Job Discussion Forums

[Zzonkmiles]

NOVA Multimedia Center: A Progress Report

I have been working for NOVA at its Multimedia (MM) Center in Osaka for four months now. I thought I would use this opportunity to share my experiences and assessments of working for NOVA in this capacity thus far for anyone who is considering working at its MM Center.

The MM Center is situated in downtown Osaka. There are no �branch MM Centers� in Japan. If you want to live in Osaka, volunteering to work at the MM Center will guarantee that you will be assigned to this city (assuming they need new teachers, which I�m sure they always do).

Teaching at the MM Center is very different from teaching at a branch, although I have never taught at a NOVA branch school. Teaching at NOVA�s MM Center involves teaching via the computer with a webcam. You do not need to know how to program computers, nor do you even have to be computer literate to be successful using the technology here. You spend a lot of time alternating between being on camera and displaying various pictures, flash cards, and an electronic whiteboard you use to jot down notes or draw pictures for the students. Some of the computers are pretty good (i.e., fast), but the majority of them are average to slow.

There are three main shifts you can work at the MM Center:

Early: 0730-1455
Late: 1510-2240
Night: 2250-0720

You get extra pay if you work Sundays or late shifts, and you earn even more money if you work the night shift. Working the early shift gives you no extra money whatsoever. There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to working each shift, but you really shouldn�t need me to spell these advantages out for you. I would, however, recommend that you ensure that your schedule has some variety. If you work all late shifts, for example, it�ll be difficult for you to have much of a social life and the trains will stop running about an hour after you punch out for the evening. If you work all early shifts, you�ll be scared to stay out late because you�ll have to work so early the next day. So try and get some variety in your schedule. You have no control over your schedule when you first arrive at NOVA, as your schedule is based on the MM Center�s needs. However, after you complete probation (2-3 months later), you can request a shift change.

Teaching at the MM Center is generally easy work. But it can get hairy at times, mainly because you only have 10-15 minutes (usually 10) between each class. During this time, you have to finish writing your student comments, log out of your computer, find your next computer (and hope that the instructor that was using that booth before you has already left), quickly scan the lesson sheets to see which lesson you should teach next, quickly run to the bathroom, etc. With experience, you should be able to finish typing your student comments during the actual lesson, so you won�t have to worry about this during the next class. But because you are on camera most of the time, you have to remember your on-camera presence and make it appear that you are looking directly at the students. In other words, you will likely struggle with jotting down the student comments if you are unable to type proficiently.

Sometimes there are technical problems. If you are lucky, these problems will happen between your lessons. It�s always best to do a quick sound test, whiteboard test, and microphone test before each lesson starts because once your lesson starts and you have a technical problem, things can really get interesting really quick. There have been instances in which I could not switch to my camera because my computer froze. There have been other times when sound problems prevented students from hearing each other. However, these types of more serious problems are not common. The more common mistakes usually involve pushing the wrong button and having a window suddenly disappear and not knowing what to do because the computer menus are all in Japanese. NOVA has tech support on every floor, and if there�s a problem, they can usually resolve it in a matter of seconds.

Having said that, it�s good to learn how to be good at improvising. Even when there aren�t any tech problems, you will often find yourself maybe 5-10 seconds ahead of your students in terms of what you will say next or which exercise you will have them complete next. Because you never know how the students will gel during the lesson or if you will have a tech problem, you need to learn how to be great at improvising and adapting to rapid changes.

NOVA has seven student levels: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Fox, and Golf. Alpha is the lowest level. I have taught Alpha students who didn�t even know the words �drink� and �eat.� But that�s why they�re Alphas. The highest level is Golf. Golf students are very advanced and can talk about a variety of issues. Some Golf students are quite c o c k y and may try to test you to see how much vocabulary and grammar YOU know. The majority of NOVA students are Bravos, Charlies, and Deltas. Each level has a series of lessons you can teach. Usually there are 48 lessons for each level, although Alpha only has 12 lessons and Fox and Golf have 96 each, half of which are devoted to general topics about society, art, science, culture, ethics, etc. It is entirely up to you to decide which lesson to teach each group of students.

