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pool
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:44 pm Post subject: TESOL certification |
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I'm planing to come and teach English in Japan sometime in the very near future. By the beginning of December I will have my B.A. in English. I'm wondering if I should attempt to get a TESOL certification and if I do how long does that usually take? Is that really going to aid me much in my search for a job?
I live in Tennessee, so if there are any suggestions for schools nearby that have a good program I would be thankful. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2008 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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The BA is enough to get you a work visa and to make employers interested in hiring you for entry level work (eikaiwa, ALT, JET).
Anything beyond that is gravy. If you plan to do this fairly long-term, or if you are terribly scared of the unknown of TEFL, get a decent certificate/training. I think people usually recommend a program that has 100 hours or so and some live practical work, not just an online or weekend quickie. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 4:49 am Post subject: |
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There is a LOT of competition for jobs from people who have either no TESOL certificate, or a short one. A lot of high schools (for example) will not look at you if you have no qualifications in teaching English NOR any Japanese language ability NOR any friends who are recommending you for the position. But generally, the order of importance is the reverse of that list. Knowing someone is more important than anything else (other than a work visa), speaking Japanese is often thought of as more important than teacher training, and then comes teacher training. What you want, is to be the person who has all three of those things- that's who's getting the jobs.
But Glenski is right, with just a BA, you are able to work at a big eikaiwa (English conversation) school. |
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stevenbhow
Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:26 am Post subject: TESOL |
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| I think it can help or hurt depending on the type of TESOL or TESL program you do. I did a one year TESOL program through my university. The hands on teacher training, class room observation time, and actual teaching I did for my three month practicum were extremely valuable experiences. If you go the other route and do a 1-6 month online TESL I think you are wasting your time and money. Your better off to volunteer as a T/A. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:11 am Post subject: Re: TESOL |
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| stevenbhow wrote: |
| I think it can help or hurt depending on the type of TESOL or TESL program you do. I did a one year TESOL program through my university. The hands on teacher training, class room observation time, and actual teaching I did for my three month practicum were extremely valuable experiences. If you go the other route and do a 1-6 month online TESL I think you are wasting your time and money. Your better off to volunteer as a T/A. |
Are you from Ontario, Canada? That sounds a lot like what I did in Ontario, but my practicum ended up running all year instead.
Personally, I find that calling that type of program a "Certificate" is one of the biggest hurtles when it comes to getting a job overseas. It would be better to call them something like a PGDE, like they do in the UK, because then at least employers have a way to immediately distinguish between it and Aunt Sally's TESOL Boutique Certificate! (Act now! now! NOW!!!! and get a free compass!) It's not like you can expect employers in Japan to have heard of Canadian universities. |
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pool
Joined: 17 Feb 2008
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you for all the responses. I�m going to go into a little more detail so that there is more to work with.
I'm about to apply to JET and as you know that application process takes a long time. If I got a position through them I wouldn�t leave until the beginning of summer next year. Of course I know I�m not guaranteed a position through them so I will apply at other companies beginning in February. I�ve read on these boards that most schools are out at the beginning of a year so I want to apply when I have the best shot.
I�m really interested in this as a possible long term thing and I�m simply trying to choose the path that will help me most in the long run. I�m looking at JET and some of the other companies as a way to get my foot in the door. That being said, I�ve just spent years getting this degree and I don�t want to spend many more here. I�m looking to get into the thick of things. I don�t know how long it would take to get TESOL certification and if it takes more than a semester than I will probably put it off for a while. Any more advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Once again, thank you. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Posts: 778
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2008 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: TESOL certification |
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| pool wrote: |
I'm planing to come and teach English in Japan sometime in the very near future. By the beginning of December I will have my B.A. in English. I'm wondering if I should attempt to get a TESOL certification and if I do how long does that usually take? Is that really going to aid me much in my search for a job?
I live in Tennessee, so if there are any suggestions for schools nearby that have a good program I would be thankful. |
A TESOL certificate takes ONE MONTH. I got one in Hungary in 1997....and never been asked about it by anyone, but it is a 'plus' that is more interesting, but certainly not essential by any means.
They DID ask when I went to TURKEY and did some job hunting (which I didn't accept), and apparently in INDONESIA...but certainly NOT in Northeast Asia or South America where I've been employed as a teacher for too many years already.
