Myth Busting on Teaching in Japan. No Fluff. No Hype.
Although there are 3 basic roads to teaching in Japan most recent graduates use to start their teaching careers, the destination in terms of salaries and working conditions are fairly similar.
Teaching English Conversation in Japan “Eikaiwa” The Most Heavily Traveled Road
“Eikaiwa” refers to the teaching of English conversation and it’s billion dollar industry in Japan. These consist of your large chain schools like ECC, Berlitz, Geos & Aeon. They employ thousands of English teachers all over Japan and can be found in all but the tiniest cities. There are literally thousands of “eikaiwa” schools dotting the country side.All of these schools are attempting to carry out the daunting task of teaching English to the Japanese.
What’s Needed to Teach
In order to get a job teaching English in Japan, you will need to be a college graduate from any field – (sorry but 2 year degrees won’t cut it.You need to be a native level fluent speaker of English. There are some that do find teaching jobs in Japan even though English is not their first language but this is more an exception than a rule.
Although there is no minimum wage, most teachers drag in 250,000 yen a month before taxes.Most work weeks will be 5 days. Don’t expect western stuff like weekends off. The “eikawa” business whirs like a motor on weekends and someone has to teach the students right? This means that most teachers work at least one Saturday or Sunday with another weekday off.Most school’s vacation packages are remarkably similar. Expect 2 weeks of paid vacation and most national holiday off. Schools differ on which national holidays they observe but the norm is 8 to 10 per year. Something worth noting is that ECC English school has the best vacation of all the large chain schools. Here is a handy chart to help you compare salaries and working conditions for huge chain schools like Geos, ECC, Berlitz and Aeon.
Expect to work close to 40 hours per week. Although each school is a little bit different, nontheless, expect 20 to 25 actual teaching hours and a few administrative or office hours. Most schools also will provide you with health insurance or subsidize it. Typical office hours are filled by grading student work, taking class notes, preparing future lessons or just chatting with students. Furthermore, teachers are sometimes expected to hand fliers as well. No joking here folks, by the end of an average day, you’ll know you worked. All in all when all the hours get counted, your typical teacher works about 40 hours per week.
Huge chain schools, mentioned in the previous paragraph, all have fixed curriculums. This means you’ll be using their in house texts, tapes and other support materials for teaching. Those with little teaching experience often like these teaching conditios becasue it reduces stress and makes the headache of lesson planning go away.Creative types will probably find it a bit stifiling.
ESL teachers typically teach all ages. Literally from a mere 5 years of age all the way up to 75. Some schools have only children as students like Amity English school and Peppy Kids Club. Other schools like Gaba concentrate on adults. Because of the competitiveness of this industry, most schools cater to all ages. Student wise, you can expect a healthy dose of children and young professionals like office ladies and salary men as they’re called to make up the bulk of who you teach.
Most of your large chain schools will provide you with some type of accommodations. This is a huge help because it’s tought to find accommodaions without the help of a Japanese national. And it’s definitely not cheap. But the type provided will vary, you should expect things to be half the size of what you might find in most western countries. Furnishings are usually sparse and typically will be collections of things from departing teachers.
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Tags: teach ESL in Japan, teach in japan, teaching jobs abroad, work in Japan