Each lesson focuses on a different language or grammar point. Some lessons work better than others in certain contexts. For example, a lesson about shopping language might go over better with a group of three women, rather than a group of young teenage boys. It�s up to you to choose which lesson you want to teach. It is quite possible to survive at NOVA and only be able to teach 5-7 lessons for each level. Of course, that can lead to boredom. There are some lessons that I personally would NEVER touch, either because I�ve tried them before and they bombed or because there is no way I can make the students interested in the lesson topic. But each teacher is different, and each teacher has his own set of �pet lessons.� So it all balances out.

Each class is 40 minutes long. Classes can range from 1-3 students. If a class is only supposed to have one student, it is designated as an M2M (man to man) lesson. Students usually �come to class� (or rather, log into the lesson) on time. However, some students are stragglers. I�ve had students who were 15 minute late before! Suddenly, that throws your lesson off track and you have to reconnoiter. Again, being adept at adjusting to sudden changes will save you at NOVA. Students are not able to log into the lesson after 17 minutes of the class has passed. If the class is an M2M lesson, however, you have to wait the full 40 minutes and basically stare at a blank computer screen. Smart teachers bring books to read. Smarter teachers study Japanese during this time. It is possible to have all three students in your lesson not show up. It has happened to me, and it has happened to other teachers I know. You get paid regardless of whether your students log in or not.

Teachers are supposed to follow a specific format with each lesson. It roughly consists of an introduction, a warmup, looking at a picture, a small application, drills, a second picture, a listening task, a final major application/role play, and a recap. Some lessons are more successful than others. But this largely depends on your own personality, the personality of your students, how you explain the lesson, and the lesson you chose. I�ve had some lessons that just clicked on all cylinders. And I�ve had some duds. And I�ve had some students who were quite rude as well. If a student is not satisfied with your lesson for whatever reason and calls NOVA Customer Service to complain, you will get an earful from your �green tag� (immediate supervisor). So always be careful with your word choice (remember not to make a student �lose face� by embarrassing him in front of the other students when he makes a mistake), your body language (don�t sigh, don�t roll your eyes, don�t chew gum, don�t slouch, etc.), your explanations (don�t use advanced words when talking to a group of Bravos�they won�t understand anything and will become frustrated), and don�t treat the lessons like a silly game. While the lessons are basically edutainment, the students usually DO expect to be TAUGHT something. (Whether or not they actually LEARN something is debatable.)

When you get more experience, you will be trained in teaching Short Courses, which focus on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, or comprehension. These are all M2M lessons and are considerably more serious than regular lessons. They, especially the advanced grammar lessons, are much more academic in nature. There is more of an emphasis on the �education� aspect here, rather than the �edutainment� aspect of regular lessons. Other lessons you can be trained to teach include kids� lessons, demos, business English lessons, VIP lessons (for students who want a specific �type� of instructor (i.e., blonde hair, blue eyes), English communicative ability testing, etc.

NOVA has been beneficial for me in that it has helped me improve my own conversational skills. Really, the lessons (not including the Short Courses) are basically getting the students to laugh and have fun using the new words and expressions you teach them under the guise of actually learning something. You learn how to be great at small talk and giving encouragement, even if it�s not sincere. I am surprised at how easy it is for me to just laugh with a group of strangers for 40 minutes and get them to gel with each other. Not that I was previously a social misfit or anything, but working at NOVA has definitely enhanced my own social skills.

