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Meagan0813
Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 45
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 Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:10 pm Post subject: Y.E.S. School in Yokuyama of Shunan City - Advice please |
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Yamaguchi English School is situated in Tokuyama of Shunan City, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, on the southern tip of Honshu Island.
Has anyone had any experience with them? Do you know anything about the city?
Are 3-10 pm work hours common?
I'm new - never taught ESL, have my BA and 10 years of business exp. I will be driving to different places possibly.
"The foreign teachers must be available Mondays through Saturdays from 3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. except your day off."
So - I'm assuming I will have a day off between m-s? I haven't spoken with them on the phone yet, just getting information.
Is there other foreigners around this area?
Thanks! |
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bearcat
Joined: 08 May 2004
Posts: 367
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| Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Meagan0813 wrote: |
Are 3-10 pm work hours common? |
Yes for conversation schools. 3-6pm tend to be kids classes times and most conversation schools and 6-10pm tend to be adult class times. Thus you're going to be teaching a wide variety of ages.
How will breaks or prep time or what ever be handled?
| Meagan0813 wrote: |
| I'm new - never taught ESL, have my BA and 10 years of business exp. I will be driving to different places possibly. |
It sounds like this is a typical conversation school gig that may well have you traveling to a few locations to teach some English to some corporate folks but Im not sure... it just more or less sounds like a teaching at different brances of this mom n pop school/company. What makes it not typical is the driving requirement. There are some but not many and there's a reason why. Read on.
Something to seriously consider: From what you've written, Im given to believe you are not in Japan at the moment nor have ever lived in Japan.
If your job specifies that you need to have an international driver's license, Japan only recognizes the validity of the Int DL from your first date of entry for 1 year.
This means, if you have worked in Japan previously (though I think you haven't) and over one year of time has elapsed and you are returning or that you got one while on vacation back home or some such, the license is not considered valid. Japanese law requires you to get a Japanese driver's license.
If you take this job, and enter Japan for the first time with an Int DL, you'll only be able to use it for that year's contract and then will be required by law to get a Japanese license. This means potentially if you fail or refuse to get such, you will not be able to work for that school beyond the valid term of that Int DL... meaning not renew your contract. And you don't want to be driving illegally...
How are they (and you) insuring you while you drive on the job? Im betting as well that you are not being compensated for your driving between locations and surmise that you will be driving between more than one location during a day's schedule.
All in all, be very careful with jobs that require you to drive if you don't know all the legalities involved.
| Meagan0813 wrote: |
"The foreign teachers must be available Mondays through Saturdays from 3:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. except your day off."
So - I'm assuming I will have a day off between m-s? I haven't spoken with them on the phone yet, just getting information. |
Not necessarily. You could be working a 6 day week. Their statement of "except your day off" could mean sunday.
The fact that they say "available" tends to make me thing that your schedule is not firm and fluctuates depending on days of the week, weeks of the month or months of the year or all 3. Im not suprised given the driving requirement imbedded in the job. Sounds like they're expecting you to be available "on standby" Mon-Sat from those time periods even if you're not actually scheduled to work. This could make for issues easily.
It also makes me thing they have potentially many instances of overtime where you're called in to work too. Ask about that and your right to refuse working overtime without retribution or pentalty.
Your lack of teaching experience/Japan may make this one of the few or only options based on your background and thus you may not have much of a choice, however, you may be able to find better than something like this if they fail to answer your questions to your satisfaction. |
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JL
Joined: 26 Oct 2008
Posts: 241
Location: Las Vegas, NV USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| bearcat wrote: |
What makes it not typical is the driving requirement...
...If your job specifies that you need to have an international driver's license...
...And you don't want to be driving illegally...
...How are they (and you) insuring you while you drive on the job? Im betting as well that you are not being compensated for your driving between locations...
...All in all, be very careful with jobs that require you to drive if you don't know all the legalities involved.
...Im not suprised given the driving requirement imbedded in the job. |
Well, what Meagan said was, "I will be driving to different places, possibly."
The driving part may, or may not, have been a job "requirement."
