Job Discussion Forums

[tschmottlach]

I would like some information on working for the Language House Inc. They are in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture and seem to have a good set up for teaching adults within corporations and private companies. I read their website and noticed that they only give 15 days vacation, 5 of which are my choice and the other 10 go with local holidays. Is this the general rule when working in Japan? Any info would be appreciative. Thanks.

[Mr_Monkey]

I'd say 5 would be Golden Week and 5 would be New Year.

It doesn't seem that bad, but I freelanced for most of my time in Japan and can't really remember. I do remember getting 2 weeks at New Year when I worked for an eikaiwa though.

[Glenski]

Most eikaiwa seem to give a week during Golden Week (5 working days at most, depending on when Golden Week actually begins; this year there is officially only 3 days), roughly a week during Obon (same sort of pattern holds), and 1-2 weeks over the New Year holiday. They may be open during the dozen national holidays (often Monday), but that's up to them. They are businesses, so they tend to stay open when customers can come.

Also, bear in mind that by law employers are not obligated to allow you any paid vacation in the first 6 months. After that, the next 12 months has to offer 10 days. See Labor Laws for more details.
http://www.jil.go.jp/english/laborinfo/library/documents/llj_law1-rev.pdf

[travelgal]

You will most likely have K classes regardless of what they say. Talk to previous teachers & they will give you the truth RUN QUICKLY

[slowdive606]

Language House should be avoided at all costs. I know two people who used to work for them and they had nothing but bad things to say about them. If you look at the job boards here and elsewhere you will see that they are always advertising for new teachers, that tells it's own story.

[starteacher]

[tdu1510]

The only substantive Language House thread I could find on this board is here: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=18977&highlight=language+house It is overall positive about LH, but it is dated.

[cvmurrieta]

This one is dated too but supplies more history about the place:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=28819&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I interviewed twice with LH last year by Skype. I can't remember the first guy's name, but the second guy I interviewed with was Jun Page, the current owner and Graham's son. Jun seemed to have a better grasp of the business. I know he has an MBA, but I am not sure if it is from the University of Pennsylvania or somewhere else.

I think they were probably going to give me a job, but I ultimately declined because I had found another job where I live.

[slowdive606]

From what I remember, one of the teachers was ripped off over pay and was generally treated like a piece of s**t, and the other also didn't get on well with the owners and was away from home for about 14 hours a day because of all the commuting.

[razorhideki]

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=28819&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

The OP didn't seem to be too impressed w/LH....

edit: cvmurrieta beat me to the punch.

[travelgal]

Run as fast as you can away from LH! Plan on not being paid for most transportation to jobs after you may have put out over 60,000 yen, not get paid, end up teaching kindergarden class ( after being told it would be companies), housing scams etc etc. I found this out after accepting the job- every ESL teacher had horror stories to tell. Plan on the owner screaming at all staff plus office people not liking the foreigners. RUN!

[move]

I had two interviews via Skype with them. One was with a teacher and the other was the head guy Jun. They seemed pretty straightforward in saying there was a lot of commuting and high expectations for the company classes.

I was one of the 2 final applicants they were considering for the job. They didn't have the decency to call me back/message me to tell me I didn't get it though. Oh well, I'm at a great job now.