copy work or editing for companies. How would I go about contacting companies in Japan (or here in America) to market myself and abilities in addition to teaching in Japan?
I'm also interested in contacting individuals in Japan now to hear about some of the things you're teaching in the classroom and whatnot.
Okay, I think this is a good start.
Thanks very much and feel free to post responses to [email protected] also.
Best,
-jw |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:10 am Post subject: |
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First of all, even though this is a newbie section and you are a newbie, you might want to consider posting this in the Japan forum, too. In any case, welcome aboard.
With your qualifications, you are probably eligible for work in a conversation school or international school. You might get lucky with part-time work at a university, but that type of work (PT) doesn't sponsor work visas. High school or other mainstream schools usually require experience teaching in Japan, but you might still want to see what the ads have to say.
FT university positions require master's degrees in relevant fields, plus publications.
Conversation schools jobs require little besides a bachelor's degree in any field.
FT work at conversation schools will pay 250,000 to 280,000 yen/month.
High schools and such will pay that much to 350,000 yen/month.
PT university work will obviously be less.
| Quote: |
| Would it be possible to work day and evening 5 days and still save $2500-3000US per month? If so how? |
Pretty unrealistic. Conversation schools pay as I quoted above, but you can probably save only about US$1000 per month. If you take on extra work (private lessons, PT jobs, etc.), you can up that figure, but you will be working 6-7 days a week.
"Negotiating a package?" There is usually no negotiating a contract with employers. Moreover, developing lasting relationships depends on a lot of factors, and a large barrier to that is the closed attitudes of many Japanese. Foreigners remain foreigners ("outsiders") to many even after living here all of their lives. Even a 3-year period may be too short. I'm not saying it can't be done, just that you shouldn't expect western attitudes toward friendship, and the Japanese attitudes really get in the way a lot. Learning the language is a daunting task, even in 3 years. Most people can't come close to mastering it in that time, even with full-time studies. If you want to improve what you know now, no problem, but just consider these three points:
1. Living in a rural environment will hasten the process simply by forcing you to learn it.
2. Avoiding foreign friends fairly often is also an advantage because all they do is speak English.
3. You are going to have very little time on your hands to study, and if you are like most people, you will want to rest or sightsee during your free time. So, strict self-discipline in your language studies is critical.
Editing is a prime PT job for many here. Most people will not give out their secrets or contacts. You will have to work hard to gain your own. Also, simply editing English material is fairly limiting, depending on the genre. If you can translate as well, you stand a better chance of finding work. Look for ads in The Japan Times and www.jobsinjapan.com .
As far as learning what people teach, you can look at the teachers forums, or the Idea Cookbook on this site. What people teach in kindergarten will obviously differ from what is taught in high school, university, or conversation school, so you will have to narrow your focus with questions. |
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