Singaporean migrant in Japan

Hi all,

This is my first post in this forum, so if my question seems inappropiate, please forgive me.

I am from Singapore and had great interest to migrate to Japan some time in the future(say about 5-10 years) time. Currently, I am 26 years of age and is a degree holder. I thought of starting out in Japan by teaching English in organisations such as AEONS or NOVA. May I know what are the usual procedure and requirements if I were to apply to teach in Japan.

Also, if there are any Singaporeans active in this forum, please kindly give me some advice! Thanks a lot!.

I don't really recommend you consider working for NOVA at this time.
Do you know about the JET program? JET is one of the better options if you are interested in an education field.

FYI most of these schools does their teachers recruitment in USA, Canada, Australia, UK, NZ. Some of these centers, the main requirement is that the teacher's native language is English.

Of course you can try your luck in some other centers, but trust me it is not easy for someone coming from Asian country to teach but is not impossible.

on jet's website it says
In addition to the above, applicants from non-English speaking countries must:

17. Have a functional command of the English or Japanese language.


Notes:
1. In the case of English speaking countries this is English, for France it is French, for Germany and Austria it is German, for China it is Chinese, for Korea it is Korean, and for other non-English speaking countries it is the principal language spoken in that country.

So English and Malay would be appropriate.

http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/aspiring/eligibility.html

Well, considering that English is an official language in Singapore, you probably can work as an assistant language teacher in public schools (JET or other companies). In fact, I have heard of a Singaporean working as an English teacher in a junior high.

but are there any age limits to it?

Wow! Thanks for the replies. I will visit the Japan Embassy in my country in a few days time to get more information about the JET programme! Based on the statistic on JET webpage, there are about 32 singaporeans working as assistant teacher for JET. So I might want to give it a try too! Keep the replies or comments coming =)!

Cheers!

The age limit for JET is 40 years old. The application process takes up to a year, so you must not be 40 by the time you depart for Japan.

Hi Yong boon, i'm currently 24 yrs old and will finish my degree in feb next year. After which i will enrol myself to study jap language.

Once im fluent in jap, i will apply for JET, hopefully stands a higher chance. Pls let me know if you made it eventually! I will want to find out more...

By the way Mika, is there a forum for JET? i will like to ask how much are assistance teachers being paid per month?

Thanks.

Sorry, it should be Miko rather than Mika.

Mika, I apologise for the mistake... :)

A friend of mine applied for JET and got in. One of the things he told me was that the JET program actually looks for candidates who are not too fluency in the Japanese language. The reason being that a JET teacher is encouraged to engage his/her students in English, and having Japanese fluency can potentially defeat that purpose. Overall, Japanese fluency not a requirement to enter the JET program.

Hi Dave, thanks for your commment....what you said sounds logical.

But actually i have all the while been hoping to learn jap lang becuase i got a couple of jap friends and i feel guilty always speaking english to them. Their english is not good also.

But thanks for your reminder! Cheers!!

it might serve you better to call them japanese and not jap. If you must abbreviate, say jpn. All japanese know the slang "jap" and can be very offended by it.

I know you don't mean to be rude, but if you intend to come to Japan and work there, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NEVER, EVER, EVER USE THE WORD "JAP", it does offend people here.

Oops...so sorry.
I will take note of this. I should have known...

I know this may sound like a stupid question, but can i ask what are the ages of the students in junior high school and high school?

I'm asking because Singapore education system is different from japan. We have primary school (7 rs to 12 yrs), then secondary school (13yrs to 16yrs) and junior college or polytechnic (17yrs to 20yrs).

Thanks
Regards.

Elementary : 7-12
Junior High : 13-15
High : 16-18
College : 19-20
University : 19-22
(Could be 5 years i/o depending on the faculty)

Oh...so the diff is mostly on high school and college.

I have noticed that Singaporeans and other English-speaking Asian people use the abbreviation "Jap" a lot, without realising it is offensive. I think a lot of Australians, New Zealanders, Americans etc. are aware of the negative connotations of the word, but English-speaking Asian people often aren't, although WW2 was closer to home for them.

Just something that interests me.

Singaporeans use short forms very often. You will often find words like "loh","lah", "mah", "meh", "har" in our sentences. For example, "You dont know how to use one la..."

These words are not found in dictionary. They are termed as "singlish" (combination of singapore + english)

It is unique in the sense that only some countries in South east asia will understand these terms.

It is indeed disturbing to notice that many Singaporeans (not all, but many and mostly younger ones) use abbreviations when writing even to international audiences/readers. To me it shows plenty of ignorance and maybe even some selfish and 'I-don't-care' attitude. Please remember that not everybody on this planet knows how you like to shorten a regular word. And replacing 's' with 'z' in cases such as 'This iz a wonderful place' borders on ridiculousness. I may sound harsh but I have enough of it. If you are thinking of becoming a teacher of the English language, it would be better for you to start with proper ways of communicating first. The Japanese certainly would not want to learn abbreviated English. Hp u no wat I min, not 2 b min jus 1 u n many otrs 2 realz stpdty o it.