|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Yvonne Craig
Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 3
|
 Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:54 pm Post subject: Family in Japan? Viable? |
 |
|
Konichiwa,
I'm afraid I can guess the answer to this one, but what if I had a spouse, and a few children to support in Japan? Supposing the spouse did not work or could only do part-time as an Asian language teacher, could the children attend a regular Japanese school? What would it cost per child (elementary/junior high)? Would I be better off to take my family to a major city, a smaller town or perhaps an out of the way place such as Hokkaido? How would the children be treated by other children? How much for an apartment fo five or six people? Could I even make enough money to live?
Last edited by Yvonne Craig on Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Gypsy Rose Kim
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 151
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
I can't even begin to fathom the economics of the situation, but it would depend a lot on what kind of job you're qualified for.
I will say one thing. It's just the first thought that came to my mind and maybe others will disagree. I'm single so I'm just kind of putting this out there, and you need to take it with a grain of salt.
I think it would be much harder to make friends and get settled in if you were a family. If you all speak Japanese, it might be better. If you're working in an industry where people tend to be older and have families, it should be okay.
My parents moved to Europe when I was six years old. My father worked at an International School, so there were lots of (mostly American) families for us to hang out with. I started at a local school not really knowing the language; I was young and learned kind of fast, but it was still hard and I never really acheived a native level of fluency by sitting in classes where I couldn't understand everything. I stayed a few years before switching back to English-language schools (international and later DoDDS), and speak okay now, but without formal instruction I wound up with some holes in my ability that still startle my friends there.
If you were going to be teaching at an eikawa where most teachers were young and single, you might find it very hard and lonely. If your family was unable to communicate, it could cause some serious heartbreak and alienation for all of you.
I'm not going to comment on the financial stuff, because I'm no good at saving money and I don't have a family. I'd say it would be tough if you were a basic eikawa teacher, but that's just a (pretty well-informed, but not air-tight) guess. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:46 am Post subject: Re: Family in Japan? Viable? |
|
|
| Yvonne Craig wrote: |
I'm afraid I can guess the answer to this one, but what if I had a spouse, and a few children to support in Japan? Supposing the spouse did not work or could only do part-time as an Asian language teacher, could the children attend a regular Japanese school? What would it cost per child (elementary/junior high)? Would I be better off to take my family to a major city, a smaller town or perhaps an out of the way place such as Hokkaido? How would the children be trated by other children? How much for an apartment fo five or six people? Could I even make enough money to live? |
You haven't provided enough information about the main breadwinner's qualifications and background for anyone to give useful information.
When you say, "Asian Language Teacher" what do you mean? There is a demand for other languages than English, but not as much.
How old are your children? Let's go with the idea that sending them to an International School is out of the question, due to the costs and the availability, depending on the location. The next logical option would be regular, public school. Throwing a kids into regular, public school would be a huge mistake. The younger the kids the better (of a bad situation).
Apartment prices vary from city to city and the size of the apartment. For an apartment, for 5 or 6 people in Osaka, you're probably looking at 120,000+, for a 3 or 4 bedroom place. Outside of the city would be cheaper, but generally, bigger places are more expensive. On the low side, I would say around 80,000 yen, far outside of the city.
Without excellent qualifications or Japanese language ability, you are pretty much thinking of an idea that will destroy your family or start the ball rolling on financial and emotional hardship. You haven't provided enough information, but assuming you're just a regular Joe with a BA and a family, with a spouse who isn't less employable that you are, it is a very, very bad idea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:47 am Post subject: Re: Family in Japan? Viable? |
|
|
| Yvonne Craig wrote: |
Konichiwa,
I'm afraid I can guess the answer to this one, but what if I had a spouse, and a few children to support in Japan? Supposing the spouse did not work or could only do part-time as an Asian language teacher, could the children attend a regular Japanese school? What would it cost per child (elementary/junior high)? Would I be better off to take my family to a major city, a smaller town or perhaps an out of the way place such as Hokkaido? How would the children be trated by other children? How much for an apartment fo five or six people? Could I even make enough money to live? |
Assuming you're looking at entry-level work, I'd say the economics of your situation would be, if not actually impossible, then very difficult indeed. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
Like others have stated, what are your qualifications? If you work in a university here, then certainly doable. I support 3 kids and a wife fairly easily on my salary, but no way could I do this on an eikaiwa salary and hours.
Gypsy Rose, i would have to disagree with you on one point. Having a family makes it easier to get to know other people, other families at least, which is who you will want to have contact with anyways. Kids open up so many doors and makes other people so curious about you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sallycat
Joined: 11 Mar 2006
Posts: 303
Location: behind you. BOO!
