Job Discussion Forums

[Tarariri]

Hi all,

I am a non-native speaker of English from Bulgaria with the requisite 10 years of education in English, an IB diploma, BA, and MA from accredited US universities. Both my TOEFL and GRE scores are expired, but I had a perfect score on the TOEFL and was int he 98% percentile in GRE Verbal. I have tutored learning-disabled children to read as a summer job. Long story short, I am bilingual and fluent in English. I left Bulgaria at 16, I am now 27, and at this point I feel I have better command of English than of my native language.

Even though I am qualified to teach English as a second language, I have met discrimination because of my country of origin. I have called companies with questions only to have people cut off conversations as soon as they learn I am not a native speaker without really reviewing my qualifications.

I had a couple of questions I hope you guys can help me with:

1. Do you suggest I mention that I am a non-native speaker in my "essay"/cover letter? On the one hand, in my experience this results in the application getting trashed as soon as "non-native" is mentioned. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to be accused of trying to hide things. I have been advised both things, but I was really interested to hear your opinion as "insiders."

2. What advice would you give a non-native speaker? If you are a native speaker, what concerns would you have when dealing with a non-native and how do you suggest I address them? And if you are a non-native speaker teaching in Japan, how did you handle these issues and what was your experience?

3. What companies do you suggest I target? Where am I likely to face less discrimination?

Thank you very much for your time, everyone!

[chinagirl]

I would not mention that you were a NNS in the cover letter if I could avoid it. If you have citizenship in a NS country now, just don't say anything.

You are bi/multilingual, favoring English. If your passport is Bulgarian, then maybe a sentence stating, "I am multilingual, but my primary language is English. I have a native-like (insert here) accent, a perfect TOEFL score, and native-like command of the English language." Perhaps a letter from a professor/supervisor vouching for your language skills might be good to include in a job application packet.

I work with a multilingual coworker who emigrated from Eastern Europe as a child to a major English speaking nation. You wouldn't know he wasn't a "native" speaker unless he mentioned it. If you are in the same category, you can absolutely find work in Japan. It might take you a little bit longer, 'tis all.

Good luck in your search.

[Glenski]

Berlitz and GABA tend to pick up people from non-native English speaking countries, although some of their reasoning is so that those people can teach something other than English.

The employer is going to learn of your nationality pretty quickly. Your resume should state it, and if it doesn't, he will undoubtedly ask. Just do your best to present all other aspects of yourself -- your work experience, mostly, but keep your TOEFL scores at the ready, just don't offer them right away.

All that advice and the advice from chinagirl are fairly generic. Bottom line is how you describe yourself in the initial contact. We have not seen how you word things, so it's not as easy as all that to give you advice. Being here to make phone calls (and let employers hear how well you speak, assuming you don't have much of an accent) will only add to your chances.

By the way, it is not 10 years of education in English that you need. It is 12, and that is stated explicitly only for the Instructor work visa (not Specialist in Humanities/International Relations work visa).
http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/appendix1.html#6