Job Discussion Forums

[elliot_spencer]

Hey, before coming to Japan I considerd a job in Italy. I was thinking today as to how different things would have been if I'd gone there as opposed to Tokyo.

Therefore, I was wondering if anyone can do a comparison, I know Japan has higher wages but I don't think it's that much more expensive than lets say Milan.

In terms of teaching too, where is better for a career teacher in terms of teaching and what you teach. I know that eikaiwas are edutainment - is Italy the same?

Thanks

[TwinCentre]

Hi

Noone responded, but I can.

After nearly 2 years in Japan, I went onto Italy, this was back in 2000. Worked for a company called Wallstreet institute, near Milan. I should add, that I just got my TESOL cert. right before I went.

Firstly, it was one hell of a culture shock turning up there after Tokyo, I actually fell into a depression or sorts. People were suddenly all lively, expressive and sociable, gregarious if you will....I couldn't handle it, Japan had knocked all that out of me. This affected me in the classroom, as you can imagine. The teaching was way more grammar centred, the teachers at the school just couldn't comprehend someone who had taught as far a field as Japan, they were mostly Brits who were Euro-centred, and hadn't ever considered leaving the continent, in fact, Italy constituted an exotic location for them...

In short, your life would have been different, maybe not better, but you would have stayed a little more sane...

[Dipso]

I have spent a year working in Italy. I would agree that it is quite a different teaching experience from Japan. The classes are larger and the students generally much more vocal and questioning. Your grammar needs to be good - many of the students will be advanced and will expect you to be able to explain the trickiest of grammar points with very little thinking time. The emphasis is on teaching rather than edutainment.

Btw, the wages in Italy can be rather on the low side, it has to be said.

[Yawarakaijin]

I have to say, I don't think I would have become the teacher I am today without the Italians, Germans and Swiss. Even in Canada, ESL can suffer from the 'edutainment' bug when your classes are mainly Japanese or Korean. I found the Germans to be particularly troublesome

I use to fear TOEIC classes with a couple of them. I had to study up for an hour or so before every class knowing full well I was going to get blindsided by the most obscure grammar question. It was all good fun though and I was glad to have them in the class.

[cornishmuppet]

I did a year in Brindisi, Puglia (on the heel) before I came to Japan. I worked for British Schools of English, which is a chain francise school. It was a pretty interesting experience. Costs etc were way lower than Japan, but so was salary. I was earning 800 euros a month for 25 teaching hours, which is currently 130,000 yen. I worked way harder than I did in an eikawa here, but it was much better organised. There was no pressure to 'sell', only to teach and prepare the students for exams. It was more like a proper school, with actual classrooms, set texts, regular homework, regular attendance. There was a director of studies who controlled the teachers (seven of us), so we weren't working direct for the person trying to line their pockets.

While where I lived was scenicly unimpressive and mono-cultural, I enjoyed Italy as a whole, especially when I got away travelling. It is a tourist's dream, with every city and region having such a different identity, in comparison to Japan, where every city is an identical pre-fab, neon wilderness. The food was also fantasic, if a little unvaried. On the otherhand, the attitudes of the people (Italy is the best, Italy is number one, why would you ever go somewhere else? etc) and the irritating need to constantly look cool ruling out much fun in the bars or chances of making decent Italian friends, made me want to leave. I could go back and live there again, but it would definitely have to be in a larger city like Rome or Florence, where more was going on. The small towns can be a little boring after a while.