Job Discussion Forums

[Quibby84]

Hello! I am new here and I wanted to ask about a few things.
Here is my story. I am 22 years old and am graduating in December, I am married to Michael who is 23 and graduated (from college) last december. We want to teach english in japan as soon as I graduate. We had thought about going through Nova but after realizing how they teach and such we decided againest it. I feel that Michael and I would do better in a classroom with more hand-on learning (where we make the lesson plans and such) than the "fast food teaching" that Nova offers. So we decided to get a TESOL certification because we felt that a)it would help us get a job and b)it would show our employeer that we are excited about teaching (and are motivated to do so).
So we started to go through Oxford Seminars (they were the first on the google search) but the class wasnt filling up fast enough and it was going to be $800 each for 6 days of class. AND the subject topics that they were going to go over were somewhat immature and "non-helpful". So we found and talked to American Tesol Institute. They are only $250 a person and have a much more advanced topics (lesson plans, learning styles etc). They also say that they promise to get us a job. The people are very helpful and very available. We are not far from being finished with that certification. I am worried about the job situation though, how can you a) get a job while in the united states b)know that it is a good job and c)have everything work out like peaches and cream?
Here are my questions:
Has anyone went through American Tesol to get a teaching job in japan?
How can you know a good job from bad?
Is it possible that we will get there and be screwed?
Is teaching a classroom in Japan similar to teaching on in the US?
Is it fun?
Do you love it (if you are teaching now)?
Would you suggest this for a career?
AND what are the pros and cons about teaching in Japan?
shew...I hope that someone had the patience to read ALL of this and respond
thanks for any help!!!

[Sweetsee]

Anyone with a pulse can teach English here. Making a career of it and advancing to the best jobs takes hard work, time and connections.
Also, you don't need to pay someone to do what you can do yourself.

[shuize]

Sure, I'll respond. At first, I thought the OP was a joke. But, if so, it's very well done. My compliments.

I'll be the first one to admit that TESL is not rocket science. However, I must say, I do find it amusing to read posts from people with absolutely zero experience who look down on one program or another.

Especially when they offer up posts as rife with mistakes as the one above. Next time you're looking down your nose at a Nova instructor, Quibby, be sure to ask them how to spell: "against," "hands-on," "employer," and if "a much more advanced topics" (sic) sounds correct.

[bornslippy1981]

I'll give it a go...

[Quibby84]

:deleted:

[Quibby84]

Thanks bornslippy! you can disregard my previous post, we posted at the same time.

[Quibby84]

You lost 40 pounds?? what an inspiration! Everytime I eat chocolate cake I look at it and say to myself "I'll lose it in japan". Now you have given me reason to continue doing that...lol.
So how did you get the nursery school job? How long did you work for Nova?
what do you do at your nursery school job, is it like daycare?
We are really excited about Japan...my husband thinks that he can do it forever, but I am pretty sure that we wont stay forever. We want to travel also and since my interest is Central America, he said we can go there next...lol.
Why havent you travelled yet in Asia?

Our dream would be for us both to work part-time (25ish hours a week) and then spend the rest of our time traveling. BUt that is only a dream..we will see what happens.
Anyways, i will stop boring you..thanks for you time!

oh and what are your degrees? what were your qualifications for teaching english?

[shuize]

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