I want to stress that this is not mentally intensive work. You really just learn how to shut off your brain (unless it�s a group of Echoes or higher or a Short Course). The work is more physically demanding in that you have very little downtime. 10 minutes between lessons is not a lot of time to do much of anything. And if the computers are slow, another teacher is using the booth you�re about to use, you have to use the restroom, and you�re still jotting down comments from your previous lesson, it can be quite stressful. There have been times when I didn�t know which lesson I�d teach until halfway through the students� introductions. So again, it can be stressful at times even though it�s usually easy work.

Because you are teaching over the computer, you will never meet any of your students outside of class. NOVA has a non-fraternization clause anyway, but it�s pretty much moot at the MM Center because it�s in Osaka and your students can be in Chiba or Sapporo or Fukuoka or Niigata or Tokyo or Okinawa. So if you like face-to-face interaction, the MM Center is likely not for you. On the other hand, once the final bell rings and class is over, all you have to do is push the purple disconnect button and immediately forget about the student. You�ll likely never see him or her again. So you don�t have to worry about your students wanting to chat with you after class at all. This is especially good if a student has annoying tendencies. Just push the purple button and purge yourself!

There are probably 500 teachers working at NOVA�s MM Center. Most of the instructors teach English, although there are some Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Chinese teachers as well. People on specific language teams tend to stick to themselves, and may have negative opinions about the teachers on other teams and talk about them in their own language. There are generally a lot of cliques among all the teachers, including the English ones, and they usually do not go out of their way to help new instructors. It seems that friendships are basically governed by how long you�ve been working here. People who started at the same time tend to be close, for example. Veteran teachers rarely take newbies under their wing.

The NOVA teachers range from greenhorn 21-year olds straight out of college to people in their 40s and 50s. I�d venture to say that most of the teachers are in their 20s and low 30s. But I want to stress that there are some middle-aged people working at NOVA. And NOVA seems to have a very progressive hiring policy. There are teachers of Asian descent, Blacks, and even Latinos working there.

As for the teachers� personalities, they run the gamut. Some of the teachers are very quiet and reclusive. Others are of the party-hard-frat-boy crowd. Some study Japanese hardcore and don�t associate much with the other teachers. Some are pure and utter losers who probably couldn�t hack it back home. Some are generally friendly and approachable. Some teachers have master�s degrees. Some only have a bachelor�s degree. Some have formal teaching experience. And some have never taught anything before at all.

The majority of NOVA teachers at the MM Center do not speak Japanese. And if they do, it�s very basic Japanese. You do not need to know Japanese to be successful working at NOVA. Japanese is not supposed to be used in the classroom, and students may even complain if you do speak Japanese. Japanese ability is much more important from a quality of life standpoint when you leave work each day and are thrust back into Japan and the Japanese language. I would recommend learning Japanese for your own survival in Japan. It has no bearing on your job.

There are many, many Japanese staff that work at NOVA as well. There�s the LS (language support), CS (customer service), and TS (tech support) staffs, along with people in the accommodation/education sections as well. Most of them do not speak fluent English, although many of them can understand far more English than the NOVA teachers give them credit for. (Some teachers laugh at their students� English mistakes while they�re in the break room and the Japanese staff may understand every word of it. It�s very interesting because most of these teachers who are laughing can�t speak any Japanese at all. So who are they to make fun of their students?) Sometimes the Japanese workers eat lunch/dinner in the main break room, although there is usually not a lot of mixing between the Japanese and foreign staffs. If you want to befriend the Japanese workers, you need to speak some Japanese. Although they are generally friendly if you speak to them, they usually will not go out of their way to make you feel welcome. Why should they?

When I first started working at NOVA, I had some difficulties at first in terms of adjusting to the �NOVA formula.� I had taught before and had formal TEFL training. I could think of many ways to make my classes more productive, but I felt stifled by the �formula.� So I had to readjust my expectations and �play the game,� so to speak. I want to stress to you that teaching at NOVA is NOT like teaching at a high school or a university. And �teaching� is a word that I use lightly in the NOVA context. As I became more experienced, I stopped taking the lessons so seriously. I followed the �formula� and left it at that. I�d be creative when necessary and I�ve learned how to �tweak� the lessons to be more useful for the students. But I stopped killing myself over ensuring that each student had a 110% understanding of each individual lesson point. If the students were laughing and attempting to use the target language (the language being taught), then that�s all that mattered. I stopped trying to reinvent the wheel, and I certainly didn�t make any recommendations to my higher-ups about what could be done to improve the system.

