Do I stand a Chance...........

Ok everybody, I'm sure somewhere on this forum there have been similiar posts so sorry if this one is a repeat. Recently I have been thinking about moving to Japan. My main purpose in moving to Japan is to first learn the language, secondly attend Kobe University. I found a language school called "shizuoka Japanese Education Center" which I will most likely be attending to learn the language. I'm 19 years old and have a High School Diploma, I work currently as a pharmacy technician. My questions are: if I moved to Japan would it be a challenge finding at least a part time job? I understand that if I attending a school then they will probably limit my work hours because I will have a student visa. Also I would like to know how expensive or cheap it is to live in Shizuoka? Any info would be greatly appreciated.......

It's easy to get a job teaching English if you have a college degree. Don't know the situation for students though. Shizuoka is a beautiful part of Japan. Cheaper than the big cities, more expensive than the country. A great choice in my opinion to call home while living in J-land.

I know nothing of the particular school you mentioned in Shizuoka, but I just want to caution you that there are Japanese language schools which exist solely to facilitate otherwise ineligible people getting visas. The bad apples provide little or no actual Japanese language education.

There are both good ones and bad ones. Make sure you check around as much as possible and independently verify which sort you're getting involved with before money changes hands.

Mike has a good point regarding the dubiousness of schools so you should listen to his advice. I worked for a school once which had a lot of students that were there for a visa only, and whilst we did try to teach those students who really wanted to learn, the vibe was no good and I wouldn't have recommended it to anyone. On the other hand it should be possible to change schools if you happen to luck out and enroll in a crappy one, though I don't know how the visa situation would be affected if you did that. Avoid paying all of your tuition fees in one hit; perhaps a semester/term basis would be better.

In regard to teaching jobs, a degree is a bonus, but actually one of my friends taught children at a Tokyo school for a year without one.

If you want to go to Kobe Univ. why don't you study Japanese in Kobe or Osaka? There are lots of good Japanese schools and lots of pt jobs teaching English so it would seem to make more sense than going to Shizuoka first.

Based on the suggestions from other forum members, a check on the Web shows that Shizuoka Japanese Education Center has no Western students, only Chinese and Vietnamese.

I think the suggestions are valid and agree that you should be checking out more Japanese language schools, especially those located in or close to Kobe. I found this:
http://www.aikgroup.co.jp/j-school/english/area/section/kinki.htm

I'm sure others will be able to recommend a few from the list, since I don't know anything about these schools.

Here's a good place to start if you want to work and study abroad. It's a web-page hosted by my alma mater, University of Michigan.

http://www.umich.edu/~icenter/overseas/work/waoverweb.html

Some decent information there.

The first time I went to Japan actually was under a paid internship program. They're hard to get and basically you need to be an overachiever to be accepted. There are some other ways to go about studying abroad, but most of them require an expensive layout in money. It can be done, but you'll be looking at several thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars if you cannot secure financial aid.

One route you may take is to contact an American college and see if they offer a study abroad program. Infact, I think this is probably the safest bet. It has the advantage of letting you finance some of your study with U.S. student loans (payable to the U.S. institution) which then generally provides a grant to the foreign institution.

Chances are whatever universities are near you have some sort of study abroad program. Finding one that is in Japan (or in the specific area of Japan you wish to go to) may be tricky, but not impossible. Also if you manage to sign up via a State institution, the enrollment cost will generally be far less than if you did a direct enrollment in the foreign university. Plus as a nice side benifit, these programs usually provide excellent support structure for their students and already have agreements in place with the foreign instututions on how to handle matriculation of earned educational credits.

Call around and if possible set up a meeting, or a walk-in at your local college and find out.

Mal

It will not be easy to get a job, there are fewer jobs now with the Eikaiwa system gradually breaking down, more foreigners rights are being attended to, the law beginning to be followed meaning that companies are firing more & hiring less. Qualifications are becoming more necessary, and even with a simple diploma or degree, how good is your English? And most of all, do you really think you're capable of teaching? Too many useless foreigners come here with nothing but the ability to speak the language, they have nothing professional about them which is why a lot of Eikaiwa's have NO respect for foreigners, because they perpetuate the illegal system going on here.

Teach English, fine, but remember that honest, hard-working people pay a lot of money to be taught by you and they expect quality. NOVA for example has the highest turnover of foreign staff, and the highest amount of students that pay the fees & don't attend class, and never re-sign. With no qualifications in English teaching, you'll end up working in a school just like NOVA.

Think twice mate

When I was asking about a Job, I was'nt looking for anything great here. I really don't want to teach English. My purpose in going to Japan is to become fluent in Japanese, then attend a Japanese University. I was'nt looking for a job that requires a degree. Something simple like working at a department store. Because by the time I go I will have over $15,000.00 saved in my bank account. So really I'm just looking for a part time job that will cover the cost of food and clothing and any other excess expenses. Nothing fancy or anything. Even though English is my best subject I would rather leave that job to the people with degrees. Also the reason why I want to attend "Shizuoka Japanese Education Center" is because my girlfriend lives in Ohito, Japan so not far of a distance. Also I found the school on the ドメインパーキング website which I believe is pretty reliable. So maybe this information will clear some of the fog for the people answering my questions, but thanks again to all that have given me answers.

well, at least he apologized in advance
but why not just bump the other thread and not knock other people's questions down in the process?
anyway,
"Something simple like working at a department store."
that would require connections more'n anything? network as much as possible and good luck

You'll never get a job in a Department store unless you're fluent in Japanese and have something else to offer that Japanese staff don't have. There is an extremely limited choice of work for foreigners that aren't employed overseas for business, i.e. Toyota or Mitsubishi etc. Manual labour is possible if you go to the Labour office but will have to be fairly fluent in Japanese to get through there. At 19 years old though with not even a College degree you'll most likely get offered nothing I'm sorry to say, it's clearly too early for you to come here unless you want to risk finding illegal work, or be employed illegally as a teacher in some tiny company as an English teacher. But when people discover your age they'll wonder how you got a Working visa...

Best thing for you is to be just a student for now, or wait a few years then come back more prepared.

I first came here at 21 years old with no degree, worked illegally & it caused a lot of trouble for me, much stress which in turn affected my girlfriend so I had a terrible first experience in Japan. I went back home, got a license to teach English, returned, got a good job & everything picked up & life got better.

I'm a manager at my school & we never hire teachers without at least two-years teaching experience, which should be gained in your home country or in another company in Japan. People are getting more fussy now, simply because too many idiots come here thinking they are wanted simply because they speak the English language fluently. I'm tough here, but then I treat my staff well once they are in. Major schools are slack on hiring but then treat their staff like shite once they are in.

Welcome to the real Japan

i really liked that someone else typed all of that, because i was too lazy to do it
thanks!