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English teaching in Japan

JustinIs18

Sempai
30 Apr 2016
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Any english teachers who are foreigners in Japan (Even if you're not a foreigner and Japan, and you teach english and have information please comment!) and are living there abroad I have a question, would you need any qualifications to teach english there abroad for around a year or a couple months. Just wondering, it would really help me out! Or if not english teaching, would there be any jobs foreigners can get into abroad for a year in Japan? EDIT: The qualifications I will have will be grade 9-12 english (Canadian schooling system), and all the previous grades
 
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Normally you need a college degree to get a working visa for Japan.
Residents of some countries are eligible for working holiday visas, which allow you to take seasonal or part-time jobs as you travel around. Canada is part of this scheme.
Working holiday visa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I am going to be getting a college degree for construction building technician (I start in the September), does it matter what degree or...?
 
Unless you have Japanese citizenship or permanent residency, you'll need a visa that allows you to work; the rest of the qualifications are up to the employer. You'd either need a working holiday visa (for which you would qualify as a Canadian citizen), an employer willing to sponsor a work visa (for which a 4-year degree is required by immigration), a spouse visa, or a student visa with special permission to work part-time.

Of those options, obviously the working holiday is your best and likely only bet:

The Working Holiday Programmes in Japan | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Embassy of Japan in Canada - Working Holiday Visa

It helps if you actually want to teach, and not just think of teaching as a means to go live out your fantasies... but a lot of people do that so do with this information as you wish. I would recommend reading up on other peoples' experiences, especially those who have worked for your potential employers.
 
I am going to be getting a college degree for construction building technician (I start in the September), does it matter what degree or...?

I have to ask....

Is English your native language?
 
Unless you have Japanese citizenship or permanent residency, you'll need a visa that allows you to work; the rest of the qualifications are up to the employer. You'd either need a working holiday visa (for which you would qualify as a Canadian citizen), an employer willing to sponsor a work visa (for which a 4-year degree is required by immigration), a spouse visa, or a student visa with special permission to work part-time.

Of those options, obviously the working holiday is your best and likely only bet:

The Working Holiday Programmes in Japan | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Embassy of Japan in Canada - Working Holiday Visa

It helps if you actually want to teach, and not just think of teaching as a means to go live out your fantasies... but a lot of people do that so do with this information as you wish. I would recommend reading up on other peoples' experiences, especially those who have worked for your potential employers.
I do really want to teach, I like helping others excel at things and I like seeing progress and just over all being a good supportive role to people who need assistance, not just "fantasies", I know I would need a working holiday visa, but are there any other qualifications I would need say from school like a University degree to teach english in Japan or anything like that.
 
I do really want to teach, I like helping others excel at things and I like seeing progress and just over all being a good supportive role to people who need assistance, not just "fantasies", I know I would need a working holiday visa, but are there any other qualifications I would need say from school like a University degree to teach english in Japan or anything like that.

I'm afraid that would be a very big gamble:
- You are 18, and normally it takes a few years in college combined with an internship to see what you really like to do. Many people know a certain direction they want to pursuit, (like arts, business, economics, history, journalism, etc). But to spend full tuition on teaching English, in Japan, while you have never stood in front of a class room, AND you've never been to Japan.. that's very optimistic. Based on your description I could as well suggest you to become a psychologist or mental coach ;)

Ask yourself the question: Is it your dream to teach English in Canada in high school? If the answer is yes, then a degree in English might not be a bad choice. However, if the answer is no, you'll go to a country to do a job you might not like after all. That might also affect your view of Japan (you might start to hate it because that nasty job between 9-5 is there ruining your spare time), and the other options with an English degree seem rather limited to me, apart from Journalism (which every guy with a blog basically is nowadays), since it doesn't get you any knowledge in business or a technical area.

It's better to just study a field of interest, and study Japanese as a minor or at home. That way you could one day work in your field of interest in Japan.
 
I'm afraid that would be a very big gamble:
- You are 18, and normally it takes a few years in college combined with an internship to see what you really like to do. Many people know a certain direction they want to pursuit, (like arts, business, economics, history, journalism, etc). But to spend full tuition on teaching English, in Japan, while you have never stood in front of a class room, AND you've never been to Japan.. that's very optimistic. Based on your description I could as well suggest you to become a psychologist or mental coach ;)

Ask yourself the question: Is it your dream to teach English in Canada in high school? If the answer is yes, then a degree in English might not be a bad choice. However, if the answer is no, you'll go to a country to do a job you might not like after all. That might also affect your view of Japan (you might start to hate it because that nasty job between 9-5 is there ruining your spare time), and the other options with an English degree seem rather limited to me, apart from Journalism (which every guy with a blog basically is nowadays), since it doesn't get you any knowledge in business or a technical area.

It's better to just study a field of interest, and study Japanese as a minor or at home. That way you could one day work in your field of interest in Japan.
Eyyy, I'm not really pursuing it, just getting information on it if I did some day want to pursue it
 
Eyyy, I'm not really pursuing it, just getting information on it if I did some day want to pursue it

You might want to warm up by trying to use English at least as well as the non-native speakers on the forum do.
 