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| kids seem very very welcome all over japan. i totally second what gordon says. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:00 am Post subject: Re: Family in Japan? Viable? |
|
|
| Yvonne Craig wrote: |
Konichiwa,
I'm afraid I can guess the answer to this one, but what if I had a spouse, and a few children to support in Japan? Supposing the spouse did not work or could only do part-time as an Asian language teacher, could the children attend a regular Japanese school? What would it cost per child (elementary/junior high)? Would I be better off to take my family to a major city, a smaller town or perhaps an out of the way place such as Hokkaido? How would the children be trated by other children? How much for an apartment fo five or six people? Could I even make enough money to live? |
There are lots of "what ifs". Either you have a few children and spouse or you don't. Is this a hypothetical question or not?
Hard to give you a price for apt, as it differs widely.
Hokkaido is not that out of the way, Sapporo has over 2 million people, i believe. Out of the way from Tokyo, perhaps, but that would be a good thing.
Your kids will probably be treated very well, at least mine have been. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gypsy Rose Kim
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 151
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 6:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Gordon wrote: |
| Gypsy Rose, i would have to disagree with you on one point. Having a family makes it easier to get to know other people, other families at least, which is who you will want to have contact with anyways. Kids open up so many doors and makes other people so curious about you. |
Oops. I was unclear.
OP, I simply meant that if you were in an eikawa your coworkers would mostly be young and single. It'd be hard to meet other families through work (in most eikawa jobs). If your kids couldn't speak Japanese, it'd be rough for them (as I said, I know this first-hand). If your husband wasn't working much and couldn't speak Japanese, it'd be tough for him, too.
Then again, when I was a newbie in a pretty small city in Japan, people did stop me and I did make friends with my neighbors. That kind of thing would probably be even easier with a family. In a big city, I reckon that'd happen a lot less.
If you're a teacher, you could look at international schools. My father supported my whole family on an international teacher's salary. You'd have a great social network there, too, and other spouses who could give your husband head-ups on jobs and activities and things. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 9:10 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| I'm afraid I can guess the answer to this one, but what if I had a spouse, and a few children to support in Japan? |
If you are the only one doing the supporting, you are going to need at least 500,000 yen/month to support a husband and 3 or 4 kids. MINIMUM. Since this is a teaching forum, we can only assume that you are coming in some teaching capacity. What is your situation exactly?
| Quote: |
| Supposing the spouse did not work or could only do part-time as an Asian language teacher, could the children attend a regular Japanese school? |
Still need to answer the first question above.
| Quote: |
| What would it cost per child (elementary/junior high)? Would I be better off to take my family to a major city, a smaller town or perhaps an out of the way place such as Hokkaido? |
I'll have to look into what costs are up here in "out of the way" Hokkaido, but I'm guessing that public school costs are pretty much the same. Interesting how you separated locations as
1) major city
2) smaller town (many of which can be "out of the way" even on Honshu)
3) Hokkaido
| Quote: |
| How would the children be trated by other children? |
Communication would be a huge problem initially, but I suspect that there would be curiosity, more so at the younger age. After that fades, it all depends on how they can adjust. What ages are your kids?
| Quote: |
| How much for an apartment fo five or six people? |
How many bedrooms do you want?
| Quote: |
| Could I even make enough money to live? |
Gotta get back to us on that first question. Without knowing a single thing, I'd have to say no. Not on one salary. I'm going to assume you would be coming here with some sort of entry level teaching job in hand, and that simply is not enough. Even if you supplemented that with side work (private lessons), you'd barely be home enough to see your family if you wanted to make enough to get by. BOTH of you are going to have to work.
I know people with 2 or more kids, and they survive on salaries of 400,000 to 500,000 yen/month. Survive, not thrive. They get back to the USA once every 2 or 3 years. They don't travel much (can't afford it, and don't have the time). In one case, only one spouse works; in another case, both spouses work and kids are in school/daycare. Both have been here 10-15 years. A third case has the husband and wife owning their own school, and they have 3 kids to support, plus father-in-law lives with them. They are working almost constantly and get back to the USA once every 3 or 4 years. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yvonne Craig
Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 3
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
Sorry for the inomplete information. The husband has a B.A. and is a native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysian, which I suppose has some market value in Japan? Correct? I imagined he would have to do privates mostly, but what about his visa?
I am a native speaker of English with a B.A. and over ten years experience in various countries, including Japan many years ago.
The children are three girls between 13 and 9. So eventually, we would need three or four bedrooms. I don't suppose I could get into an International School, but if I persevered I could find a university job. Could I get a university job with my qualifications? What I meant by smaller towns and Hokkaido and such is that I though I might have a better chance for such a position where the competition is (perhaps) less fierce. I mean, if a university job in some obscure town on Hokkaido or Shikoku (what have you) was available, far from feeling exiled, I suppose I would thrive in a community less tense and anonymous than Tokyo or Osaka. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
Bahasa really won't get your husband far and is not in demand. French or German might be.