Meagan, I happen to remember you from your posts about "Squeaky." Whether or not you have been offered --and will be accepting-- this job, since you are an American, if you do plan to get an Intn'l Driving Permit, the permit itself, expires one year after issue. Also, don't forget you must have your Stateside license with you at all times, for the permit to be valid (sorry if you already know all this  ). But once you are in Japan, did you know you can have a Japanese driver's license issued to you by showing your valid Stateside license to the proper authorities? You have to fill out some paperwork, take a vision test, sit through a movie --all painless, if boring, stuff. You'll probably want to have someone who speaks Japanese go along with you to the Shikenjo (licensing bureau). But all in all, a quite doable process. On two separate occasions, I have had my California license converted into a valid Japanese license, in just this way.
| bearcat wrote: |
| Ask about that and your right to refuse working overtime without retribution or pentalty. |
That's fine if you have the job in hand. Just in case you don't yet, you might want to perhaps only 'feel them out about that', when the opportunity presents itself. Insisting on 'reserving the right to refuse overtime' from the very beginning, is not really the best policy, in any society, especially in these times. Personally, I'd be flexible in the beginning, and fine-tune my approach after I've been inside for a while.
Hope some of this helps. Say hello to Squeaky for me! |
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Meagan0813
Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 45
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| Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:20 pm Post subject: YES |
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| Thank you all for your information. It is so helpful...thank you!! |
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bearcat
Joined: 08 May 2004
Posts: 367
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| Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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| JL wrote: |
Meagan, I happen to remember you from your posts about "Squeaky." Whether or not you have been offered --and will be accepting-- this job, since you are an American, if you do plan to get an Intn'l Driving Permit, the permit itself, expires one year after issue. Also, don't forget you must have your Stateside license with you at all times, for the permit to be valid (sorry if you already know all this ). But once you are in Japan, did you know you can have a Japanese driver's license issued to you by showing your valid Stateside license to the proper authorities? You have to fill out some paperwork, take a vision test, sit through a movie --all painless, if boring, stuff. You'll probably want to have someone who speaks Japanese go along with you to the Shikenjo (licensing bureau). But all in all, a quite doable process. On two separate occasions, I have had my California license converted into a valid Japanese license, in just this way.
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JL,
It must have been some time since you did your conversion as for years now its been a tad different. You can see what is required(and also an explanation that mirrors what I said about the international driver's license) here on this Ehime webpage:
http://www.town.ikata.ehime.jp/wiki/index.php/Obtaining_a_Japanese_driver's_license
Highlighting what US folks are required to go through:
The procedure for getting your Japanese license is actually described as "converting from a foreign license" (外国免許の切替え gaikoku menkyo no kirikae) in Japanese. In rough outline, you must:
Translate your foreign license
Register
Take the aptitude test (hearing vision etc)
Take the written knowledge test
Take the skill test (driving test) |
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JL
Joined: 26 Oct 2008
Posts: 241
Location: Las Vegas, NV USA
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| Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 4:12 am Post subject: |
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Bearcat,
Yes, I see that a written test and skills test is currently required. But the test is offered in English, and as your own reference says, it is "extremely" easy. Don't know about the skills test, but it only makes sense that licensed drivers should have to pass one of these. In Japan, I believe these tests are taken on a course within the grounds of the licensing bureau. And one can rehearse on the course as often as they like. All in all, I don't see anything terribly daunting here. But I must concede to you that there is now more to it, than there was when I last did this. As for the translation of the home country license, this can be obtained at any local JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) office will do it on the same day, for 3,000 yen.
I hope this info (both yours and mine) may provide useful for anyone interesting in driving in Japan. But frankly, we've both gone galloping off on a tangent. The OP never asked a single thing about any of this.  So with that...
| Meagan0813 wrote: |
Yamaguchi English School is situated in Tokuyama of Shunan City, in Yamaguchi...
Has anyone had any experience with them? Do you know anything about the city? Thanks! |
I suppose you've already thought yourself to check out Wikipedia's entry on Tokuyama, though if not, here it is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokuyama,_Yamaguchi
Here's one ESL teacher's take on Tokuyama --not too glamorous-sounding, I must say. I didn't read all he had to write, and so maybe he mentions this too, but I read elsewhere that there's a lot of mercury poisoning in the bay. So be forewarned.
http://everything2.com/e2node/Tokuyama |
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easyasabc
Joined: 13 Jul 2003
Posts: 179
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:32 am Post subject: Re: Y.E.S. School in Yokuyama of Shunan City - Advice pleas |
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| Meagan0813 wrote: |
| Has anyone had any experience with them? Do you know anything about the city? |
Hi Meagan,
I lived in Tokuyama for a while and then elsewhere in Yamaguchi-ken for about 7 years. PM me if you like and I can give you lots of information on the area. |
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