You might want to warm up by trying to use English at least as well as the non-native speakers on the forum do.
True say, but I'm not pursuing a career in teaching English in Japan, just wanted information on it, so no use to me :(
 
True say, but I'm not pursuing a career in teaching English in Japan, just wanted information on it, so no use to me :(

Does that mean you are no longer interested in teaching in Japan at all and we can lock the thread?

If you intend to pursue higher education for any reason at all it would behoove you to be able to write in complete sentences.
 
Any english teachers who are foreigners in Japan
This is my field, so read carefully. I have information and questions for you.

When do you want to teach here?
Does your college degree in building construction have "bachelor's degree" on it? Is it from a vocational/technical school or a 3-year college or a 4-year university?

As Mike Cash has alluded to already, your written English skills are not stellar. Even though this is a discussion forum, and people often consider them not worthy of writing well, I'd suggest that you write better so we can truly assess your ability. Otherwise, I'd say at this point, nobody is ever going to hire you except some shady outfit.

As for
I do really want to teach, I like helping others excel at things and I like seeing progress and just over all being a good supportive role to people who need assistance
you should do some research on what English education here is like. Most students don't really want to "excel". English is forced on them at younger and younger ages, and despite parents' concerns for their children's career, schools don't really help much, and many university educators don't know what English is needed in many jobs for their students.

At your age, you are extremely minimally qualified right now to teach with a working holiday visa, but you are very young to be in a teaching role, and the market here is overly saturated with people far older than you (and many with experience here). So, your competition is really high, even though a WHV means an employer doesn't have to be your visa guarantor. Also, WHV holders get taxed 20%. You don't need a degree to get the WHV, but many employers may insist on the degree regardless.

Entry level teaching jobs are eikaiwa or ALT (the latter requires a degree, not WHV). ALTs get hired directly from dispatch agency or the JET Programme. Most eikaiwas don't hire from abroad, so you'd have to be here first. Even the ones that recruit in Canada require that you pay expenses to attend their 1-3 days of hiring at whatever limited locations they have. Eikaiwas typically work from noon to 9pm any day of the week; ALTs work from 9 to 5 in public schools Monday to Friday.

You can teach on the WHV, a work visa (if an employer sponsors you for it, and a college degree is needed in any field), a student visa (part-time work only, and you could attend college or a language school, but you have to show that you can pay all tuition up front), or a cultural activities visa (part-time only, but you have to show previous experience in that cultural activity plus find a master in it here to continue your studies). You're probably not in a position to get a spousal visa (married to a Japanese) or a dependent visa (married to a fellow foreigner who has a work or student visa), but both of them also allow work.

Work contracts are typically for a year, so don't plan on getting something for just a few months.

I'm not pursuing a career in teaching English in Japan, just wanted information on it
Why? As I asked above, when do you want to be here? The way you write, it sometimes sounds like you are trying to plan for something, but it isn't clear what that is. It also sounds sometimes like you are only looking for a foot in the door for some uncertain purpose unrelated to a career.

Or if not english teaching, would there be any jobs foreigners can get into abroad for a year in Japan?
Not without a college degree, except for places that might want to accept you on the WHV, but at your age that's unrealistic. You're going to need the degree, some related work experience (demonstrating skills that are needed here and often not already had by locals), and most often with pretty high level of Japanese language ability. You might want to consider an internship visa.
 
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Does that mean you are no longer interested in teaching in Japan at all and we can lock the thread?

If you intend to pursue higher education for any reason at all it would behoove you to be able to write in complete sentences.
Nah don't lock it, I never said I was never interested at all, I still want more opinions EDIT: Some other foreigners who use this site might find this point useful because I know a lot of foreigners want to work abroad in Japan for a period of time
 
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Nah don't lock it, I never said I was never interested at all, I still want more opinions EDIT: Some other foreigners who use this site might find this point useful because I know a lot of foreigners want to work abroad in Japan for a period of time

Most of them would probably benefit more from one of the countless threads we already have accumulated over the years discussing the subject in excruciating detail.

They tend to be in the Working in Japan section for some strange reason instead of Japan News & Hot Topics.

Working in Japan | Japan Forum
 
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Most of them would probably benefit more from one of the countless threads we already have accumulated over the years discussing the subject in excruciating detail.
Probably true, actually you can lock the thread if you have that ability
 
Justin,
Since the thread is actually NOT locked, I have to wonder whether you are blocking me or just ignoring the wealth of information that I recently posted. You're welcome, regardless.
 
I've learned English for 9 years at Japanese schools but I think teachers teach us wrong way. because there are only few chances that communicate with any foreigners. They only let us writing or reading every time. As a result, we could have a knowledge about grammar and words but we couldn't have ability of real conversation.
so Japanese teachers should be worry about this issues.
 
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