With your qualifications, universities are out in even the out of the way Shikoku. You will need a masters (99%) of the time, previous uni teaching experience, some Japanese ability. Int'l schools are also not an option as they require a BEd or equivalent, much like a teacher would need in the West.
Yes, a smaller place would be better for your family as it would be less expensive and less stressful IMO. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Yvonne Craig wrote: |
Sorry for the inomplete information. The husband has a B.A. and is a native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysian, which I suppose has some market value in Japan? Correct? I imagined he would have to do privates mostly, but what about his visa?
I am a native speaker of English with a B.A. and over ten years experience in various countries, including Japan many years ago.
The children are three girls between 13 and 9. So eventually, we would need three or four bedrooms. I don't suppose I could get into an International School, but if I persevered I could find a university job. Could I get a university job with my qualifications? What I meant by smaller towns and Hokkaido and such is that I though I might have a better chance for such a position where the competition is (perhaps) less fierce. I mean, if a university job in some obscure town on Hokkaido or Shikoku (what have you) was available, far from feeling exiled, I suppose I would thrive in a community less tense and anonymous than Tokyo or Osaka. |
Based on this information, your idea about coming to Japan is a pipe dream and would destroy your family. You would not be able to survive.
| Quote: |
| husband has a B.A. and is a native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysian, which I suppose has some market value in Japan? Correct? |
No value. He would have a better chance trying to teach English (assuming his English is good) but even then, he would be competing with native English speakers.
| Quote: |
| The children are three girls between 13 and 9 |
They would crumble in the Japanese school system, not being able to speak, read or write Japanese. The public schools would have to accept them, but your children would not be able to "catch up". Furthermore, for the eldest child, she could only go as far as junior high school, as high school is optional in Japan and he/she wouldn't be able to pass the exams to enter.
| Quote: |
| I don't suppose I could get into an International School, but if I persevered I could find a university job. Could I get a university job with my qualifications? |
You would not be able to get a job at an accredited international school. You would require 2+ years teaching in your home country and a teaching license, which would have required completed an extra year of education, in addition to your BA. Do you also realize that international schools cost between 1.2 to 1.7+ million yen a year, per student?
University positions often require a MA, and would be completing with many people with higher credentials, contacts and language ability than yourself.
Realistically, you would be trying to support "the husband" and both the 13 year old and 9 year old children on an eikaiwa salary. 
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Yvonne Craig wrote: |
| Sorry for the inomplete information. The husband has a B.A. and is a native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysian, which I suppose has some market value in Japan? Correct? |
No.
| Quote: |
I am a native speaker of English with a B.A. and over ten years experience in various countries, including Japan many years ago.
The children are three girls between 13 and 9. So eventually, we would need three or four bedrooms. |
It sounds like you'd be looking at basic entry-level or something fairly close (250,000 yen per month range). How you're going to be able to afford a 4LDK on that and still feed everyone is beyond me.
ETA: I realize I cross-posted with Canuck. The answer, however, is the same. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Quibby84
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
what if her husband home schooled the kids and did classes on the side...could she support them then?
I try my hardest to never be negative about ideas and doing crazy things...but I agree with Canuck and I dont know if this would be possible. I have only been in Japan for a few months are are thinking about having a baby in a year or so and I am trying to figure out how I would do that and live in Japan. It is expensive. But we might be able to wing it with one child (or maybe two if we adopted and they both could go to school so I could at least work part-time), and I can teach english.
Maybe you could try China or Brazil or somewhere cheaper? Thailand sounds really cool and laid back... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
furiousmilksheikali
Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1660
Location: In a coffee shop, splitting a 30,000 yen tab with Sekiguchi.
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quibby84 wrote: |
what if her husband home schooled the kids and did classes on the side...could she support them then?
|
No, Quibby. No!
| Yvonne wrote: |
| The husband has a B.A. and is a native speaker of Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysian, which I suppose has some market value in Japan? Correct? |
This is Japan you're talking about coming to? Nobody here gives a fig about learning Asian languages. They're way above that.That's irony, if you hadn't figured. I thought I'd put this disclaimer in any way! But there is no market for Asian languages except perhaps Chinese and Korean.
| Quote: |
I am a native speaker of English with a B.A. and over ten years experience in various countries, including Japan many years ago.
|
Sorry, but your qualifications are the bare minimum for a full-time NOVA position. International schools and universities won't hire you unless your interviewers are drunk at the time. Bit of a long shot really, isn't it?
| Quote: |
| The children are three girls between 13 and 9. |
Oh My...!
Honestly, do you want them to grow up on instant ramen and water? Because that is all you'll be able to feed them.
| Quote: |
| So eventually, we would need three or four bedrooms. |
Ha ha! You said you've been to Japan before. This makes it sound like you're pulling our legs.
Sorry, can't continue this... I think you are taking the p.... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
