Job Discussion Forums

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

Kamome - that sounds great. What is the competition? Are you in a big town? How long have you been doing this?

kamome · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 19 Location: Hokkaido

Dr.J · Joined: 09 May 2003 Posts: 304 Location: usually Japan

I don't know about the financial stuff and these guys seem to have it covered. But, don't spend a really long time planning syllabuses etc. until you meet your students and get an idea of their level. Do general tasks the first few lessons to sound them out, then work on their specfic needs.

Canuk girl · Joined: 27 Mar 2003 Posts: 60

Wow! Thanks for your insight everyone!! Shmooj, I can see what you mean, I replied to the potential student with a hello what type of English do you want to learn (business etc) and would you prefer lessons in a cafe in your station area.. this was HIS response:
hell how re you?
thats right, do you know Tachikawa?
what did you do today?
Im in Nagoya for my work, so busy now ne
see you later

obviously not at all a response to my email. So that being done with, I think I might seek a full time position elsewhere, as I know I cant bear to teach full time at Nova Rolling Eyes

, and part time just aint cutting it. That or post a sign to give lessons in my area (without my picture on it).. anyone know where I could get it translated?
Thanks again

cafebleu · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 404

Foster - if you were referring to me when you said it `sounds awful` to say we should not be friends with Japanes people because of their wanting free English lessons, read my post again.

I don`t think we should not be friends with Japanese people because we should not be chatting in English to them - I thought I put my comments in context and that explained why I made that statement about some Japanese people I and my friend had known. I have quite a few Japanese friends and we speak in English and Japanese when we meet, often in English.

However, you do tend to encounter in Japan (just like anywhere else) the `user`. In Japan it takes the form of some Japanese regarding foreigners as entertainment or pets (note I don`t say all Japanese are this way). In my friend`s case it took the form of a snooty dentist who was privileged enough to earn a big salary, live at home, not pay rent or other costs associated with being an independent adult, yet baulked at paying his transport fee for the long ride to meet her close to her home in the city.

He gave her the choice of paying his transport fee - she refused. Fine. But I believe him when he told me he ignored her message on his answering machine asking to be `friends` as he came to the reasonable conclusion that she wanted the benefits of a foreign friend speaking to her in English for free, but with all her money she was not prepared to pay his transport costs if he was teaching her. He knows her - I trust what he has to say about her.

Re my former students - despite the Japanese preoccupation with giri amongst themselves, some Japanese seem to completely lose any sense of giving as well as taking when it comes to foreigners. The case of the students who enjoyed hanging around my house, asking to come over all the time and chatting in English to me when they did but never asking me if I would like to see any interesting places in Japan or do something fun outside my house was a case in point.

They also always asked me to hook them up with my friends to do a homestay. Irrespective of the fact they were younger than I, I really didn`t feel comfortable with the notion that my role was to provide them with opportunities yet they would never think of inviting me to see some local spots or whatever.

I also had the situation where a former boss would ask me to go to her relatives` kids sports festivals and making a big point of showing off chatting in English to me (riddled with errors which I didn`t correct) and eagerly correct my attempts to speak Japanese (my first year here). Again, I think it says something about her that I was never invited to go to interesting places or anything like that - just asked to come to events where I was paraded around and was giving a free English lesson.

Of course not all Japanese people are like that - my good friends certainly are not - but you do find them and you have to be aware that they are not interested in give and take.

ruggedtoast · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 81 Location: tokyo

I have some friends who do quite well out of privates but it seems that this is due to 2 reasons.

1. They spent time and effort building them up to something worthwhile.

2. They INSIST students block book at least their next few lessons AND pay in advance (discounting for each extra lesson). Students who dont want to do this are generally the ones who are likely to mess you around. Stick to your guns, if youre a good teacher theyll suck it up and open their wallets - if you arent...