Job Discussion Forums

[gecko]

A friend and I will be coming to Japan in September. We are coming from S.Korea and realise that although we will be making more money the cost of living will be a lot higher.

My question is about privates. I have assertained that I can earn between 3,000 and 6,000 yen per hour but what I haven't been able to find out is how easy it is to pick up privates.

Any info would be much appreciated.

[Glenski]

Answers are going to vary, but I can give you my view based on 5 years of experience.

It's not as easy as people make out.

First, what is your visa situation going to be? Big question.

Second, where are you going to be? Rural area, mid-sized city, Tokyo? Obviously, the smaller the place, the less likely you will find privates.

Third, coming here with no contacts makes it difficult. You will have to sign up on information boards, community centers, churches, etc. and pass the information by word of mouth, but you have no "contact mouths" to start, so you are going to start on the ground floor. This means taking a lot of time. Months, in my opinion, and that doesn't ensure you can live on what wages you will take in during the meantime. In fact, I can guarantee that it won't. You can set yourself up in a gaijin house (with no key money), but you will still have to pay for rent (50,000 to 80,000 yen/month). There are some web sites that you can sign up for to announce private lessons, but again, I don't feel these will provide enough to live on.

http://www.nativeconnection.net
http://homepage1.nifty.com/y-dream-support/englishteacher/
http://www.findateacher.net
www.eigotown.com/database/teacherdb_eltnews/teacher_form.shtml
http://www.go-girls.jp/english/?GSID=626d07c639bec762408e16b841f587e3

I have compiled and written some information (in Excel) on the private lessons business, so if you want it, please send me an email.
[email protected]

Yes, it is a business, and I would strongly advise you to think of all of the aspects of it seriously before coming here. Your housing is important, but so are the business details of teaching privately:

visa
where to teach (a free place like a cafe, or rent a room?)
how to teach (got lessons ready right now? for what level? got materials?)
how to advertise
what is your business plan (costs per class/per student/per hour/per month; how will you handle dropouts or late students? )

[gecko]

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to reading it!