Job Discussion Forums

[CPA]

I am interested in teaching English in Japan and Thailand. I picked these countries because I would like to study martial arts and Buddhism while I teach.

I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the United States with muliple years of corporate experience and an undergraduate university education in accounting in finance. I am hoping my backround might help me obtain a position teaching high school students, university students, or working professionals.

My goal is to have a great immersion experience plus the chance to develop language and cultural skills that can be applied later in life in business environments.

Thanks for any advice.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

This thread must focus on teaching in Japan.

[RustyShackleford]

Your background will mean very little in either country other than showing a general good character in dealing with things.

I think that for Buddhism, Thailand will be better since Japan is pretty much agnostic if not outright atheist. They do the routines but don't really "get it" if you feel me.

For martial arts, Japan is infinitely better but will cost you.

Workplace-wise, I think that both will have a fair amount of challenges. From my understanding, you're going to basically be dealing with kids who are there against their will learning a language they're ambivalent about alongside a ragtag group of enthusiastic culture-lovers and burnouts.

Between the two though, Japan wins every time.

[rxk22]

For serious martial arts Thailand is better. Their boxing is better and they've imported a lot of good grappling instructors. Plus better and hungrier training partners.

[timothypfox]

I can only advise you on ESL types of positions in Japan.

You should post the same question on the Thailand board about Thailand for your comparison. Your background could get you work at an English conversation school or as an assistant language teacher. In these positions you could teach some junior high students, adults and children. So, you may not be able to get into a strictly high school position only.

If you have a comfortable retirement already set up, you are in a good situation to come. Otherwise, if this job is one you will need for money, you'll be back at an entry level salary for someone graduating with an arts degree if you get my drift. The entry salaries typically are 240,000 yen to 280,000 yen a month.

What's weighing against you is a lack of experience working in Japan. There are some many who have this experience... But never say never. Might be easier to find work in Thailand, but if you are in no hurry you might find something in Japan.

[jimpellow]

I have just started lurking around the Japan board, and have taught in neither Japan nor Thailand (though I have taught Japanese businesspeople), so I cannot comment on those specifically. I have taught in other Asian countries and other regions of the world as well as online.

I decided to comment as I personally think your background can be a real positive if you are interested in the area of Business English. There is quite a bit of demand. The biggest obstacle is separating yourself from all the pretenders who claim to be able to teach in the realm of Business English, and schools in certain countries that prefer to place youthful types in front of executives and instruct them to follow the book.

I have built a good side career on doing this and have a background somewhat similar to yours. The key is that there are a ton of students who are desperately looking for someone that can talk to them in English about breakeven points and so on. You will actually be amazed how business knowledge deficient a lot of very rich businesspeople in many cultures are.

You may want to look at Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore too considering what you seek.

Best of luck!

[timothypfox]

Yes, sorry I forget about that jimpellow.

CPA, there are some jobs where you could specialize in teaching business English. I don't know much about that, but combing job boards and the like may get you more information beyond what people mention here. This kind of job would pay a more reasonable decent salary, and you could in this case leverage your experience in business for this kind of work.

[taikibansei]

[CPA]

Thanks for all the great feedback and advice. I have a couple interviews scheduled with recruiters for this week.

I am leaning towards Japan because of the higher pay (I still have monthly payments for US student loans that I need to keep up with). I also think Japan may have more opportunities to teach business English.

Right now I do not have any Japanese language skills. I hear Japanese is one of the easier alphabets to learn, but learning any new language is a monumental task. I imagine developing a nuanced Japanese vocabulary sufficient enough for business will take many years of diligent study.

Does anyone have suggestions for books or learning methods that will help me develop basic language skills suited for my potential experience in Japan? I would like to improve the quality of my potential life in Tokyo by knowing at least how to navigate the city, order food, meet girls , work with a martial arts instructor and other teachers, and most importantly interact cordially with my students.

I am also wondering what a potential business English lesson might look like. I haven't yet taken a course n teaching English as a second language. Some of the following questions might be answered after taking a course, but if anyone could help answer these I would appreciate it.

The client might not be able to relay in English what his or her objectives are for the the lesson, so will I need to rely on my employer to relay that information? Are there smartphone based translation tools decent enough that will enable me discern this information on my own?

If the client doesn't have a set objective, I imagine I could find out what he or she does for work and then help them learn useful English words and phrases. For instance if they are an accountant, I could bring some financial statements (like a profit and loss statement or balance sheet) that have the English and Japanese words listed like "Net Income / 当期純利益" and help them learn the pronunciation. What are some other teaching methods for any profession that would help me convey these words and phrases?

If the client wants to learn something in English but has limited English skills, how am I supposed to discern what they want to do? I know these questions might seem pretty basic, but i'm interested in how it works.

Thanks for any advice.

[CPA]

I am also wondering about some visa and travel logistics. If I can connect with a recruiter that obtains a job and a visa for me, do I need to have a return ticket booked when I leave for Japan?

If things don't work out with my initial employer and I need to switch jobs, can my teaching visa be revoked? If so, how easy is it to obtain another one while in Japan?

[nomad soul]

[CPA]

Thanks for the tip. I will plan on taking a TEFL course before I land in Japan so I come prepared. Wish I could earn a masters in teaching, but i'm new to the field and not sure if teaching will be something I want to do long term.

Luckily most of the job postings I've seen for teaching in Japan and Thailand don't require teaching experience (but many of the really good ones do ) I would like to go on this adventure and see if teaching business English to adults is a good career (or at least a good time).

I have an interview this week for teaching business English in Tokyo. I'm hoping they like my background. I am lucky enough to have a competitive degree and work experience with one of the four largest accounting and consulting firms in the world (a firm whose name I believe many successful Japanese businessmen and women will recognize). I hope this helps me.

I think I have a lot to bring to the table despite not having teaching credentials. The strenuous process of earning a Certified Public Accountant license in the US includes requiring 150 credit hours of school (five years), a challenging 16 hour exam to demonstrate a mastery of a broad range of business fundamentals and technical concepts, and work experience in the field. I believe that all my hard work will help me here; I will be able to converse intelligently with foreign business professionals from a broad range of job occupations.

Don't worry, I won't be relying on this forum for teaching strategies. I think the Newbie forum on this board might have been a better place for those questions. Just hoping to find out if ESL teaching is for me or not. I've never done it so I was wondering how it works.

Thanks again.

[nomad soul]

[timothypfox]

It really depends on the company set up. 16 years ago when I went over to work for an eikaiwa and had no teaching experience at all, I was told the company had textbooks and lesson plans I had to follow. I learned on the job. Though advisable to get your feet wet before, and take a course too, you can learn on the job. The difference will be that lesson planning will take considerably longer, and expect some late nights planning your first year. If you get some training or experience, you'll be able to be much more efficient and purposeful with your class planning...

[taikibansei]