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Hoser
Joined: 19 Mar 2005
Posts: 694
Location: Toronto, Canada
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 Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:50 am Post subject: NOVA-is it worthwhile? |
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Not to teach for, but rather to go and learn. I work for NOVA and I enjoy it. I can't really consider myself a teacher though-I mean I am basically an english guide to an english text. I think most of the people who work there, while not real english teachers, are fairly intelligent and can give some good insight into the English language. That said, I just cannot believe for a second that these people are really getting good value for their money!! Surely they must see that! I mean, I've done CAT tests for young students graduating from NOVA Kids and all they can do is repeat exactly what you say to them because that's the only thing they learned at NOVA! How is it that they keep shoveling over more and more cash to NOVA? Is the staff (who I respect about as much as I respect used car salesmen) really that good at dispersing NOVA propoganda? Then again I've seen the history of some students who have gone from 7B to a 4 so they must be learning something. Too bad it only takes 4 years and God knows how many thousands of dollars.
So what's your opinion of NOVA's worth? For the student. |
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Doglover
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 305
Location: Kansai
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:47 am Post subject: Re: NOVA-is it worthwhile? |
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| Hoser wrote: |
| Not to teach for, but rather to go and learn. I work for NOVA and I enjoy it. I can't really consider myself a teacher though-I mean I am basically an english guide to an english text. I think most of the people who work there, while not real english teachers, are fairly intelligent and can give some good insight into the English language. |
I have been castigated on other forums for my generally anti-eikaiwa attitudes but think what you are being paid to do. To sit in a cubicle with a text book and get students to repeat after you and read dialogs while you follow along in the teachers book. No marking. No grading, no homework, no real assessment. No needs analysis or choice of materials. I suppose you can call it English teaching but i would regard it more as being paid conversationalists. Yes teachers are intelligent. They have a degree so it shows they arent stupid. Not intellectual or academic but not exactly 'white trash' either. Teachers generally know how to speak English, be pleasant and shoot the breeze with students and make the student go home feeling satisfied. As for insights into English (whatever you mean by that Im not sure) I try to teach them to speak and hear English, not simply have them understand what English is about. I can have insights about Japanese language and people too, but it doesnt mean I can use it to communicate.
Not many novice conversation teachers can actually explain the nuts and bolts of language learning e.g. how languages are learned and acquired, theoretical aspects, points of grammar, differences in style and usage etc.
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| That said, I just cannot believe for a second that these people are really getting good value for their money!! Surely they must see that! I mean, I've done CAT tests for young students graduating from NOVA Kids and all they can do is repeat exactly what you say to them because that's the only thing they learned at NOVA! How is it that they keep shoveling over more and more cash to NOVA? |
Parents will spend a fortune on their kids to have English lessons. I pay for my kids to have piano and swimming lessons. Some kids go to NOVA kids or Amity. I know Japanese parents who enrol their Japanese kids in international schools with native speaker teachers at a million or two a year. the money is insane. The parents (mothers usually) might spend 20-30,000 yen a month on lessons at NOVA.
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Is the staff (who I respect about as much as I respect used car salesmen) really that good at dispersing NOVA propoganda? Then again I've seen the history of some students who have gone from 7B to a 4 so they must be learning something. Too bad it only takes 4 years and God knows how many thousands of dollars.
So what's your opinion of NOVA's worth? For the student. |
The staff you see, nice ladies they are, are trained monkeys, and office girls. Paid a minimal salary to work long hours. they have a sales quota to meet and if they dont meet it they stay till midnight working. Some even sleep in the office. Its propaganda (which is what governments use, also known as 'spin' but its the same as television commercials that try to convince you to buy something. TV ads are propaganda, too. |
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Mark
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 500
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:10 am Post subject: Re: NOVA-is it worthwhile? |
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| Doglover wrote: |
The staff you see, nice ladies they are, are trained monkeys, and office girls. Paid a minimal salary to work long hours. they have a sales quota to meet and if they dont meet it they stay till midnight working. Some even sleep in the office. Its propaganda (which is what governments use, also known as 'spin' but its the same as television commercials that try to convince you to buy something. TV ads are propaganda, too. |
One wonders, then, why they do it. I assume most of them speak a little English and are looking for a chance to interact with native speakers. Do you think that's the main reason? |
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mrjohndub
Joined: 19 Sep 2005
Posts: 198
Location: Saitama, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:44 am Post subject: |
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Mark, I think the reason they do it is to bide their time between university and getting married, and the appearance--accurate or not--that they are involved in management, is a boost to their personal esteem in the absence of other such opportunities. Perhaps they also think it will help them in the marriage marketability sense. I`ve been candidly told by several Japanese women that the only reason that they went to get a degree in the first place was to better their marriage prospects.
