Job Discussion Forums

seamonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2006 Posts: 29

Hi, I just got a job with Nova and I am filling in all the paper work. I have to choose betwen 34 and 37 lesson periods per week. Can any of you guys who have worked or are working for Nova please tell me, Does choosing the 34 period option leave me with a decent enough amount money so i can save a bit , or do i need to choose the 37 period per week option?
I just dont want to commit to 34periods only to find i have hardly any money.

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826

37 lessons a week Shocked

What contract are you on? Don't you get paid unless you're in a class??

seamonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2006 Posts: 29

Yeah, 34 or 37 lesson per week contract. It works out at about 8 forty five minute lessons per day with about 5 minutes planning between each one. I'd like to do the 34 lesson contract but im not sure how far 250000yen per month will go.

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826

250,000 is a standard starting salary, you should be fine.

If I were you I'd look for another job with the extra hours. Aeon pays the same for teaching 3-5 fifty minute lessons a day. Geos too.

At least as far as I know, anyone else had to teach 34-37 lessons a week? It seems like an awful lot to me.

By the way I don't want to put you off coming! I have lots of friends who started off working for Nova who had a good time. Take from it what you can then move on.

seamonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2006 Posts: 29

I think with geos and aeon, you have to spend a lot longer on lesson planning.Thats why you only have to do 3 fifty five minute lessons. With nova, you only spend 5 minutes planning. they seem to be very simple lessons that dont require much brain power or creativity. Thats fine with me because i just want to get a bit of teaching experience and get more confident as a teacher. I've recently passed a CELTA but im still a bit nervous about my first teaching job. Thats why im going with nova.

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826

sallycat · Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 303 Location: behind you. BOO!

standard nova contract used to be 40 lessons a week. for a lot of people it still is. lessons are forty minutes, 10-15 mins in between. most people seem to fine with the 34 lesson schedule. gives you 3 full days and two half-days, which is nice.

abufletcher · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:08 pm Post subject:

Maybe I've just gotten old but this just sounds insane to me! 40 "lessons" a week? That's 8 a day 5 days a week!

fluffyhamster · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject:

I wonder if this is where the word 'englishdroid' comes from?

abufletcher · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 5:51 pm Post subject:

The image that sprang to my mind was that answerbot in AI. You know the one where you just walk in, pop your cash into the slot, and ask questions.

But then considering how "sex crazed" Japanese women are supposed to be maybe eikaiwa teachers are really more like the gigolo robot. Very Happy

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Yep, Abu, eight 40- or 45- min lessons a day, 5 days a week. That's where the term "McEnglish" came from, although I used to think of it as more like a kaiten-zushi restaurant- not sure if it was the teachers or students on the conveyor belt though! One 40-min lunch break, 10 mins between lessons. I did this for 2.5 years and it nearly broke my spirit.

All Nova teachers pray for no-shows the next day before they go to bed at night. It's a possibility if you only had one student booked for your class and they decide not to show up. The double no-show, while rare, has also been known to happen, and the triple no-show, which may come along only once in a lifetime, means that you are truly loved by the gods of eikaiwa. I feel sorry for the teachers at schools which cram 4 students into one of their little cubicles, their chance of a no-show is exponentially less, I imagine.

Thankfully that is all long behind me. Now as a yoga teacher I do nine 75 min or 90 min lessons a week and there is no prep time. Not only do I not have to wear a suit at work, I don't even have to wear shoes!

They say that that which does not kill us makes us stronger, so those of us that weren't driven to severe alcoholism or insanity by Nova's schedule are now probably better people for the experience. And I still think that working at supermarket checkout when I was at university was a worse job! Laughing

womblingfree · Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 826

Just a quick note to all Nova teachers:

All other eikaiwa pay the same money for less work!!!
Quit your jobs as soon as possible!

abufletcher · Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:58 am Post subject:

Currawong · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 16

Best Nova no-show ever: A gigantic thunderstorm broke out over West Tokyo one evening, shutting down power to a huge area during the middle of work. Hardly anyone showed up for lessons. Mind you, the students at the school were good, so I didn't mind most of them.

Nova was bearable part-time, away from the center of the city, but I'm sure would have killed me full-time if I'd done a full year of 8 classes a day.