Job Discussion Forums

[ultramagicalunicorn]

Has anyone heard of Koreans teaching English in Japan?
I'm a Korean citizen and I have experience teaching English in Korea and jsut finished a CELTA, but now I want to teach in Japan.
I'm looking for jobs now, but most are asking for a native speaker. I can speak Japanese at a beginner level.
Can anyone knowledgeable one tell me about my chances of finding a job or where I can look? Thanks ^^

[BobbyBan]

It is certainly possible to teach English in Japan but the problem is that you may not get to teach what you want to. I am pretty sure that the Big Three (GEOS, ECC and AEON) only accept native English speakers but I have heard that Berlitz accept non-native speakers (whether Berlitz is a company you would want to work for is another matter and I don't know a lot about them).

GABA seem to employ a lot of non-native speakers but you may find that your CELTA certificate can't be put to very good use at this company and they don't sponsor visas as far as I know. It may be possible for you to come in on a working holiday visa as I believe South Korean citizens are eligible for them (you'll have to check the stipulations for this such as whether you have to be under the age of 30 etc...).

Then there is always dispatch work. Dispatch companies are almost dirty words around here as they don't pay very well and they are often blamed for creaming off the good jobs, lowering salaries, flooding the market and bringing about nuclear armageddon. There are a number of these places that employ non-native speakers, however, and they may be worth contacting if you are thinking of getting your foot in the door. One problem with them though is that most of their vacancies are in ALT jobs which, again, you may not find very challenging especially if you want to use your CELTA.

Good luck.

[Apsara]

Gaba does sponsor visas now, but you have to fulfill certain criteria apparently, so it's probably best to check with them first.

I have a Pakistani friend who works as an ALT- he considers himself to be a native English speaker, but he has an obviously Urdu-influenced accent and a few idiosyncrasies and isn't the standard idea of a native speaker.

[Brooks]

I knew two Koreans who taught EFL.
Both of them got MAs in TESOL from an American college.
Both later married Americans.

one of them worked at a lower level university and stayed there 4-5 years.
The other taught at a junior high school but I think she had a hard time with returnees, since with them, you really better know English pretty well.

[Vince]

Despite the requirement for people to be native speakers, I worked with a few teachers who grew up in non English-speaking countries. They had opportunties to learn English to the level of native precision and had very light accents. I don't remember their exact circumstances, but it seems exceptions to the native speaker rule are made.

[Sadebugo]

I can't answer your question but I'm just curious. With all the English teaching opportunities in Korea, why would you want to look for a position in Japan? I would think you would have a better chance in your home country as many institutes have Korean citizens on staff.

Sadebugo
Djibouti, Horn of Africa
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/