Job Discussion Forums

[gaijin4life]

Totally agree w J.`s post.

Frustration at the difficulties in achieving what I want to achieve, as a teacher is an issue for me. Sometimes Im just not content to `do what they want me to do` in a class. As a conscientious teacher I know what will help my students improve and ofcourse want to do that.

The stifling\controlling of independance, creativity and talent is also an issue for me. No matter how skilled and able an individual may be, it seems they have to be channelled in an `appropriate / acceptable` way that can be stifling. In my experience very few people / companies are good environments for such people.

And I so agree with this -

[gonzarelli]

Thanks for the excellent post, J.

Life in Japan can get boring after a while once the honeymoon ends. I often feel alienated and helpless. It's been a lot harder to make Japanese friends than I thought it would be. That leads to loneliness which you also mentioned.

I will leave Japan in a few days after being here for over 5 years. I'm looking forward to not being stared at every single day. It really stresses me out. I find it amazing that so many people just stare at me despite the calendar saying it's 2007.

Also, there are just too many rules to follow in Japan and it can be so suffocating. Not just legal rules but social etiquette etc.

[gaijin4life]

[Chris21]

Interesting thread so far. Just to point something out... EFL/ESL career does not equate to Conversation School career. It's hard to think of EFL/ESL as a dead-end when there are opportunities at International schools, universities, publishing companies, etc.

[cafebleu]

It was a dual decision for my Chinese husband and myself - on old threads in the cafe I listed some problems we had with Japan. However, taking the leaving was also down to factors such as:

1) Dead end for careers (not in my husband's case - his IT skills gave him a decent job).

I am a qualified teacher but unless you can get into a genuinely good university job and these too are declining opportunities, you are stuck being paid as much as an under-educated non teacher who has no idea of how to commit himself/herself to teaching English as a foreign language.

However, I am in no way blaming people with no qualifications in the real sense of the word for the parity of pay with those who do have them. It is the system of teaching English in Japan that is at fault. Nonetheless, the lack of appreciation for real qualifications and skills, financially and otherwise, played a role in our leaving.

Those jobs mentioned by the poster above are not thick on the ground and often depend on contacts. Not really a matter of your qualifications being accepted if you don't hear about the job in the first place and that's common in Japan.

2) Expectations of foreigner females. I've worked in a number of countries and I still find the passive-agressive Japanese can be extremely manipulative and unempathetic.

Foreigner females have to look good because we are being watched constantly - if we forget to do up a button or are showing too much flesh or haven't applied our make up properly etc it will be scrutinised and discussed. A slight run or hole in my stocking would be observed way out of proportion.

I found that oppressive after a while. Japanese women always try to pretend that it doesn't happen or that Japanese 'are very kind to foreigners' but the needling scrutiny gets you down. This also incudes being fingered if something goes wrong - oh somebody didn't flush the toilet, it must be the gaijin, somebody threw garbage on the street, it must be the gaijin, etc etc.


Psychologically I found those kinds of things very trying. They accumulated to the point where you felt like punching the nosey, critical Japanese person concerned. That's when you have to leave.

[Sherri]

[wabisabi365]

I have to agree with Chris21. My colleagues (and myself) all started in various conversation schools all over Japan and used those schools as stepping stones to other positions. As was brought up not so long ago, getting a pay raise is not the norm in eikaiwa; however using the teaching experience you accumulate over a couple of years there (and using downtime on weekends and on the commutes between schools to study for an MA or other necessary certification) you make yourself employable in higher paying (and yes, higher prestige) jobs.

The raise in pay, the increase in holiday time, the freedom to pursue outside interests... all of these are the perks that come along with moving up and out of eikaiwa and on to other positons. This is not for everyone, but it is for those who are seeking ways/reasons to stay on in Japan and make it not only productive and financially lucrative, but mentally stimulating as well. Personally, I've never felt more of a buzz around me workwise or in following my personal interests as I do now.

Hmm. I think I posted in the wrong thread. These are reasons to stay, not go...

ws365

[TokyoLiz]

...is pervs. I'm lucky that never in my adult life in Canada have I been physically and verbally harassed. But in only four years in Kanto, I've have been bothered by pervs or seen children leered at or flashed by pervs (and intervened twice) more times than I care to remember.

[womblingfree]

I left when I found that my dispatch company had bee lying to me and weren't paying for health/social insurance.

Also I got into a good university for an MA which meant I had something to go back to.

[womblingfree]

[stuhiggers]

[markle]

stu.... p iss off

bye bye

[wabisabi365]

I agree wholeheartedly that a background in linguistics does not properly prepare a teacher for EFL in the Jr. High/HS/uni classroom. I'd go even further and say that for those teachers entering those classrooms, a few years in an eikaiwa environment will offer hands-on experience for some who have never stood in front of a whiteboard before.

Does a 4-skills EFL uni instructor need a Phd and a few other initials after their name to qualify them to teach listening, speaking, reading and writing? Some believe so, and even liken their own teaching-in-uni status here in Japan to those who teach Engish at the uni level in North America, Europe, Australia...

I can understand this attitude when it comes to content courses that don't focus on teaching English as a Foreign Language. Teaching engineering to 4th year students who happen to need some technical terms in English? Certainly a degree in Engineering is a necessity. Does teaching 4-skills to a group of uni students who are, in many instances, not even English majors necessitate a specialized degree and certification in English? I'm still out on that one... But... I'm CELTA certified with an undergrad degree in Education. I have observed classes of colleagues who are not certified teachers, and who have spent hours in eikaiwa environments, and I have been blown away by their inventiveness and spirit. It may have something to do with age as well. They are younger, fresher, and still on a high about being in Japan. Soon the uni environment will dampen their spirit...

Time will tell, but looking around at some of my fossilized colleagues who seem so set in their ways, often judgemental and unaccepting of the in-coming teachers with eikaiwa backgrounds, leads me to believe their ilk is on the way out. It would appear the future pool from which instructors at the uni and Jr.H/HS level will be chosen is through those eikaiwa trained newbies. Westgate, Interac... they'll soon be the main providers of uni instructors who are teaching 4-skills EFL courses. Que sera sera...? Lost my train of thought. Sorry. School's out for summer, packing, distracted by Internet... must get back to luggage...

ws365

[ravel]

I am a mere short term resident in Japan, but this thread is interesting. I've been here 5 months and I like it, after a nasty start things have gotten much better. No doubt it's true that looking for good career advancement here is limited with a steady supply of of newbies willing to work for less there is little incentive for employers to pay a vet piles more.

I find it interesting that most people here site lack of opportunity as the main reason for leaving. By opportunity you mean jobs right? The reason I ask is I have met quite a number of foreigners here doing rather well for themselves by not seeing working for employers as the only option.

I have just started my own school after becoming throughly disgusted at the pathetic excuse for education at eikaiwas(sp?), hogwans in Korea and the equivalent in China , after all i can't possible do any worse than them.

The comments earlier about "proper teachers" I find old and boring, I have seen as many crappy esl teachers with education degrees as any other degree, and the best teachers I have seen, none were "real teachers".

I admit I am just a newbie but I think this thread is a "the grass is greener" thing going on here. I have met lots of people doing financially well, mostly by starting some type of business (only a few were schools) , even in Canada or anywhere for that matter opportunities are always limited for those who see working for someone else as the only alternative.

I can't say that I have any seriously close Japanese friends, but I don't find Japanese especially hard to make friends with, time will tell I guess.
I think Japan may be a long term home for me, I'm undecided and too new here to know, but if I leave I think it will be because of ....I'm not sure yet.

[southofreality]