Asian at Eikaiwa

Hello mina! I am only 19 but i would like to stay and work in Japan probably as an English Teacher after I graduate from university. I'm Chinese so i was thinking that since Eikaiwa school mostly hire foreigners from NZ,Aussie, America ( meaning Caucasians and westerners), do i stand a chance against them or not? Since Japanese look up to Americans and adore them, I am really worried that because i'm Asian, they won't really have that kind of confidence in me compare to westerners. So mainly i want to know whether are there many Asians teaching at eikaiwa or not? And would i be look down upon by the students just because i'm Asian. Thanks!

There are asian americans/canadians/austrailians etc that work at English schools. I've seen many.

The thing is qualifications, are you a native english speaker? If you are Chinese then you would need to somehow prove to the language school that you are qualified enough to teach english, (eg english language proficiency certificates) and the like.

No matter what you are, getting a job teaching english is going to be a lot harder soon if the Nova Company goes bust and you have thousands of jobless english teachers looking for other jobs.

Oh thank you,sorry for my ignorance but what's with the NOVA company?

There is no problem with you being ethnically Asian, I know loads of ethnically Chinese, Japanese and Korean- Australians, Canadians, Americans etc. here, but do you have citizenship in one of the English-speaking countries? If not, you are required by Japan Immigration to prove that you have 12 years of schooling conducted in English- not English classes but learning all your subjects in English.

Also as John says, the next 3 to 6 months at least will be really hard for anyone arriving from overseas because of all the Nova teachers who either have already quit, or will be jobless soon. Nova teachers I have spoken to who have recently quit, especially those who arrived recently and don't have teaching experience, are having a really hard time finding a job because there are hundreds of other teachers applying for each job.

If you can set up a job before you arrive that is the best idea but it will be even tougher to do that now Nova isn't an option any more.

Good luck, I hope you are able to find a job and work here at some point :-)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
If you want to, search for "Nova" on this new site :)

NOVA is one of the four or so major English conversation school chains in Japan. And lately they have been in a financial crisis; well, not just financial, they are going through litigations about their sales practices (the company sells students lesson vouchers in bulk, but is unwilling to refund the unused portion at a reasonable rate if the students try to cancel later; the school advertises as if you could call and book for a lesson any time you want, but in reality that is not the case, etc. etc.).

But anyway the outcome is that they are unable to pay the teachers, or for their rent (in case the company is whole-leasing the apartments for the teachers), and students are not getting back their unused class-hours they are entitled to, and the company may close many of the school locations, so many teachers are leaving this school chain. Which means, there will be more teachers looking for employers like you've never seen before.

Generally speaking, if you are, regardless of ethnicity, a native speaker of English (or went through 12 years of schooling in the English language), you will qualify. If you happen to have in other country any experience teaching the language, that would be a plus.

Oh my god! 12 years! I've only been able to study english for all my subjects since i enter college and uni(oh yeah i am a malaysian). that's like 4 years and minus 12 is 8 more years. That's impossible! it seems that it's not as easy as it seems. maybe i really should go to australia to stay with my bro for a few years before coming to japan. But i want to go to Japan as young and as youthful as possible xD! or maybe i should teach malay? anyway guys thanks for everything!

If you can prove you have a command of the english language, eg certificates then it doesn't need to be 12 full years of english. You just need to show them on paper somehow (again passing tests, getting certifications) that you can speak english as well as a native english speaker.

And of course you need to sound like a native speaker in the interview, i.e. a strong non-native accent, any non-native speaker-type mistakes (such as with plurals or tenses) would make it difficult.

I have a Pakistani friend teaching English full-time here and he has an obvious Pakistani (Urdu-influenced) accent but he has a Canadian passport and is very well-spoken and found a good job quite quickly.

thank you guys for having this discussion your bloody awesome!
I hope to teach english over there too one day and ive just abouyt got enough info to get there now.

Cheers!

Yes this is very informational! It doesn't matter if you are an Asian or not as long as you have the proficiency it's not a problem! I'll work hard from now to achieve my dreams. I still have 2 more years to complete my degree(I'm majoring in Accounting!). Ganbaruyo!

hi MiaMia, fellow Malaysian here currently residing in Japan..there's this yahoo group by Malaysian In Japan (MIJ) where you can find informations and help by fellow Malaysian. To add to all the above post, sometime luck do play it part and being on the right place at the right time also help you land that teaching job..I managed to land myself an English teaching job, through International Association at place where I stay,a small town..currently teaching English at kindergardens and elementary schools on part time basis.

ooppss..here the link to the MIJ yahoo groups

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/malaysianInJapan/

OMG thank you! never have thought there would be a malaysian here replying me! thanks again!

I work at a School where they don't care where you're from. People are people. Seriously no two countries speak English the exactly the same. As long as you can speak English that's the only thing that counts really, and that you have a great personality. Meaning you don't hate kids. Anyways check out MLS (Model Language Studio).
Peace!