please help!

[Yakisoba]

Hi Im a 19 year old guy from Cambridge England. I really need hel becouse I really want to teach english in Japan, but I don't have any qualifications or degree! I did do english and got "B" in English Listening and Speaking. It's not so much that Im stupied..but Ive had a few problems in my life..due to living in France for 9 years..well I was born in England, but moved to France when I was 4 years old...do I basicaly grew up in France..when I came back to England I had so much trouble fitting in..becouse the school systems are so much diferent! so that's why I did not do so well in my english...well I got "D" in my english language..like writting and so on..but I did well in the oral side but as for my living in france...when I learnt French In England I got "A" for the language and "A" for the speaking and Listening! Well anyway the other reason I wanted to go teach there is becouse my g/f lives there and I went to Japan this summer for 3 weeks, I loved it so much. I also met her parents which I loved so much..though there kept staring at my blue eyes! well anyway curently my g/f and her parents are trying to look for jobs for me...and my g/f is sending me information through the post which has not yet arrived...but there told me about ALT assitant language Teachers. But for that you need to have degree! Im really stuck and need help...I did find on a board something about TEFL and EIKAIWAS? if anybody knows about this please reply and if you have time...maybe we could chat about it? I feel so confused about all this and also in some respect I feel like Im never gonna be able to work in Japan.

 

[takashi]

Another idea for finding a job in Japan might be to seek help by subscribing to the 'Work' group in the japantoday forum. Post
the same in there and I am sure there'll be a lot of people who are
kind to respond to you. Search 'japantoday' with your search
engine and you will quite easily have access to it. It is worth a
try. I've seen the same sort of help in there several times so far.

 

[budd]

good advice!
some good info a few posts down also in this section as well

 

[Arashi]

As far as I know, by law, you need a degree of some kind to teach in Japan. I'm not sure you'd want to work for anyone who'd accept you without a degree....

Even with a degree, getting work in Japan isn't necessarily easy, especially for a foreigner.

Sorry to be a bringer of bad news, but... you'd probably be better off getting a student visa and working part time as an English tutor or something instead. Then, at least, you could get a degree in the future.

 

[Arch]

Hiya there m8y btw great to see another brit on the forums ! Yes the others have said above me it would be very hard for you to get a visa with out a degree, yea i know i think it sux too, means that i will have to go to Uni ! in a few years. One possibabilty is try to find a school with doesnt require you to have degree and are willing to sponsor you, but i havent seen any schools do that ! so thats probably a no, no. Or the simpliest way is just to get married to ya g/f then thats a free ticket to life in japan my friend ! =D i think that gives you a spouse visa, you dont need a degree for that !

 

[Swifty]

MAN NOW THAT IS THE IDEA OF THE CENTURY!!!!



its so simple!!!
I am going to go to japan marry one of my pen pals
and then I can teach in Japan!!!
(not being sarcastic here guys )

hmmm so many to choose from...guess I will have to meet them all first

But yeah I am trying to do that same thing
it is very hard without a degree

but here is an alternative
why teach english if you french is so good

teach that instead

 

[Yakisoba]

Thanks for all the information!

Hi, thank you so much for all your help and tips, Im sure everything will work out for me! Im not really sure what else to write but thank you so much for being such kind people.

PS: this is my first time in a forum and Ive enjoed it very much. Unfortunatly My computer is very slow...soon I will get a new one and it should make the whole experience I lot better
cheers guys

 

[Yakisoba]

PS: I shall marry my g/f in 2005 and also I know tis has nothing to do witht he topic...but if any of you no of a good computers to get such as model and stats and so on? please give me an idea! cheers

 

[Keiichi]

I'm considering going someday after I graduate Uni and get my bachelors. Right now I'm trying to make friends with the exchange students here and online/penpal with people in Japan. And I'll try my best to keep in touch often since they maybe helpful with connections and stuff.

I was wondering, for those who've tried this teaching stuff and don't mind reading something long right now, how good is this article?
http://www.peterpayne.net/Merchant3...ore_Code=PP&Product_Code=P04&Category_Code=BJ

 

[Glenski]

Yakisoba,

You need a bachelor's degree to get a work visa, but if you are British, French, Australian, German, New Zealander, or Canadian, there is another option for getting work -- the working holiday visa. It has its limitations, however, such as 12-18 month length, an age limit (18-30), and proof of a certain amount of funds. Plus the WHV cannot be renewed beyond that 12-18 month time, while a work visa can.

Other options are dependent visa (for people married to non-Japanese with FT jobs), spouse visa (for people married to Japanese), and student visa (for people who are enrolled in schools in Japan). The first and third option let you work part-time, while the second option lets you work FT anywhere that accepts your qualifications.

For the reasons above, I would highly recommend that you get a bachelor's degree. It would allow you to stay in Japan longer on a work visa, and if you choose to go the route of the spouse visa, it would give you better odds on finding work. A spouse visa would be nice, but it is not a "gold card".

 

[Glenski]

I was wondering, for those who've tried this teaching stuff and don't mind reading something long right now, how good is this article?
http://www.peterpayne.net/Merchant3...ategory_Code=BJ

It is certainly ONE person's opinion of teaching in Japan. He lays out the realistic options and accurately describes some of the job hunting process, and it is definitely generic (as he claims), but he makes some errors, and he slants things a little too much sometimes in a positive light without providing sources.

Example.
He refers to teaching English in Japan as ESL. It is actually EFL.
He says you need a university degree to teach. You don't in certain circumstances (that aren't all that esoteric, as my earlier post shows).
JET program does not have an upper age limit of 30. It has been 35 for many years, and it is now 40 or 41 officially (as of this year), but there are people even older working there.
He says JET CIRs perform "valuable" functions. Most of them that I know sit around in city hall or a ward office and translate documents and are bored to death. See www.bigdaikon.com

He says you have to leave the country to get your work visa (if you come here on a tourist visa). You don't in many cases (unfortunately, you are at the whims of immigration).
He says the "best way" to land a job is to make contacts in Japan. Although this is a good way, I would argue against it being the "best". It all depends on circumstances. Depends on your definition of "best", too.