Teaching English in Japan – Is It Right For You?
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 in Japan “Eikaiwa” The Most Traveled Road
“Eikaiwa” refers to the teaching of English conversation and basic grammar and believe it or not it’s a billion dollar industry in Japan. These consist of your large chain schools like ECC, Berlitz, Geos & Aeon. These organizations employ thousands of teachers throughout Japan and can be found in practically every single city in Japan irrespective of size. There are literally tons of private English schools dotting the country side. All of them carrying out the task of teaching English to the Japanese.
What You Need 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 weekends off. Saturdays are usually work days. 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. Of course there will be a bit of difference between how many national holidays any given school observes, but expect 8 to 10 per year. It’s worth noting that ECC has the best vacation package of the monster chain schools and arguably the fewest complaints. Here is a handy chart to help you compare salaries and working conditions for huge chain schools like Geos, ECC, Berlitz and Aeon.
You should expect roughly a 40 hour work week. Although each school is a little bit different, nontheless, expect 20 to 25 actual teaching hours and a few administrative or office hours.Many schools will subsidize your health insurance or pay for it out right. Most office hours get filled by preparing lessons, talking with students and taking class notes. Furthermore, teachers are sometimes expected to hand fliers as well. Make no mistake at the end of a typical day, you’ll know you worked. When the dust settles, your typical teacher workds roughly 40 hours per week.
Larger chain schools, mentioned above, have fixed curriculums. This means you’ll be using their in house texts, tapes and other support materials for teaching. For those who don’t have a lot of teaching experience it’s a helpful in reducing stress (there already is quite a bit in adjusting to the culture and learning the language etc.) Those who need to express their creativity in the lesson will probably find it stifling.
ESL teachers typically teach all ages. Literally from a mere 5 years of age all the way up to 75. Some schools deal specifically with children like Amity and Peppy Kids Club. Other large chain schools like Gaba cater to only adults or adult private English lessons. 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 very big help as it’s difficult to find accommodations on your own without the help of a Japanese national. Not to mention it’s also quite expensive. Although the type provided will vary expect things to be on the small side. In general, furnishings will be a bit sparce as often they consist of departing teachers belongings.
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