[Waffen]

I'm jobless now so this time its for real.
Thinking of going over to Japan to teach English for a year.
So which company won't put you into indentured servitude for them?
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PSN Online ID: SylentButDeadly

[Craptastic!]

Whenever I read about overseas English teaching programs, I only see JET mentioned.

[Talbain]

[Felix]

Isn't the average ESL job in Korea only like... $14/hr, 30 hrs a week?

[Daphaknee]

since nova closed isnt jet hte only good one now
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the internet's

[DonMarco]

Private lessons, cram schools, public education...

It's all good
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Still alive.

[Talbain]

[psiga]

I've heard that SK is competitive, as far as housing and pay.

Rud13 might have suggestions re: English teaching schools in Japan, but even he has said that if he had it all to do over again, he would very seriously consider teaching in South Korea.
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[psiga]

Rud13 just told me: "Yeah Korea, lower cost of living, better pay, bigger boobs."

I would like to add: Crazier girls.
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[Tokyo Rude]

Yeah SK paying for the airline ticket is pretty great! Also lower cost of living, better pay, etc. Though really, from what I've heard the best of the best is China. Outside of all the censorship, the scenery, life, and girls are the absolute best. Seriously I'd need to get the name of the area again, but my friends that have taught in all over Asia have said the girls in China are the most beautiful girls in the world.

If you want serious recommendations, uh..PM me! Keep in mind the hardest fucking part is getting the visa. If you really want to work in Tokyo, it's even harder. If you're just like, FUCK YEAH JAPAN, then yeah Jet. Where you'll be stuck in the middle of god damn no where and it takes 3 months for them to turn your internet on and you have to drive 20 minutes in a car that you have to pay all the shit for and you're making shit pay.

But yeah! South Korea, man if I hadn't studied that Japanese! Better food, real American food, big boobs!

[sam]

give me a month and i can tell you if one company is okay or terrible, at least.

and yeah, JET is cool if you want to be living in a town of 3000 people on a mountain but i dunno, i like people too much.
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[Tokyo Rude]

[Talbain]

[GalaxyHead]

I applied to a job posting on my University's private career center website...thing.

The company is International Education Services in Shibuya-ku.

Here is the contact info and such:

Gregory Jankunis
International Education Services
Rose Hikawa Bldg. 2FHigashi 2-22-14
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
150-0011
Japan

[sam]

[108]

[Toptube]

I have 3 friends that are doing under the table teaching in Japan----Visas supplied in all 3 cases. 2 of them fell into the jobs through random connections and the 3rd went there with the intent to end up in such a situation so that he could be with his colllege girlfriend of 3 years. He got the job within 3 weeks.

I have another friend who is teaching under the table in Korea. He is the spouse of an Air Force women so he didn't need to get the Visa through the job, but he is having a great time there, too.

Alternatively, I've heard great things about checking tutoring postings in japan. You can sometimes end up tutoring someone who has plenty of money to pay.

Boobs in Korea and Japan are about equal. China is still china but the girls are very different from Japan and Korea, which can increase attractiveness for some.

If you want boobs, go to the Philippines or Thailand.

[Waffen]

SK sounds like a good deal but I'm not as interested in living there as I am in Japan. I've been to Tokyo before and thought it was great. I've never been to SK before but haven't heard that many great things. I heard the food there is terrible (kimchee, raw beef, beef beef beef every meal).
I've been to China before several times and after the novelty of buying fake watches and Prada wallets wears off it is a terrible, terrible place.
I am kind of at a crossroads right now and am trying to decide what to do with my life.
I'm not very interested in doing graphic design anymore and pretty much every design job requires you to know web and since I'm not interested in design anymore I don't want to learn web.
I'm also thinking about joining the military and going to officer training school because I have a bachelor's degree but I'm getting to the age where doing that is almost silly (I'm 29).
I have also applied for the US Border Patrol but that takes months for your background investigation to go through and I'm applying for a city cop job tomorrow but those jobs aren't easy to get either unless you've lived a sheltered life at home until the age of 25 and you've never had a speeding ticket in your life. I took a polygraph too for a corrections officer job but got DQ'd because I didn't show up to thing prepared ("when was the last time you had a speeding ticket" "um, uh I think it was a year and a half ago" "thats not what you said on your application, you said one year and 7 months ago" "oh... sorry") so yeah I didn't get that job but that would have been really shitty anyways.
the reason I'm going for all these kind of jobs is because I'm looking for something exciting, stable and with good benefits.
teaching in Japan is something I've thought about for awhile too and now I have the chance to do it so maybe I will.
_________________
PSN Online ID: SylentButDeadly

[CubaLibre]

wow are they really that annoyingly particular about past "offenses" for police jobs? no wonder cops are dicks
_________________
Let's Play, starring me.

[Leau]

[psiga]

[108]

[negativedge]

why would people that fit all those criteria want to join JET

[psiga]

[Felix]

So, wait a second, guys.

You're saying that - if, hypothetically, I don't get into Canadian library schools but I do get into mediocre in-state tuition online library school - I should go teach in China?

I have to say I'm not super interested in Korean culture, which is why I always thought "Japan, in spite of X Y and Z," but China admittedly seems like bad news bears...