It`s quite unfortunate and plainly sexist how few opportunities Japanese women have for attaining professional success and receiving fair compensation relative to their male conterparts. |
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Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 6:55 am Post subject: |
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I know a man who used to go to Nova, but now he goes to Gaba.
With Nova he said half the teachers were fine and the rest are just funding their next trip to go diving in Thailand or whatever.
For him, it was just the convenience.
He works a lot, works late, so for him, going to a Nova, which is right by a train station, was easy for a busy guy like him.
His TOEIC score is 730 and he wants a higher score, but I think he has reached his plateau, and is burned out with the test, so he just wants conversation practice now. |
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Sweetsee
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: ) is everything
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:02 am Post subject: |
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| How much would you charge a guy like that Brooks, if he asked you, at a location convenient to him? |
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Brooks
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1369
Location: Sagamihara
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:06 am Post subject: |
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good question.
He could be a potential private student.
His wife wants me to teach her English, and then she can teach me Japanese, and then it is free for both of us. |
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Sweetsee
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: ) is everything
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:11 am Post subject: |
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Someone asked me today for private lessons.
What's your rate? |
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Doglover
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 305
Location: Kansai
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:14 am Post subject: |
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| Sweetsee wrote: |
Someone asked me today for private lessons.
What's your rate? |
I charge a minimum of 3,000 yen an hour. Depends on what people are willing to pay. |
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Sweetsee
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: ) is everything
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:19 am Post subject: |
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Me too. Got any?
I don't but I am moonlighting near you. |
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Mark
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 500
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:30 am Post subject: |
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| mrjohndub wrote: |
Mark, I think the reason they do it is to bide their time between university and getting married, and the appearance--accurate or not--that they are involved in management, is a boost to their personal esteem in the absence of other such opportunities. Perhaps they also think it will help them in the marriage marketability sense. I`ve been candidly told by several Japanese women that the only reason that they went to get a degree in the first place was to better their marriage prospects.
It`s quite unfortunate and plainly sexist how few opportunities Japanese women have for attaining professional success and receiving fair compensation relative to their male conterparts. |
But this is true for many women in many lines of work. I just wonder why they would choose Nova, as it seems to be a particularly crappy job. There's the management/sales aspect that they can add to their resume, but presumably many are willing to put up with the low salary/long hours because they're interested in English or the foreigner "scene" or whatever. Perhaps they think that working at Nova will help them get better at English. |
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Sweetsee
Joined: 11 Jun 2004
Posts: 2302
Location: ) is everything
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| Don't they hope to become managers? |
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shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:41 am Post subject: |
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| mrjohndub wrote: |
Mark, I think the reason they do it is to bide their time between university and getting married, and the appearance--accurate or not--that they are involved in management, is a boost to their personal esteem in the absence of other such opportunities. Perhaps they also think it will help them in the marriage marketability sense. I`ve been candidly told by several Japanese women that the only reason that they went to get a degree in the first place was to better their marriage prospects.
It`s quite unfortunate and plainly sexist how few opportunities Japanese women have for attaining professional success and receiving fair compensation relative to their male conterparts. |
Yes it is. However, many Japanese women aren't really interested in attaining professonal success and, no matter what they say to the contrary, will immediately abandon any pretense of a career once they're married. As long as that is still fairly common -- which I think it is -- don't expect companies to invest a lot of time or money training women for bigger or better things just to have them walk away once they've got a ring on their finger.
Hell, I remember a candid conversation not long ago with a tenured female Japanese university professor who probably makes close to ten million yen a year that what she really wanted to do was get married and let her husband take care of her. |
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womblingfree
Joined: 04 Mar 2006
Posts: 826
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:35 am Post subject: |
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Teaching at an eikaiwa will not teach you any of the skills required to be a professional teacher. NONE!
However, it will give you the opportunity to gain some classroom experience and to see whether you have an aptitude for teaching and whether you enjoy it.
It will also allow you to perhaps move into better areas in the future (in Japan only!) |
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wangtesol
Joined: 24 May 2005
Posts: 280
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:27 am Post subject: |
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Joining the Nova teachers union (part of National Union of General Workers) is worth it. This is one of the most progressive groups in Japan. They were a major player in launching the civil rights movement in Japan!
http://www.novaunion.com |
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