Speaking of these higher-ups, there is a definite hierarchy at NOVA. All of the employees are clearly identified by a colored tag. Most teachers have a purple tag. Trainers, assistant trainers, and the head trainer wear green tags. Supervisors and managers wear pink tags. Visitors wear yellow tags. Tech support wears gray tags. Most of the rest of the Japanese staff wear blue tags. Each teacher is assigned a particular �green tag.� Some of the green tags are pretty cool people. Some aren�t really worthy of your respect simply because of the way they carry themselves. Unfortunately, others are downright nasty and are consciously looking for ways to screw you over. Perhaps these people get off on the �power� and �authority� they have. Be careful with them and don�t trust anyone.

Each month, everyone in the same green tag �family� will have a meeting in which various topics are discussed. These meetings are supposed to serve as ways to brainstorm ways to make your file notes more useful, make more informed decisions about whether to recommend a student be promoted to the next level, etc. These meetings have good intentions, but are often frankly a waste of time. The teachers (purple tags) don�t seem to take these meetings seriously and are more appreciative of the fact that they simply don�t have to teach for that period.

Training at the MM Center generally lasts 3 or 4 days. Then you are pretty much thrown to the wolves. The training period and the first week or two are generally the most difficult times for NOVA teachers. You are still adjusting to your new surroundings and you are constantly being observed and critiqued by your green tag who, seemingly, is looking for every little thing wrong that you do. Then you don�t know why your students aren�t responding well to you, you find that you�re going through the lesson too fast, nobody understands anything, etc. It�s tough. But after about a month, you become quite comfortable with the format and the lessons you do and do not like. And once you pass probation, you stop being observed completely (at least for another four months) and are pretty much left to your own devices.

From a financial standpoint, NOVA has always paid me on time, and my salary is considerably higher than the 250,000 yen average. Given the bonuses you receive from working late or night shifts, it is possible to earn over 300,000 yen each month WITHOUT overtime. Moving out of NOVA housing was good for me in that it reduced NOVA�s control over my life and my finances. For example, if you damage something or something needs to be replaced in your NOVA apartment and it�s your fault, NOVA will deduct that from your salary. Some people may whine about it, but it seems pretty fair to me. I just didn�t want to have that kind of liability, which is why I moved out.

What are my complaints? My biggest complaint is the hurried nature of the job. 10 minutes is simply not enough time to get organized and catch your breath between lessons. It�s just not. And some teachers are rude by staying in their teaching booths after the lesson is over while the next teacher is patiently waiting for them to log out and move. Sometimes the computers are painfully slow as well. The lack of sick holidays is another issue that I don�t like too much, but it is certainly more than bearable.

Another complaint has to be the high number of losers that work there. Some of the teachers are really arrogant, insensitive, or downright lame. Fortunately, there are enough teachers there to be somewhat anonymous and not have to worry about dealing with these people on an intimate basis. But sometimes I literally feel like I�m back in junior high school when I�m dealing with these clowns and social misfits.

On the positive side, NOVA offers flexible scheduling and it�s easy to do shift swaps with other teachers (once you�ve passed probation). They make all the arrangements for you in terms of housing, providing your hanko (personal stamp), meeting you at the airport, etc. They reimburse you for your train pass and can be counted on if there is a serious problem with your accommodations. Things at a branch school may be different, but at the MM Center, they have generally been reliable and prompt, although sometimes bureaucratic.

