Job Discussion Forums

[mt3]

Hello all !


I have been researching for some time now about teaching English in Japan; through my research I have discovered many programs / schools. I have researched and read about AEON � Amity, JET, and ECC. Many of my questions have been answered through research and also from reading the different post available here. I still have a few questions�Although, what I am looking for is advice and feedback on the different programs / schools in Japan. I am still trying to differentiate between programs � perhaps gather further information, such as pros / cons and things of that nature�

I would love to hear from individuals who have had experiences with AEON � Amity, JET, and / or ECC. I am also open to hear from individuals who would like to bring any other programs / schools to my attention.

Speaking about other programs, I was browsing through the forums and a program / school by the name PKC came up. I�ve done very little research on this particular school, so I invite anyone who has something to share about PKC to feel free.

In addition I would greatly appreciate any advice and / or guidance from anyone who has been successful in their teaching English journey in Japan. Any and all information is welcome and greatly appreciated. I want to thank everyone in advance for all your individual time, advice and guidance. Thank you all again!

*** Allow me to provide a brief background on myself; seeing how this may help with any advice and / or guidance you may have for me. I am from United States � East Coast. I am a recent graduate; I have a bachelor�s degree in Elementary Education � with a concentration in Social Science and I am NCATE certified. I am fluent in both English and Spanish and am taking a course in Japanese- I understand this may not be applicable; none the less, I figure a bit more information about me can only help. � Thanks again in advanced for all your help.

[Amarok]

You really need to do some basic research on your own via the stickied topics and a search through the forum before you ask easily-answered questions. But thanks for openly admitting you haven't been assed to do any research yourself; that's more than some people do, I guess.


STOP saying programs.
JET is a program.


Everything else? That's called an employer. A job. A company.

[Glenski]

JET is the best bet for most newcomers. ECC or AEON are also good. Don't really know what you expect to learn further, so specific questions may help.

Essentially, you're minimally qualified for work here as a teacher, like most newcomers.

[mt3]

[quote="Amarok"]You really need to do some basic research on your own via the stickied topics and a search through the forum before you ask easily-answered questions. But thanks for openly admitting you haven't been assed to do any research yourself; that's more than some people do, I guess.


STOP saying programs.
JET is a program.

I have done research and have found much information on different options in teaching in Japan - with this many of my questions have been anwsered. I have not done research on PKC - I stumbled over PKC through a forum on here. Rather what I am asking, is advice and guidance on different options and what others have to say on their expierences over in Japan. My apologies for saying programs... I am seeking personal stories on what other have had in their teaching in Japan... but thank you for your help

[mt3]

[mt3]

[fluffyhamster]

Hi mt3! The JET program(me) is "the best" for a newcomer to Japan because it offers: a decent salary, paid flights, orientation, a smattering of Japanese language training, an @08:30 - @16:30 workday Mon-Fri (so nights and weekends are pretty much free), plenty of PAID vacation time (at least twenty days off per year), good/official NHI, refundable payments into the national pension scheme (look upon this as effectively a form of saving), claimable/refundable commuting expenses (you're a civil servant of Japan!), support at prefectural and national level, options to pretty painlessly renew the contract for another year (and another, and another...), mid-year and renewer's conferences (these are effectively paid-for breaks in local metropolises, and Kobe), newsletters and various booklets, etc etc etc.

The problem however is that the application process is quite involved and protracted, spaces are limited on it/it has to be a bit "selective", and from what I've gathered it is slowly being reduced in size...

If you want to know more about it, and how it compares to IMHO less desirable employment (eikaiwa in general - bear in mind that I haven't worked for Aeon or ECC specifically - dispatch AETing etc) then try a search of Japan forum threads with me as author (I say with me as author if only to help cut down on the number of resulting threads!) that contain the keyword 'JET'.

[mt3]

[mt3]

I want to thank all of you: Amarok, Glenski and Fluffyhamster in helping with my journey to teach in Japan - all comments greatly appreciated and are very helpful!

