Job Discussion Forums

[Willy_In_Japan]

I think what he meant was that people go to Gaba to earn 'extra' (more) money as a part time job, or like the flexiblity.

Personally, I suggest '7act' for flexibility and the flexibility to wear what you darn well please during the lesson, and earn 3000 yen an hour.

Gaba sounds like garbage, but it sounds like an option for non native speakers of English.

[gaijinalways]

I used to take privates through GABA in the past. I took 2500 yen per lesson (hourly), it was okay. Of course you have to arrange your own place, home or a coffee shop (GABA prefers the home, but if the student provides a place or agrees to the coffee shop, it's okay). If they have changed their pay system to the current 1400 per 40 minutes, that is low. The only comment that I got from someone who used to work there was that the computer lessons were a joke. They only used the computer to have the student do grammar exercises (definately not a good high tech use involving the teacher)!

[red dog]

Just bumping the thread in case anyone has anything to add. This all sounds pretty terrible, but the idea of teaching one student at a time is appealing. Is it true that the company can't provide sponsorship? And how secure is the money? (From what I've read here it sounds very insecure.) Is there any other company in Japan that arranges private lessons but treats its staff decently?

[womblingfree]

[red dog]

[Apsara]

One of my firends went to the orientation for gaba recently. It seems they have a new tiered pay system where your rate goes up after a certain number of months teaching, training modules completed, hours class time etc. The top lesson rate is now 1650 yen for a 40 min lesson if I remember rightly- the lowest around 1350 yen. Also now you get paid more for evening and weekend lessons than for weekday afternoons etc- maybe 1500-1600 for those lessons. There was a flat rate when I was there.

By "Is the money secure?" do you mean will the payrate change? Well, it's possible, but from what I can tell, these days they aren't going all out to screw their teachers like they were when I worked there 2002-3. At that time they were trying to be listed as a public company and just stripped away all benefits one after the other and then started cutting pay to try to make the financial requirements for being listed.

That had actually stopped by the time I left, and I hear the owner actually sold the company? In any case, there's a different CEO now.

As for sponsorship, I'd say it's unlikely as they say they only sponsor people who have been with them for a while these days. My friend said that almost all the people at the orientation were guys married to Japanese women, i.e. they have a visa.

[Tue]

1400 Y?

Get your head checked..there is something wrong.

I make more per hour in Vietnam !!!

And I can assure you it is a little cheaper to live here than Japan (I did live in Japan).

When you can fill up your motorbike with gas, get it hand washed, eat a full meal and buy groceries for the night for about 8$ then 14$ an hour might be reasonable. I wouldn't even except that here !!

The going rate for a language mill here is still 16-18$ an hour, and even then that's the bottom. That's why I left Japan...280 000 Yen was a joke I thought for an 40 hour a week at a private ESL school.

People have to realize Japan isn't some wonderland where working for peanuts is off set by some magical lifestyle.

[earthmonkey]

Why would anyone work for this company?

Whenever I see a Gaba advert, I see a nice looking teacher in a suit, and I think "What does this man smell like?", because he doesn't make enough money to pay for his dry cleaning.

If you are really desperate, perhaps Gaba is a good opportunity. Personally, I'd rather work at McDonalds.

[bornslippy1981]

[Apsara]

Although the pay is still rubbish, it's not 1400 yen per hour, it's 1400 yen per lesson- there is a 5-minute break between lessons so you teach almost 1.5 lessons per hour, so that comes to 2000 yen per hour, which is not far off what Nova pays if I remember rightly.

I worked there to supplement my income when I didn't yet have enough yoga classes to earn a living just by teaching yoga- I needed a second job with a flexible schedule so I could take on extra classes and attend yoga workshops when I wanted to. As I increased my yoga classes I was able to slowly drop Gaba classes and have been Gaba-free for several years now! I also had private students but they weren't reliable enough for me to able to quit Gaba sooner.

Some other teachers I met were dancers, art teachers, and professional singers, all at Gaba a few hours a week for extra money. It's very easy work and not too bad part-time, but I wouldn't want to do it full-time- there's a very assembly line feeling about it.

[Florizalll]

Sure. if you can get private students blindly that would be ideal. You also can hope that the person isn't some sort of weirdo hoping to score a foreignor like answering a personal ad, that is if he or she shows up anyway. I don"t know, maybe as a woman I"m still a bit leery to teach private lessons to strangers (if that is indeed the case that has been proposed on previous responses).

I also went to a GABA info session- I decided against it because I found something else, but for part time work I didn"t think it was such a bad deal. You were garanteed pay for a lesson if a student cancels within so many hours and can make your own schedule.

I haven't had native people in businesses or otherwise throwing themselves at foreignors to hire. No matter what. It's difficult to get good work here in Japan, part time or otherwise. If someone is interested in part time work this is not a bad option. Complain about the pay, but it's about the same if you worked at an after school private study center for SAT or academic help in the US.

Part time work is work.

I would suggest, however, if you have a position in Japan already to inquire in-house and see if there are part-time options where you are now.