Teaching English in Japan

GLOWlad · A List Star

Teaching English in Japan

Darth Mattitude · The Dark Admin

Well I supose you do have to do the all around job. But the thing about those elements you hate (I don't mind them myself, but then Im fairly confident (Some may say bordering arrogant) ) are a necessary evil and in teaching some of that you will probably find them tools to help you get your point across....

Man In Black · Anime Mod

Woah - what an amazing coincidence! Just now on another forum a guy there is going to be teaching English in China and we've been discussing that, where the TEFL courses have been mentioned!!

He is going with this lot: http://www.teic.co.uk/

They are a bit different in that the candidate needs to be fluent in English and a graduate - no degree required! But I have not found a Japanese equivalent just yet as I'm not a graduate...

Good luck with the course GLOWlad and keep us informed.

Totoro101 · Movie Executive Producer

Im looking into doing the same thing myself glowlad so im in the same boat as you..But man..it will be hard work to teach abroad..

GLOWlad · A List Star

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Its very much a weekend in the necessary evil category...at school the things I hated most were the sessions when everyone would sit in a circle for discussions etc...sadly this is what the format will be for my 20 hour course.

If I ever get to the stage of getting hired by a language school, my next dilemma would be where to go in Japan. My friend lives in southern Japan, and I want to be close to her, but I dont think I could bear working in the sweltering summers there. Sapporo would be much better, but is much too far to be able to see my friend often.

Man In Black · Anime Mod

GLOWLad, who did you book your course through? Because I've found two different sites that offer the same service but with slight differences.

This one is UK based : http://www.uk-tefl.com/

as is this one but it also has an online course yet seems to be an American company: http://www.onlinetefl.com/

Totoro101 · Movie Executive Producer

Nice finds Mib. I want to start looking for work there myself so i want to actually start looking for info for it.You know i could get a spouse visa with my gf here which she says if we were to marry then she thinks i could get any old job working there so id love to do that! But then the cost or marriage...and the fact im noway near ready for that..Still she puts up with me though even though im a big child..but yeah i want to do the same thing as GL so nice one for the links Mib.

GLOWlad · A List Star

MiB, the course Im going to is part of the second of those links...Im meant to be doing a 20 hour TEFL Course plus a seperate 20-hour Online Grammar unit. Im struggling at identifying nouns!

Totoro, I think most people are big kids really, people pretend to be grown up, but we aren't really. Don't worry about that.

Im not sure how to classify my friendship with my friend in Japan. Weve known each other online over a year, and had a great time together when we met in Japan. Since when, we have both said we like each other more than friends. But with me in England and her in Japan, its difficult to manage a romantic relationship!

Man In Black · Anime Mod

If I can pluck up the courage to try this then I hope my being off work for so long (and the medical reasons for that) won't be a huge stumbling block for me.

GLOWlad · A List Star

Im very much in the same boat, post university for various reasons I have several blank, employment-free years...I just hope that recent voluntary work Ive been doing, coupled with a TEFL certificate, might make up for it.

I think you should go for it, Japan offers at least the chance of a better, richer life, it has its flaws, but its a wonderful place at its best. Right now Im dreading the TEFL course, but if I can get through, and pass the course, then I can go ahead and apply for jobs with a realistic chance of getting them. Good luck to us all!

GLOWlad · A List Star

Just finished the TEFL course, with mixed feelings...

Strongly disliked the first day, there was a tonne of difficult grammar that I hadnt any hope of teaching, and when it came to my 5 minutes mini lesson, I was truly awful the worst in the class.
I dreaded the sunday, but felt it went somewhat better, the concepts introduced were a little easier, and my concluding 5 minute lesson was a little better than day one's...but it was still bad.

The biggest piece of advice Id give in retrospect, is to polish your grammar before you take such a course...that will give you the confidence to teach it, which I never had.

The course is tiring and intense, and it was depressing how much better than me everyone else was. Still passing the course is near-automatic, so Ive got a TEFL certificate now, plus a little more confidence than I had on saturday morning.

Totoro101 · Movie Executive Producer

Gambatte ne Glowlad.However and i have been warned about this,if you do get to liveo ut in japan in the near future be prepared for heavy workloads and a lot of heavy tax and stuff because my gf and friends all say the same, staying in japan a short time is great,living in japan is a whole world of difference because of how much you have to work, the pay is not so great and theres so many different tax and financial difficulties which many foreingers cannot cope with living here,thats why 80% of gaijins often go back to their home countries after a while since its a huge struggle..Id love to live here more then 3 months but it does seem working in japan is a HUGE thing to do,id love to do it but from all the stories iv heard from my friends and other gaijins who worked there online...It seems its not all thats cracked up to be...But both you and me will have to find out for ourselves right GL? ^_^ good luck with the course.