People may bash NOVA a lot on the internet and even in the workplace, but they really don�t have much to complain about. People may talk about NOVA being the �Big Bad Empire� and that they should use NOVA for the visa and bail, but based on my experience so far, I personally think I�ve got a much better job than the majority of eikaiwa instructors here. (Obviously, high schools and universities are in a completely different category.) As for the NOVA naysayers, I say that the job is quite easy and it�s not like those people are WORKING for their money. They are basically getting paid to have conversations with people. And sometimes if there are more teachers than lessons, you can end up with a free period in which you�d still get paid. How can you complain about that? I think many of the NOVA teachers are just chronic whiners or spoiled brats. I am not saying that NOVA is perfect by any means. A company this large is bound to have lots of red tape and silly bureaucratic pettiness and idiosyncrasies. But for this salary (which is not a lot, but is still a lot considering how little work I do) and this lack of responsibility, I think I could have very easily done far worse.

Overall grade: B+

[Gordon]

Thank you so much for your candid remarks about your workplace. I had no idea something that you described actually exists. To me, your job sounds a lot like prison, where they let you out on day parole. Wearing different tags and the hierarchy and zero input on the teacher`s part sounds rather dismal. I am glad that you are being positive about it. What is the turnover like there?

[foster]

Zzonkmiles...I must say, after having spent 2 years at the MM center and left (i am guessing) about a month after you arrived, I would say you hit the nail on the head.

By now, you have met all the illustrious green tags, and I hope you have a nice one for a trainer. Mine was ok...until they switched it 2 months before I was set to leave. Those idiots.

LS staff can be hit and miss as well. Some were nice to me, especially when they wanted OT. Others, like the one who sits nearest the Pink Tag guy's office (his personal secretary) were NEVER nice...well, maybe once she was civil.

As for the harried 10 minutes, you will get used to it. I used to think that was too short of time for me as well. It came to a point, after a few months, that the 10 mintues were AMPLE. Could be that I found myself teaching only a few selected lessons from the drivel that they allow youto choose from, or that I stopped caring (this being very near the end of my glorious time at the MM center)

And they are still making you change booths every lesson? Did they not get that sorted out yet?? Everyone would much rather be in the same booth. So frustrating.

I hope you enjoy your time there...I did for the most part. I am not sorry I left. I had a nice schedule as well. 1 early, 2 lates and 2 splits. I liked it.

Enjoy the monthly meetings. Hopefully, you have a human default trainer who realizes that the meetings are a joke and treats it as such.

Gambatte!

[voodoochild]

well Zzonk miles or whatever your name is, im sure you will get that early promotion soon seeing that only yes men get anywhere in Nova, I also dont consider myself spoilt or a whiner, I consider myself experienced and professional which is something Nova certainly is not, which is why I resigned from that place.

good luck in the battery farm

[Wolf]

[guest of Japan]

That was fun. congratulations on 800. I'm not even close to you even though we started posting at around the same time I think. Maybe you should take up drinking. It helps to pull me away from the computer.

[PAULH]

[Zzonkmiles]

Voodoo Child: That is exactly the type of attitude that I'm talking about. Nowhere in my post did I mention that I intended to make a career out of NOVA, nor did I mention that NOVA involved real teaching. Actually, I recall saying that NOVA wasn't really "teaching" at all. I have teaching experience too and I have formal TEFL training as well. But for someone who is new to Japan and was hired from abroad, there were not so many options to get into the country.

To further explain what I mean by "chronic whiners" and "spoiled brats," let me tell you a few things I've observed: Sometimes I've come to work with other people who have the same shift as me. And BEFORE THE FIRST LESSON EVEN STARTS, some of them start complaining about how they're having a bad shift so far and how they hate what they're doing. Other people whine and moan about "NOVA did this" and "I hate NOVA because of that" ad nauseum. But then when I ask them how long they've been working there, they often say things like "eight months" or "a year and a half" or "I just renewed my contract." If NOVA is so unbearable for them, then why do they stick around for so long? That's why I think they like to whine.