[mt3]

[fluffyhamster]

Yes, if you get onto the JET program then a lot is taken care of and in fact done for you. At the London pre-departure orientation (which lasted a few days i.e. involved a night's stay in a college campus) they collected passports and returned them the next day with a one-year work visa entered completely gratis. As for the flights, the flight over to Japan was Business class and booked for me - all I had to do was turn up at the airport and check in. Luxury indeed. They send people over in lots you see, so there were actually a fair number of new JETs on that flight (but I didn't really find that out until we'd landed in Tokyo and some of the people I'd seen checking in in London congregated at the JET welcome party's sign). Then it was a few days' arrival orientation at the Keio Plaza hotel (packed three to a room, but still...could explore Tokyo a bit in the evenings!). This was all just over ten years ago now.

Any halfway-reputable employer who is thinking long-term supplies already-established accommodation (or is at least willing to help with finding if not setting up completely new ~ )...which means that with eikaiwa, and certainly with JET, you will usually be moving into the previous teacher's place (often complete with furnishings etc, though these will sometimes only be had for a price (hopefully haggleable LOL)). JET housing is likely to be subsidized/not too expensive or unreasonable rent-wise, and in some cases almost completely free (for example, I paid about 38,000 yen pcm on JET, versus at least 50,000+ post-JET, whilst a JET colleague a town away paid something very nominal like 5,000 yen for an appreciably bigger place! ESID: "Every Situation is Different" is the JET mantra!), but eikaiwa on the other hand may charge you a little over the odds in order to recoup their initial outlay (the key money/deposits they had to give to landlords, and the insurance, contract renewal fees, upkeep charges etc - all can be expensive in Japan!), or simply to maximize their profits; after all, they aren't subsidized by the Japanese taxpayer! You'll need like I say to hunt out specific info about the likes of Aeon and ECC's policies, though.

Vacation, you will have much less freedom in booking it with eikaiwa than on JET, as eikaiwa still operate during the school holidays (i.e. all year round), and any colleagues usually aren't able to cover for you anyway at whatever time (due to having pretty full work schedules themselves). But even on relatively free n easy JET, sometimes your Japanese supervisors will insist that leave ideally not be taken during school term/semester time. I guess that most eikaiwa only offer around 5 days off per year at most (and good luck in getting more than a day or two in a row/in succession off at any one time with eikaiwa!) in addition to any public holidays, but again, you'd need to check what Aeon, ECC etc offer in their specific contracts.

[mt3]

[fluffyhamster]

Apparently (according to the FAQ Part 1 sticky thread, at the top of the Japan forum pages ) the JET deadline varies with nationality. I can't remember exactly when the UK deadline was when I applied, but probably sometime around September. (So if the US is anything like the same, there probably won't be enough time this year for you to get the application completed - the couple of sealed references that you've got to supply can sure take a while to obtain). Certainly it must('ve) been by the end of December, eh!

Yup, JET departures will vary, if only because there are too many people from each region to fly over the same day. (But hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves, you ain't even on JET yet!). And rent also will vary according to city versus rural (but "rural city" rent will obviously be lower than "prefectural capital" etc). My placement was in Hokkaido - winters were a bit severe, but then, I prefer heat to cold any day, and the other three seasons didn't seem too extreme or too long in comparison. I returned to Japan a year or so after 3 on JET, and spent most of the following five or so years chasing increasingly less desirable jobs (pay-wise, though the work itself e.g. teaching elementary schoolkids even on dispatch pay, was always fun and interesting!).

Yup, and JET also operates workwise on an April-March basis (it places foreigners in public schools after all! ). Most JETs are placed in junior high school(s), with occasional visits to elementary, but some positions are at the senior high school level (and FWIW I was a SHS AET on JET). I'm not quite sure how far the JET program was expanded into offering elementary school positions (I left JET around the time that that was being mooted by the government, and comparatively cheaper/cheapo/rip-off dispatch AET agencies have been "competing" increasingly since then with JET at all levels for the affections and monies of the local Boards of Education), but technically one wouldn't be an AET in ESs anyway as there aren't Japanese Teachers of English (i.e. subject specialists) at that level, and I recall there being a requirement that at least any renewing AET should have reasonable Japanese to be considered for the proposed elementary school positions in the offing at that time (which was like I say ten years ago). So the experience I gained in JHSs and ESs was as a dispatch AET i.e. post-JET, not as a JET.

JET has little or no connection by the way with Japanese adults or adult education at all, except in the context of attending (usually voluntarily) the occassional community event (e.g. manning if not kitting out a booth to "promote" your country at a fair).

[mt3]

[fluffyhamster]

Heh, you're welcome, mt3!