[luckystrike]

Hey, fuck you guys, I am a JET teacher at the moment!

The application process was balls. Had I not gotten accepted straight out of college, found a decent job, or thought about something else, I absolutely wouldn't have ever applied again. It was pretty competitive. JET is absolutely looking for clean, friendly, non-creepazoid people. A mistake a lot of people make is that they don't really give a shit how much you know about Japan, how much you like anime, and how much you want to study Japanese. You come here to teach and as an international representative. The application process starts in October, and I found out I had the job the following April. I found out where I would be going in July, 3 weeks before I left.

As it is, as a JET I got paid flight, paid food, insurance, make about $40,000 a year, work regular 40 hour weeks, drink tons of beer and have low responsibility, and have great immediate job security. I live in a town of about 6000 people in the northern part of the main island, far away from anything, about 8 hours by train north of Tokyo. The scenery is fantastic, I am studying both Japanese and Chinese, doing tons of hiking, taking cooking classes from the locals, and learning a ton about teaching, which I hope to pursue after my contract is done. The people are great (both other JETS and Japanese), the kids are hilarious, and I can be as self-motivated or lazy as I want. Some days I make however much I make hourly just sitting on the internet. Other days I make the exact same amount busting my ass six ways to sunday.

Not everyone who comes to Japan is a weeaboo, and I came to the country with this sort of lifestyle in mind, as did most other JET teachers. The only real nerdlinger thing I do is I bought a PSP with excess money after I figured out like 80% of the population under 14 years old plays Monster Hunter, started a Monster Hunter club after school and me and a few kids play when nothing else is going on. It's pretty rad. I am also a proud member of the middle school basketball club. My team fucking blows.

JET sucks because there is no real incentive to recontract. You make the same amount until you decide to leave, or 5 years, whichever comes first. Most leave after 2 years. Most go onto grad school or other non-related jobs, though JET is a decent resume bullet-point, unlike (from what I've heard) any other teaching-English-abroad job. If you have some specific idea of where you want to go in Japan or you are a TOKYO OR BUST type, you will probably get placed somewhere you don't want to be. If you are that kind of person, you probably wont get the job anyways.

Not being mean, just honest! A lot of people who were better qualified japan-wise (and otherwise) than me (I studied Asian history in college but focused almost entirely on China) didn't get in. Most other JETs have no specific interest in Japan. Regardless, if you want a "fuck it lets do this" sort of experience, JET isn't what you are looking for anyways for many reasons, #1 being the 8 month application process.

Minus JET, I couldn't really imagine getting an eikaiwa job or whatever. I certainly wouldn't have had I not gotten JET. Too many horror stories, no job security, long hours (sometimes unpaid), bizarre hours, low pay. I'm sure there are good opportunities out there though, but be careful. www.gaijinpot.com (ugh) and www.daveseslcafe.com are both places to start your search though.

Regardless, minus JET, South Korea is almost certainly the place to go I hear. Several friends there are having a total blast, and making far more than their compatriots in Japan. If it HAS TO BE JAPAN, on the other hand, I don't know. Just hop a plane and stay with a buddy and hope you find a job before your 3 months tourist visa/money runs out? Or maybe just stay home? I don't mean to sound like an ass, but it probably isn't what you might be looking for anyways.

Sorry that that was so long. I did do a fair amount of research on the subject back in college though, so if you have any more specific questions I, too, might be able to help.

[luckystrike]

[sam]

[Zebadayus]

Question:

Does JET require a teaching degree? I remember they require a degree, but I don't recall any specific degree being required.

I've been considering becoming a teacher, and I was thinking of checking out JET after I'm out of school.

[luckystrike]

[luckystrike]

[Zebadayus]

So if you DO have a teaching degree, and also have taken Japanese language courses, I would assume that would give you a big leg up over most of the other applicants eh.

[luckystrike]

[Zebadayus]

I think I'm a somewhat tubular dude at the moment, and confident that I'll be about twice as tubular once I graduate.

[Zebadayus]

Wait if I THINK I'm tubular, does that mean I'm not tubular? Ahhhhh shit.

[luckystrike]

definitely tubular

[Tokyo Rude]

Thanks for being straight with me luckystrike about the JET experience. Every JET guy I've worked with has sort of looked at the ground and mumbled when they talked about what they were getting paid/benefits etc. Mostly I was describing my experience with Heart English School, which yeah, will give you a job and visa. But will eat at away at your soul. Consider them short term option.

You absolutely need the B.A. to work in this country. I don't think the Japanese government will even spit on you if you don't have one.

Having a teaching degree is good. Most if not all of these jobs give fuck all about Japanese ability. A lot of them don't want you to speak Japanese at all in class/lessons. The one I work for does, and it makes things a lot easier! I don't have to spend 5 minutes trying to think of a way to describe "boring" or "tired".

Also yeah the job is easier if you drink because people in this country fucking love getting plastered.

[Talbain]

[GalaxyHead]

The company I applied to stated that while Japanese language knowledge is not required, applicants who have some knowledge of the language are urged to apply. Probably more for culture shock issues than anything else.

[Leau]

[luckystrike]