Job Discussion Forums

[Kankidan]

haha thats crazy. I mean to say if they decide to move out, I do not think ECC will cover your key money. I think their offer is a one time thing. Certainly something I would ask about hah.

[rascalking]

[JLL]

I taught at ECC in Osaka (mostly) for three years until 2007.

1. Ages > I liked the fact that classes were of different ages, it broke the day up into varied little chunks. Adult classes were more relaxing; kids' classes were more fun and brainless.

2. Lesson planning > Most classes had no planning; you use the lessons in their books. Sometimes you might have a longer adult class scheduled that you have to plan, but usually not too many of them. Anyway it's mostly discussions with a few activities if you want; you get in a rhythm and it's easy.

3. Couples scheduling > (Don't know, except to say they will make a genuine effort to please you in this regard but the students and company necessities come first.)

4. Curriculum > Never had a problem. 90% of the students (or more) are not really interested in learning English -- it's more like a hobby, like taking a pottery class. The books are good though, and those that want to improve certainly do.

5. Pay > They do figure out a pay increase every year for each teacher, depending on re-sign rates and student evaluations and other factors. There is a lot of voluntary overtime that makes it easy to make extra if you want (I never had a single private lesson since I made all I wanted from ECC overtime and ECC Jr.) For a couple, I imagine you could probably save one of the salaries, or nearly all of it.

6. Positions > Yes you will probably be at 4-5 different schools, *generally* close to your place (again, they make a genuine effort to accommodate you in this regard). It's unlikely you'll have anything waaay far away from you. Having different 'bosses' spread out is no problem at all.

7. Housing > I lived in an ECC-arranged apartment my whole time there. I suppose I wasn't given a specific choice, but I liked the place I got. After 2 years I was told they were moving me to another apartment because I was a single guy taking up a 2-bedroom place they needed for a couple. I saw the new place and liked it even better so I took it. The company was very nice and helpful for fixing things, etc. If you really want a new place you can ask to switch. They look out for you.

8. Web lessons > These are great. Easy and relaxed. Interesting because your students will be from all over Japan, and sometimes not even Japanese people (I taught some Koreans who could read Japanese, for example.) Some web shifts did last until 10:30pm, but others were 10am - 4:30 or so. There's a coffee machine if you need to stay awake!

To sum up, I wouldn't take the 'education' aspect at ECC too seriously -- give the students what they need to excel, but don't get frustrated when they don't seem to. Many only take a 40-minute lesson once a week, with the rest of their daily life all in Japanese, so they don't seem to get much better. It's their money; just smile and be helpful and enjoy meeting them.

ECC really does take its reputation among teachers seriously, and I often saw them go the extra mile to accommodate a teacher's request. You'll like it. Have fun!

[genki-kat]

Were you the couple who applied in Melbourne on the 14th? Just wondering who else was recruited from my session

[gonzarelli]

I worked for ECC for over three years and I never had a problem with them. Congrats on being accepted and have a great time in Japan. Don't take things seriously keep an open mind. You'll have ups and downs. I would do it all over again if I could. I'm jealous.

[silvercat]

I thought id just add my bit about the chubu region.

1. I teach mostly kids, so from the 1.5 to 15 years old. Usually the younger kids are earlier in the day, which is good as I'm too tired and find the older kids (and the adults) a welcome relief. So, I actually like the variety. I only teach two of the 1.5-3yo class. Most classes are tolerable but every now and then you can get a kid that's really rude or kids that are too quiet. New teachers, though, usually get lots of the free talking adult lessons. The students aren't the same every week so I don't think it's very rewarding. Newer teachers also usually get a sub shift in which they have to replace a teacher if they become sick or something.

2. Because I teach so many kids, I actually teach the same lesson (at different schools) 2-3 times a week which makes planning easier. Learning some of the songs and dances is the hardest part for me and takes the most time. I come to work about 30 minutes before the start of each shift to prepare (depending on which classes I have). In this region, many adult class teachers share lesson plans to make it easier.

3. In Chubu, about half the teachers seem to be couples and I don't know any couple that have different days off. I know of teachers that have different work hours on the same day but have NEVER heard of a couple having different days so I would not be worried.

4. Are you talking about the adult classes? I don't think much of the curriculum for adults as many of the expressions and words taught are outdated. But you can easily adjust them to make them fun and more useful. In regular adult classes the teacher has quite a bit of freedom. As for kids, most of the lessons are alright but as the kids get older some of the lessons require us to teach the most useless vocab that the kids don't even know in Japanese. But I think the lessons for younger kids are more logical.

5. I don't think it's possible to save an entire salary but it's enough to save about 60,000 yen a month each. Teachers are evaluated at the end of the year and can get a pay rise from 0 yen to 60 yen an hour. This is based on re-sign rates etc.

6. I work at 5, but most teachers I know work at 3-4 (I even know some that work at only 2). In my first year, ECC gave no consideration to where I lived but after that they take into account your preferences. My commute is a lot easier now (about 15-20 minutes each way) but I have never worked at the school closest to my house.

7. Housing. Everything I've heard about the apartments they find you is generally positive but I'd like to know if anyone has had any problems--especially getting things fixed should you require maintenance. Are the agencies easy to work with? Were you given any options other than the one when you arrived? I gathered from the interview that you're pretty much presented with one apartment--take it or leave it. I was given only one option. It was OK, the location was alright and the apartment was quite new. I had no problems getting maintenance done but I know people who have. I think you just have to push it a bit with the agency. After a year, I moved as other apartments had much cheaper rent.

Hope this helps. I know you have asked for the Kinki region but don't be surprised if you end up in Chubu as many couples do and most of them also asked for Kinki (as did I).
In all though, I think ECC is the best Eikaiwa to work for and I think you'll have a great time.

[1gurlrevolution]

Thanks for all the replies guys! Makes me feel less nervous about going. This wouldn't be my first time teaching (done Korea, Vietnam and China) but my last school was not so great and I left thinking I would never teach again... And now, here I am! But I've heard so many good things about ECC that it doesn't really surprise me that you guys have had good experiences.

I'm very thankful for your input. Sounds like the kids classes aren't so bad, that they really do try to put you in schools close to home, the curriculum is workable and that couples are likely to get the same days off. And thanks for weighing in on the internet classes--I'm glad to hear you enjoy them JLL! I'm interested in knowing more about the structure of the internet classes, if you don't mind. This really wasn't covered in our interview. We were just told, "You'll learn more at training."

And Genki-kat, we interviewed in Sydney--sorry! Glad you made it through though!