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tudodude
Joined: 08 Mar 2007
Posts: 82
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 Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject: Advice needed.... I have already done a search :) |
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Hi.
I have been teaching for 4 years now and I love teaching English soooo much I can't imagine doing anything else.
I am not a holiday teacher (this is my career now) and have worked at universities, BAE and other highly regarded 'schools'.
I've always wanted to live in Japan but the degree requirement stopped this. I don't have the cash to do a degree in the UK and I need to live there again for three years before I can be considered for uni, which scares me.
I recently heard of a working holiday visa for UK nationals.
I am 33, 34 next month.
Does anybody know of anyone whose basic situation mirrors mine and they got some work in Japan.
This really is a dream, so please, don't flame just help.
Yours
Richy |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject: Re: Advice needed.... I have already done a search :) |
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| tudodude wrote: |
Hi.
I have been teaching for 4 years now and I love teaching English soooo much I can't imagine doing anything else.
I am not a holiday teacher (this is my career now) and have worked at universities, BAE and other highly regarded 'schools'.
I've always wanted to live in Japan but the degree requirement stopped this. I don't have the cash to do a degree in the UK and I need to live there again for three years before I can be considered for uni, which scares me.
I recently heard of a working holiday visa for UK nationals.
I am 33, 34 next month.
Does anybody know of anyone whose basic situation mirrors mine and they got some work in Japan.
This really is a dream, so please, don't flame just help.
Yours
Richy |
I'm sorry, after 30, if memory serves me correctly, there is NO way to get a working holiday visa. However, this doesn't necessarily mean you can't teach in Japan. I've heard that they can sometimes issue the regular teaching visa if you have 3+ years of experience and can find a sponsor.
As for getting a degree, there are lots of ways to get a degree without going back to the UK to study. I mean, no offense, but come on, you knew that, didn't you? There are loads of online programs that yield real, accredited degrees. There are overseas universities. Heck, there are accredited English language unis in Japan, like Temple University.
I'm freshly 21 and going through the crap associated with getting my degree from overseas (and paying for myself to boot -- none of the parents' money). There are LOTS of sources of university credit. So far, I have credit from three different sources: an AP test, courses from Northern Virginia Community College (taken online), and credit from Yonsei University Korean Language Institute in South Korea. Not a single credit hour of this assortment was earned in a college classroom in my home country.
It always irks me when I read on sites for teaching in Japan/Korean "the only requirement is a pulse -- all you need is a degree and a clean criminal record." Whoever wrote that clearly didn't have to put themself through college, because earning the money to do it and actually doing it is TOUGH. However, I'm sure there is a way for you to get your degree in less than six years, and if you are serious about EFL, you're eventually going to need one. I wouldn't be surprised if the day comes when you cannot teach anywhere in northeast Asia without a degree. Right now, there are a few loopholes, but as people swarm over here, they're closing off fast. I'm worried that China is going to require degrees soon the way Vietnam and Thailand suddenly have, leaving me with no source of income. So really, you have to get to work on that and get one ASAP. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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Rooster is right.
You are not eligible for a working holiday visa.
Three years of experience is sufficient to bypass the degree requirement for a work visa. You just have to prove those three years to immigration here.
Other options for you:
1. Become a student in Japan and get a student visa. With special permission, you can work part-time.
2. Study a craft (martial arts, ikebana, pottery, etc.) under a master and get a cultural visa. With special permission, you can work part-time.
Both of these have obvious limits; you can't be a student forever, nor can you study something cultural forever. That's it unless you marry a non-Japanese who works here, or you marry a Japanese. |
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ShapeSphere
Joined: 16 Oct 2004
Posts: 386
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:34 am Post subject: |
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You can do it as you have over three years experience. I have no degree and got a Specialist in Humanities Visa back in August 2006. This was renewed this year.
Further details and links to the MOFA website here:
Hard Evidence: Teaching in Japan without a degree |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:16 am Post subject: |
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My advice is to lose that avatar, and to get a degree. You say you see this as your career- careers have ladders. In order to move up the ladder, you need to do the things necessary to go up steps. Normally the very first step is an undergraduate degree (followed by some sort of training, later followed by a graduate degree or a DELTA, or both).
Sorry, that's the way I see it.
The loss of Nova makes your situation a particularly bad one for working in Japan at the moment. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:50 am Post subject: |
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tudodude,
Please change the dimensions of your avatar. It's too big.
And, Gambatte has made a very good point about education, if you see TEFL as a career. This applies to more countries than Japan. |
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