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TEFL in Japan

 
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alajandro



Joined: 05 Sep 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:29 pm    Post subject: TEFL in Japan Reply with quote
I apologies if this questing has already been asked, but i'm wondering how valuable is TEFL certificate vs TESL (combined with B.S degree) when looking for a job in japan. I'm in the process of getting TEFL from local city college and wonder if it's worth the time and if this type of certificate is recognizable in Japan.
Thanks,
Alex
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pastis



Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Posts: 82
PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Sorry to say, but for Japan it's pretty well useless. Better to save your money (unless of course you've got it to burn or just want to take the course for your own personal benefit). If you are not a very experienced teacher it might pad your resume a bit, but I don't think most Japanese employers will pay it too much mind. It certainly won't hurt to have it, but for like $2000+ or whatever it costs, I think the cash'd be much more useful.

Bottom line: TEFL certificates are not required in Japan (unlike other countries like Thailand) and whether you have one or not you can't get a work visa without a degree. If you have a B.S. as you mentioned, you should have no problem getting something like an eikaiwa position with just that.
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alajandro



Joined: 05 Sep 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:40 pm    Post subject: Thanks for the info Reply with quote
Thanks for the information. Actually, the class will cost me about $200, as i'm taking it at city college, which is pretty cheap, but requires a lot of time commitment. I'm gonna think if I should drop it though, if the TEFL thing is not so helpful, as you say. One more thing that worries me is that my B.S is in Computer Science and I wonder if employers look for degrees in English or Literature. Thanks again.
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Quibby84



Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Super useless, we spent about $500 on it, the lesson was horrible and there were spelling errors in the text book. They had promised us that they would find us a job in Japan once we completed it. Well we completed it and they gave me a website...www.teachinjapan.com...yeah, you guessed it...it was Novas website.



MAN! I was mad...so dont make the same mistake I did.
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Quibby84



Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Also dont worry about the major, they really dont even look at that. My husband had the same degree as you and he had no trouble what so ever...they never say what kind of degree you need to have...they just say that you need to have one...dont worry about that
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pastis



Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Posts: 82
PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:47 am    Post subject: Re: Thanks for the info Reply with quote
alajandro wrote:
Thanks for the information. Actually, the class will cost me about $200, as i'm taking it at city college, which is pretty cheap, but requires a lot of time commitment. I'm gonna think if I should drop it though, if the TEFL thing is not so helpful, as you say. One more thing that worries me is that my B.S is in Computer Science and I wonder if employers look for degrees in English or Literature. Thanks again.


$200?? Is that for a fully accredited 120hr program? If so, wow, that's really cheap... at that price, and if it's the real thing, I'd basically recommend doing it just for the hell of it - you never know, you might want to teach in another country like Thailand later on (some countries actually require TEFL). If the course isn't legit however (and you might want to check it) then as far as I know it's completely useless as a credential (I think it needs to be at least 100+ hours to count), and probably not even worth your time for the 'experience', no matter how cheap...

As for your major, don't sweat it. As was mentioned, they just need you to have any old 4 year degree for visa purposes. Of course having an English Lit major never hurts, but basically anyone who's a native speaker can work for a generic eikaiwa as long as they can get the visa. There's really nothing to it...
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alajandro



Joined: 05 Sep 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
pastis, thanks for the heads up. My course supposed to be 108 hours of instruction. So it's less than 120 but > than 100, so I'm not sure if it's actually will be recognized or not. It's given by a city college and as a state resident I pay almost nothing for it. I think I'll try to find out more on hours requirements. By the way, where did you get info about how many hours constitute a good, recognizable course? If you can, let me know where I should look. Thanks again for your help.
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pastis



Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Posts: 82
PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
alajandro wrote:
pastis, thanks for the heads up. My course supposed to be 108 hours of instruction. So it's less than 120 but > than 100, so I'm not sure if it's actually will be recognized or not. It's given by a city college and as a state resident I pay almost nothing for it. I think I'll try to find out more on hours requirements. By the way, where did you get info about how many hours constitute a good, recognizable course? If you can, let me know where I should look. Thanks again for your help.

Hmm... all I really know is that 120 is the typical standard for accredited TEFL courses. Other than that I'm not exactly sure, but I think anything above 100 is fine. Off the top of my head, I recall that in Thailand the minimum amount for it to count is 101 hours (apparently it has to be more than 100, just an even 100 won't cut it)... Beyond that I couldn't tell you how much it varies country to country (likely not much), but I'm almost certain 108 will be just fine wherever you go (except maybe in Europe that is - since they usually prefer the British CELTA).

Either way I'd definitely check it. Sorry I don't have any sort of a list by country detailing the exact hour requirements, but your instructor should have an idea.
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