Job Discussion Forums

[MindlessFudge]

I have not been on the forum in a long time, so I am not sure if this issue has been brought up.

I have been told that a new English listening section to college entrance exams has just been approved nationwide. I have also been told that a lot of jukus and other education organizations are scrambling to find native English teachers who can speak Japanese.

This is not like any of the chain English schools. These places need native English teachers for their pronounciation, but need these teachers to be able to speak Japanese since most high school students cannot speak English.

These places, so I`m told, pay much better than the chain schools. So if you are an English teacher who can speak Japanese, I recommend looking in to this for yourself, as you will be able to make some good extra cash, if not a steady salary from this.

I understand all of what I`m saying may be met with skepticism, and I wouldn`t blame anyone for their skepticism.

I stumbled across this in the International Exchange Center in Osaka. I have been in contact with a person from Hiragana Times who has informed me of all of this. Hiragana Times is in fact setting up it`s own series of seminars geared towards this new listening part of the entrance exams. I have myself been hired to teach their summer seminar, which will be held in Osaka Station Building 1 starting from the end of July.

Hiragana Times, by the way, and I`m sure many of you know this, is a bilingual magazine. It is also possible to access Hiragana Times from the web.

There are international parties held by Hiragana Times every month in Osaka and every week in Tokyo. I found out about the information above by attending the party in Osaka and conferring with the co-ordinator of the event. He did in fact put me in touch with a couple of jukus in the kansai area.

Again, whether this information is new or not, I am not sure. I am pretty sure, however, that it is not widespread knowledge. At least it has not struck me as so.

I do not know about other regions, but I do have contact information in the Osaka region. I believe there is still a posting in the Osaka International Exchange Center, if anyone in the kansai/Osaka region wishes to check this out themselves.

Also, attending the Hiragana Times International party (at least in Osaka, as I do not know about Tokyo) and talking with the co-ordinator of the event will yield further information.

I will be back to check this posting in the future, and to check my private messages, should anyone need further information. I am not sure how specifically I can answer any questions, but I will endeavor to do what I can.

-Fudge

[MindlessFudge]

By the way, I`ve been told you can expect to start around 4,000-5,000 yen an hour working at a juku. The seminar I`m teaching pays 4,000 an hour.

[canuck]

This just sounds like an infomercial for you meeting. Give the straight goods and links etc. Why private messages? Please post additional information publically. Sounds like a sham to me.

[PAULH]

Canuck

Job ads can not be posted on the general forums as it's against board rules. I assume Fudge is trying to be helpful but FWIW 4,000 yen is what an average company class or a semongakko (trade school) pays its teachers.

IMO it will be a very long time before there is a huge demand for teachers for teaching listening on the entrance exams as its only in the trial stages at the moment and very few schools so far have listening tests on their exams. You really have to train the Japanese teachers how to improve listening and communication skills before anything else.

[taikibansei]

This information is not new. Jukus have been hiring foreigners in these kinds of positions for at least the last 10 years, in response to the growing number of universities offering listening tests (a phenomenon which also began at least 10 years ago...). Indeed, I had two friends doing this kind of work throughout much of the 90s--it was a step up from many teaching situations (e.g., you taught each class by yourself), but there were negatives as well. One, most jukus in the past would not sponsor work visas. Two, the classes were usually at night and/or on Saturday--which had a way of cutting into one's social life. Three, advanced Japanese ability was crucial to getting the job: one friend was level one, the other level two.

I'm curious if more jukus now sponsor work visas. Fudge, have you heard anything about that? E.g., will they sponsor you?

[MindlessFudge]

Like I said, I wasn`t sure if this was new information. I appreciate you guys bringing more light to this.

The jukus I was put in contact with did not offer sponsorship. At least they were not willing to sponsor me. My spousal visa now changes all of that. This may not be the same across the board, though. There may be some places out there willing to sponsor foreigners, but I simply do not know.

You may be right about the demand, Paul. All I know is that the man who works for Hiragana Times, the one who hired me, keeps telling me that he`s looking for native English teachers who can speak Japanese so he can put them in contact with jukus. It was because of him that I was contacted by a couple of jukus, so I have no reason to doubt his sincerity.

Canuck, I really can`t agree with you more. This does sound like an infomercial. I admitted in my first post that my information is incomplete and would probably be met with skepticism, which is why I suggested that people conduct their own research.

Like Paul said, I can`t post job ads on this forum. I didn`t even find out about all this on the internet. I went to the International Exchange Center in Osaka, found a phone number, called it and met the man who hired me and gave me all this information. There are other ways to do research besides clicking on a link.

The best I can do to provide a link is to suggest going to www.hiraganatimes.com

I haven`t bothered exploring the site very much, but if you look around you may find something.

Again guys, I appreciate all your help and skepticism. I just wanted to let people know what little information I was told.

-Fudge