Job Discussion Forums

matador · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 281

I heard that Dallas has about the same population as Fukuoka. Is this true! And what's Fukuoka like? Is it okay?? Surprised

Celeste · Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2004 11:58 am Post subject:

I don't know what the population of Dallas is. Fukuoka has just over a million people. It is pretty nice. I live here What exactly would you like to know?

matador · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 281

Whats the teaching scene like? I heard that Shane are opening a school there this month.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

You would be wise to steer cleer of Shane schools. They have one of the worst reputations for teachers. Read the Job Information Journal at this site for details from people who have worked there.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Celeste · Posted: Sat Apr 03, 2004 12:52 am Post subject:

There are certainly a lot of the big eikaiwa chains here. There are also a lot of people doing a lot of part time work. You could probably get a job here. I would second Glenski's warning about Shane schools. A lot of people have had bad things to say about them.

ironopolis · Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 379

My best mate from uni came to work for Shane about 10 years ago, stayed with them for 4 years and was generally fairly happy. All the other Shane teachers I've met said similar things. Comparing his experience to other people's of other eikaiwa schools, it seemed like Shane wasn't much different to the rest.

I must admit I know of no-one who's worked there for the last 3 or 4 years, so it could have taken a drastic turn for the worse. But I'd advise taking moans on the internet about language school experiences with an enormous pillar of salt. Generally, the bigger the school the more whines you can read about them.

Anyway, when my mate was there, Shane made a big deal of being 100% 英会話 and only took teachers from the UK or Ireland. I had heard that recruiting difficulties meant they were taking Aussies & NZers too, but I didn't realise they were now taking any native speaker.

I think Fukuoka is a good place to live. There won't be much you can't get in Fukuoka that you could get elsewhere in Japan. It's also very handily placed for travel to elsewhere in Asia. As for jobs, I'm sure it's easy to hop from one eikaiwa job to another in Fukuoka if you did end up in a place you didn't like. But there's MUCH less choice than there would be in a far bigger conurbation like Kansai or Kanto.