If you never taught before, they are great for confidence building however! I got mine after teaching already, and they were essentially reconfirming stuff you basically learn by teaching already, with a few exceptions. But to your question, NO, they aren't necessary for a job in Japan or elsewhere in Northeast Asia. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 2:55 am Post subject: |
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| pool wrote: |
I'm about to apply to JET and as you know that application process takes a long time. If I got a position through them I wouldn�t leave until the beginning of summer next year. Of course I know I�m not guaranteed a position through them so I will apply at other companies beginning in February. I�ve read on these boards that most schools are out at the beginning of a year so I want to apply when I have the best shot.
I�m really interested in this as a possible long term thing and I�m simply trying to choose the path that will help me most in the long run. I�m looking at JET and some of the other companies as a way to get my foot in the door. That being said, I�ve just spent years getting this degree and I don�t want to spend many more here. I�m looking to get into the thick of things. I don�t know how long it would take to get TESOL certification and if it takes more than a semester than I will probably put it off for a while. Any more advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Once again, thank you. |
Okay. I was in JET for 4 years. JET is not actually a teaching program and it isn't a company at all. It's just a human resources mechanism for getting a lot of recent university graduates [but not exclusively recent graduates- I was over 30 when I started JET] into rural Japan working for boards of education. It's so that BoEs in the middle of nowhere don't have to try to find someone on their own, and then pay that person on their own. Its official goal is internationalization, but that isn't defined by anyone to the Japanese teachers, and so you end up more often than not as a human tape recorder and that's about it.
Having a TESOL certificate (I think it has to be over 120 hours to count for JET. A one month CELTA ***does*** count btw, so maybe that would be a good way to go) is one of the things they look for, but they also look for Japanese language (especially in rural areas, you may find that not a single other person speaks English and your Japanese Teachers of English have been teaching for many, many years but are really Japanese teachers of Grammar, and can't actually converse with you, and any attempt to do so only embarasses them), demonstrable interest in Japan (like judo, karate, traditional music, art, flower arranging etc via an official club that they can check), knowledge of your country as well as Japan (history, art, music, politics, food etc) is important too. Also, prior international experience (a lot of JETs show up having toured Europe for a couple of weeks during high school or university- entirely funded by their parents, of course). They want to be sure that anyone they send wil be able to hack it for at least a year (but now for up to five years) in the middle of nowhere Japan with nothing to do. They cannot replace you if you up and quit on them part way through the year (but every year, people do quit on their BoE, usually due to the way they feel they are being treated by the BoE- while they are stressing out because of isolation and living in an apartment that is below zero degrees celcius inside at night during the winter, because walls are THIN, and not insulated).
As for the long term, I can tell you that having been on JET for 4 years was actually a bit of a negative in job searches in Japan after it (while JETS themselves often seem to think of being on JET as better than being at a private high or something- it's the type of thing that is occasionally mentioned at JET conferences, especially in discussions about the fact that the number of JETs is decreasing yearly and then somebody in an official capacity will tell them that nope, it's your garden variety entry level job). JETs have a reputation for doing basically nothing of any value for their schools or BoEs (sometimes this is a totally undeserved reputation, sometimes it is totally accurate, although when they are doing nothing, it's normally because their BoE or school isn't communicating with the JET...at all). However, I have a one year TESL certificate from a university and two years worth of teaching English to immigrants and travellers in Canada, so it hasn't been that much of a problem. Without decent training, then it could turn into a problem for you in the future. However, you CAN do an MA in TESOL by distance while on JET, if you don't have crippling debts in your home country that will drain you of finances. If you avoid www.bigdaikon.com and approaching life on JET as just a long vacation, then there is more than enough free time to get that kind of thing done. |
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stevenbhow
Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Posts: 58
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| Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 3:48 am Post subject: comments |
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GambateBingBangBOOM I did my TESOL Cert at a small college in the states. I was a little pissed though because the year after I finished it they turned it into a Masters program with very few changes made. If I would have waited a year I could have walked away with a Masters instead of just a BA in English and the cert, but I wanted to get to Japan sooner.
pool: If you are going to go the JET route I would skip the TESOL cert and just do a Masters in Japan instead. If you budget yourself you can easily save the money in a year and a half or so and do it online or if you are in Tokyo at Columbia University. I think Temple University has a program in Osaka as well. Usually, ALT's have a lot of time on their hands and can spend it studying. |
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