Personally, I plan on staying at NOVA for the duration of my contract before moving onto greener pastures elsewhere in Japan. It's an easy life that allows me enough time to continue to get acclimated to my new surroundings, save some money, and get experience with actually teaching in Japan even though I have teaching experience and teaching training already. For now, NOVA is meeting my needs, and that's all that matters to me. One other point to remember is that the NOVA students have different motivations for signing up for NOVA lessons. Some of them might not want "real teaching," which is why they're not studying at a more "legit" institution.

I don't think that just because I'm not spewing out bile about NOVA (which is far from perfect) that this makes me a "yes man" who wants to ascend the NOVA corporate ladder. You did the right thing by leaving NOVA because it wasn't meeting your needs. I don't see why you need to criticize or diminish others just because they are actually trying to make their experience with the company positive.

And if you had such a negative experience, why don't you post a message about it here so other prospective NOVA teachers could make a more informed decision? Simply calling NOVA a "battery farm" doesn't really make much of a case for anything other than a case against your own limited credibility. It's easy to criticize.

Wolf: I said that "based on my own personal experience, I personally think I have a better eikaiwa position than the majority of non-university/non-high school gigs in Japan." So that's merely a subjective assessment based on my own unique experience thus far. Obviously, your experience may be different. But as for me, if I'm making 290,000 yen a month after taxes and deductions and the eikaiwa average is 250,000 a month and I'm not leaving work embittered each night, I think I'm doing quite well. I don't have to deal with students' body odor or bad breath, jotting down file notes by hand, late or inaccurate paychecks, pointless paperwork, returning phone calls or e-mails, talking to annoying students who mill about outside the NOVA entrance after the school closes, lousy textbooks, passing out handbills, or giving my boss "free" English lessons to lower my rent. That's why I think I have a decent job. I'm particularly comparing this to the other companies that comprise the Big 4, although more vacation time and sick days would be very, very nice.

As for the Japanese staff, I don't see why they should roll out the red carpet for you just because you are a foreigner in their country. Back home, we never treated foreign employees in a special way. We merely trained them and said hello if we saw them, which could hardly be considered as "going out of our way" for them. And also if the company is as large as NOVA with hundreds of teachers and staff members milling about, it's quite difficult to remember names and faces. I think if you are expecting to be treated in a special way just because you are a foreign "guest" in their country, it's a matter of you having inappropriate expectations, in my own judgment. What should the J-staff do? Should they offer to take new teachers out to dinner? Should they offer to take us sightseeing and drinking? This is what I consider to be "going out of their way." These people don't know who we are, and many of them don't speak English well enough to even initiate such a conversation. (And most of the teachers can't speak Japanese well enough to do the same thing.) And they really might not be interested in befriending you (I say "you" rhetorically") at all. They will be cordial to you, and some will be quite friendly if you talk with them, but I think it's asking a bit much for them to essentially be your "cultural ambassador." These J-staffers are busy too, just like the teachers. I'm sure they'd much rather spend their limited free time talking with THEIR coworkers and THEIR friends in THEIR language about THEIR days and THEIR lives. I don't see anything wrong with that. If anything, the onus should be on the foreign teachers to establish contacts with the Japanese--not just the other J-staffers, but the Japanese in general. Why should they deviate from their normal routine to accommodate YOU?

And for what it's worth, I think the veteran teachers would be much more knowledgeable about how the lessons are structured and could offer much more valuable input to a new teacher than some random J-staffer who mans the phones in the customer service department and can't speak a word of English. But the veteran teachers don't even bother taking new teachers under their wing at all. They don't even say hello. I don't think the J-staffers have any responsibility whatsoever to accommodate the foreign teachers beyond being cordial. If anything, that responsibility should lie more with the more experienced teachers. And besides, the steady and endless stream of new teachers, who arrive every week, makes it impossible for the J-staffers to "go out of their way" for everyone. I don't think that's a realistic expecation at all.

