Job Discussion Forums

[c m r]

I am a Romanian citizen, male, 28 yo, at the moment teaching English at a college in Beijing, China.
I have been living in Asia for over 2 1/2 years - mostly in South Korea and China.
I would like to try Japan, but I have no idea whether I could find a job there, giving the fact that my passport says I am Romanian.
I have a BA in English Language and Literature from a Romanian university (4 year degree). And, I have been teaching English for two and a half years in three different countries.
I would like to know what is the immigration law in Japan and what do school directors think of non-native speakers.
Thank you

[PAULH]

[PAULH]

[PAULH]

To get a visa to teach English and if you are not a native speaker you would also have to had at least 12 years of your education in an English speaking educational institution. Immigration is not interested in how many certifcates you have, how much experience you have , or how well you speak English, but that you hold a university degree for the visa. Teaching diplomas, CELTA, Trinity etc or such ertificates as in themselves they do not qualify you for a work visa. You must hold a university degree in order to get a sponsored work visa. Your Romanian degree should qualify you for sponsorship allowing you to teach Romanian here (and by extension) English.[/b]

[matko]

Paulh

I have to disagree. I am currently working with people in the public school system from countries such as Poland, France, Cameroon and Nigeria.

If the company wants to hire you to teach English, they will supply the sponsorship whether or not your degree is from "x" country or if you have lived in a so called native speaking country for "x" years.

Sorry, your advice is just not true.

[PAULH]

OK

I'll take your word for it- not for me to argue.

You do leave a couple of points unclear though:

Are they being sponsored to teach full-time?

Are they being sponsored to teach only English?

Are they employed directly by the schools or municipal boards or through an employment dispatch agency for example, which pays lower wages to the teachers, and takes a cut of their salary, as often happens in Kansai?

Just as a matter of interest, is there any particular reason these candidates from Cameroon (where they speak French i believe) were chosen over say, a native speaker from the US?

[matko]

Yes, they are sponsored to teach full time.

Yes, they are being sponsored to teach only English.

They are hired by an intermediary (interac).

The question about the Cameroon teacher is one that I asked him personally. He told me that about 80% of Cameroon speaks French but there are certain "Provinces"? where the official language is English.

The reason that these teachers are hired in my BOE is that they recognize the fact that many speakers of English come from non "native" countries. They want to introduce students to "the reality" of English and get them to experience different cultures as well.
Quite progressive and open minded in my opinion. I hope this is repeated in other BOE's

[ryuro]

Howdy,

I�m a N. American who�s worked for almost every type of English teaching organization (conversation schools, high schools, colleges, universities, etc�) in Japan not only as a teacher but for the last few years primarily as a recruiter. Basically I�m hired to find and train teachers- usually from abroad and thought I might be able to add something to this topic.

So, can a �non-native� speaker of English get a teaching position in Japan? Sure, but it won�t be easy. As to the visa (and I�ve dealt with immigration A LOT) basically if you have a sponsor and meet the minimum criteria, you can probably get a visa. You have to understand that immigration rules, like all rules in Japanese society, are very situational and case-by-case. Despite the Japanese strict adherence to protocol, Japanese rules and regulations tend to be more general guidelines. Although there may be specific written regulations, this is Japan, what is written down and what is put into practice can be two entirely different things.

However, all visa legalities aside, here�s the harsh reality of the situation�

If the ad reads NATIVE ENGLISH TEACHER what they�re generally looking for is a young (mid-twenties), Caucasian, preferably blondish American, Canadian, Brit, Aussie, or Kiwi.

I know that�s a horribly unfair thing, but trust me- I�ve had to recruit more teachers than I can remember and when the choice of a final candidate was left to a Japanese, inevitably these were the types of people to which they defaulted (regardless of education, experience, etc�). Even getting some of them to consider Aussie�s Kiwi�s, Irish and Scottish can be difficult. I�ve often had the following brief conversation;

ME: �What about this candidate? She�s an Australian with a degree, some experience, and she did well in her interview �

Japanese Manager: �sssssss (that�s air being sucked over the teeth- anyone in Japan knows EXACTLY the sound I�m talking about) Ausutoraliando akusento, choto mitsukoshi, neh?�
Translation- �Those Aussie�s* are a bit difficult to understand.�
Further translation- �No�.

Obviously these are not the only people who get hired over here, but if you don�t fit the stereotype you�ll probably have better luck with one big outfits like NOVA, GEOS or AEON who have a recruiting staff of westerners who generally make the final call and recruit primarily abroad (but again in N. America, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand). It�s no coincidence that Japanese Immigration makes it far easier for young people from most of these countries to obtain working/holiday visas and/or work visas than citizens of other countries.

I don�t mean to deflate any non-native speaker�s ambitions of coming over here, but I think it�s only fair for them to understand the reality (or irrationality) that is Japan. I�m sure there will be those who will disagree (there are always exceptions), but in general can anyone who has worked over here for any length of time truly and honestly say what I�ve put down here is untrue (in general)?

Cheers,
ryuro

*Don�t mean to pick on the Aussies. My wife is a lovely Aussie and we have relatively few communication problems. My father-in-law and I on the other hand� I have no idea what language he�s speaking at times but it�s certainly not any dialect of English I know.

[Gouki]

[Sunpower]

I worked with a young Austrain girl a few years ago in Tokyo who wasn't a native English speaker.

I also worked with a Phillipino girl who wasn't a native English speaker.

Both of these girls spoke good English.

But I couldn't always understand the Austrian.

They were cute, though. So that might make a difference.

One of the supervisors I had at NOVA was from Brazil and, as far as I could tell, not a native speaker of English.

Are you good looking?
If so, check Berlitz or NOVA