Teaching in Japan...what next?

[andyd123]

Hi


I am looking for a career change (at the moment i work in IT Support)

my wife is japanese and in 10 years (when I am 55) i will go and live there

I have a degree in English lit. however i have a large mortgage and cannot start taking 3 months , or whatever length of time off work. i am sure this is not neccesary. I met some english teachers out in Okayama who were really nice guys, but seemed to think I would have to leave my job to pursue this path.......I dont think i do....other people must face the same issue...its not unusual to have a full time job and study.....i am happy to pay for it...

is there a way around it?

Also what sort of money can i expect to earn?

i saw some vacancies in schools out there which were paying around 1k a month, which seems to me to be a pittance. is there much private work around? I was told (by my wife) that i can earn around £40 an hour teaching private as this is what she used to charge for teaching.

ps

I have taught IT in schools before with no qualification to the 6th form.

many thanks in advance.


Andy
(Bracknell)

[Alex Case]

The standard price for private lessons in a cafe seems to have dropped to 3500 yen an hour due to many agencies being set up to match teachers and students at this price. The good news is that you can use said services to set up a fairly full schedule quite quickly if that is what you are looking for. The bad news is that with the low yen and static or falling teacher wages it is virtually impossible to pay a British mortgage with a yen wage if you only work the standard 25 hour teaching week.

As you can get a spouse visa you don't necessarily need a degree or TEFL training, although both of these would help a lot if you wanted a job in a school or teaching business English instead. If you can get your Japanese language skills up to level (i.e. very high) there will also be the chance of an IT job in Japan.

[andyd123]

Hi


whats 3500 yen? in pounds??

I enrolled on a weekend tefl course which will give me a certificate.

i wish to leave the uk and leave IT that is the idea.... i need a career change

I know the people i enrolled with will help find me work for £400 but i reckon i may be able to sort it out myself via the web and my family in japan


thanks for your response

The standard price for private lessons in a cafe seems to have dropped to 3500 yen an hour due to many agencies being set up to match teachers and students at this price. The good news is that you can use said services to set up a fairly full schedule quite quickly if that is what you are looking for. The bad news is that with the low yen and static or falling teacher wages it is virtually impossible to pay a British mortgage with a yen wage if you only work the standard 25 hour teaching week.

As you can get a spouse visa you don't necessarily need a degree or TEFL training, although both of these would help a lot if you wanted a job in a school or teaching business English instead. If you can get your Japanese language skills up to level (i.e. very high) there will also be the chance of an IT job in Japan.

[Glenski]

No offense, but if you don't know the exchange rate or can't find it on your own at 45 years of age, how are you going to survive here? Look up currency converters on the Internet, or just use your local newspaper, financial page, for the daily exchange rate.
3500 yen is approximately 15 British pounds today.

BTW, there is no "standard price" for private lessons. Some greenhorns ask a mere 1000-1500 yen/hour, while other people get 3000-5000 yen/hour per student, and other people get even more. You don't even have to charge per person per hour; sliding scales are also used here, or monthly rates. How much you get depends on where you are, who you target, and how you market yourself. Your wife is mistaken about getting 40 pounds (9000 yen) per hour from a single student. Not many get that these days, and the only ones I know of are very experienced. I don't know of any Japanese teachers asking for or getting that much for Japanese lessons, either.

Agencies don't always set the prices; they usually only set up the initial meetings between potential students and teachers. The rest is up to you.

You can perhaps set up a "full schedule" quickly (depends on where you live, for one thing), but students are cheap and fickle, and many prefer teachers with experience. Younger students (teens and 20-somethings are very stingy, as are some older types). Many private lesson students will drop you without notice, too.

I met some english teachers out in Okayama who were really nice guys, but seemed to think I would have to leave my job to pursue this path.......I dont think i do

You haven't really described any path other than a desire to change careers and be here in 10 years. A BA degree in English lit is not going to get you anywhere in Japan, other than entry level teaching jobs. You really need to think things out long and hard. You want to come here for a change of careers? Prepare yourself for it with the right education, experience, and language ability. Teaching English is practically the only job here that doesn't require much (if any) Japanese ability. It'll get your foot in the door, but coming at 55 to teach is pretty lame, especially if you have 10 years to plan for it. Again, no offense intended, but what you have just described is pretty incredulous to me.

Look at http://www.daijob.com (there's an English page linked) and see what is offered. Many are bilingual jobs, but the point is, you are going to need fairly high fluency to get by with other than teaching jobs. The only exception I can think of is if you get a job in the UK with a company that has a branch here which uses little Japanese and is willing to send you here.

....other people must face the same issue...its not unusual to have a full time job and study.....i am happy to pay for it...

is there a way around it?

You can have a FT job and go to school, yes, but I think it is pretty obvious that such a thing will require lots of your time, working 8 hours a day, traveling 1-3 hours a day at the main job, and studying a few hours a night. You'd better have a job that can support your family. Want kids? Think more salary than an entry level teaching job, too. That's only about 200,000 to 250,000 yen/month these days and going down (yup, pretty much in line with what you have already discovered). Throw that figure at your wife, along with any distance learning tuition numbers. I hope she is willing to work and hold off having kids for a while.

[andyd123]

er thanks I think......

wish I'd never asked now............

[Alex Case]

Don't worry about Glenski, it's just his way... Think of it as advice from your mother, probably right but maybe too mucb so...

[andyd123]

cheeky f***ker i would say

no offence