I am sorry that you got screwed by NOVA. There are thousands of teachers working for NOVA, so it's reasonable to expect that some of them got shafted. Again, I work at the MM Center and not a branch, so the J-staffers I deal with are totally different. And because there are hundreds of branches, it is obvious that there will be great variation in the dynamics and personalities of the staffers each teacher at each branch has to deal with. I realize that I am only one person. I too have been screwed in some ways by NOVA, but it was nothing to really scream over. I won't say I'm "lucky" because I would think that most NOVA teachers don't have horror stories of their own to tell; it's just that the ones who do are the ones who post on the net.

But guess what? NOVA isn't the only company that's out there to make a buck! To say that NOVA is greedy is essentially absolving other companies (eikaiwa-related, Western, and others) of any guilt with respect to pulling a fast one.

Is it really so wrong to say that NOVA is actually NOT out to consciously make your life miserable? I am not a NOVA apologist by any means, but I just have a hard time saying so many terrible things about a company I'm voluntarily working for, especially if my complaints warrant me looking for another job ASAP. I think I'd look pretty stupid if I kept saying NOVA was akin to Satan while I continued to punch in to work everyday.

[Wolf]

[PAULH]

[quote="Wolf

[Zzonkmiles]

To Wolf and Paul: I'm sorry, I'll clarify my position. I am not excusing what NOVA did to Wolf at all. I'm sorry that it happened and I'm sorry that you had to deal with it. I'm saying that if a company is so large, it is reasonable to assume that some teachers will have negative experiences with the company for whatever reason. It's simply a numbers game. Of course, that does not absolve NOVA of any responsibility for what happened to you or to the other employees who were treated in a similar fashion. It shouldn't happen to anyone at any company, but unfortunately, it does. And such negative treatment of employees is not unique to NOVA. I think there are many more people who had negative experiences with NOVA than with some specific Mom and Pop operation in Somewhere-saki Japan. However, the Mom and Pop operation may actually be a MUCH nastier beast that only SEEMS like a better deal simply because it only produces 10 negative experiences, rather than 1000 like NOVA might.

I think all of us actually have the same opinion on the issue, even though we're articulating it differently.

[Wolf]

[quai]

Zzonkmiles,

I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your post on the MM centre. Gave me some insights into what goes on there.

A friend of mine has accepted a position with the Nova MM and is leaving earlier next year - so I am giving him a print out of your message.

You said that you moved out of the Nova accomodation... was that a difficult process? and can I ask how much you were paying for rent with Nova and how much you are paying for rent now that you are out of the Nova accomodation?

Good luck in the future.

Quai

[foster]

Nova apartments usually cast between 45,000Yen to 75,000Yen, all utilities except phone and Cable included.

Moving out on your own, depending what city you are in, is at least one months rent for deposit up front, plus first months rent, plus possibly the cost of setting up utilities and phones.

For me, that was about 200,000Yen in Osaka.

Luckily, I had a nice landlord who let me pay it off bit by bit.

[Tiger Beer]

Whats the proper way to go about applying?

I currently teach via webcams and all the rest in Seoul, Korea for what appears to be a dying company. (Feels like this job could end at anytime).

Its setup totally different.. one-on-one teaching, mostly kids, 20-minute class with 5-minute breaks between. If a student doesn't show up, you can download music or check email as you have your own workstation. Plus you get equivalent to 200,000yen and a free studio apartment all furnished. The cost of living in Seoul is significantly less - for example the subway costs about 75cents to ride unlimted all day if you didnt' want to get off the subway or bus or whatever.

Regardless, Osaka does sound cool.. I've been wanting to live/work in Japan and internet teaching is pretty fun. Just curious, how does one go about applying for NOVA? And how quickly and easily could I get in if I want to do that? Someone else told me you have to actually go back to your home country and interview from there?? Is that true as well?