Teaching in Japan?

Hi,

Im going to get my B.A. in English Studies by april 2008. I am VERY interested to go to Japan for teaching either English or French. I recently heard, however, that NOVA is having a lot of troubles so as other language companies as well. What would be the best alternative for me then?

Thank you very much,
Best Regards,
Max

I recommend you check out another private company, AEON http://www.aeonet.com/ . You can also look into the Japan's MOE's JET program which is very popular with people who want to get experience in Japan. Also, check out Dave's ESL Cafe at www.eslcafe.com . It is absolutely THE BEST resource online for English teaching jobs around the world.

"Having a lot of troubles" is putting it mildly for Nova- they have basically collapsed, closed all their schools and will either declare bankruptcy in the near future and/ or will be bought out by another company and restart in a much much smaller form.

Either way, for the next 6 months or more it will be very tough for anyone arriving in Japan to find work as a lot of jobs have disappeared and there are a lot of job-hunting ex-Nova teachers around right now. I hear that ECC mainly hires from overseas- that may be your best bet.

Are you a native speaker of both languages? If you were not born in an English-speaking country, or have a trace of a non-native accent, then regardless of your qualifications and fluency you will be at a disadvantage when looking for jobs here, especially at the moment.

French-teaching jobs are a lot rarer, but they exist- again if you are not a native speaker it will be difficult to find a job. Nova employed a large percentage of the French teachers here so even native speakers will be finding the job market tight right now.

In any case check out www.eslcafe.com as recommended above- lots of information there- especially check the FAQs which are really comprehensive.

Thank you very much for your help, guys.

Sira, Im French-Canadian. I do have an English Certificate and,soon to get, a BA in English Studies. I barely have an accent. In other words, I have an accent on few words, but it is pretty good in general. I am aware that I might have some problems in getting a job there, but it is really a dream of mine. Let's hope things will get better by april 2008. ;)

Thanks again for your help,
Kindest Regards,
Max

One of the requirements for getting a working visa to teach here is that you had 12 years of schooling in the language you wish to teach. As you are from Canada you may be able to sneak past Immigration on this one, but something like your university diploma being written in French (you have to supply the original to Japan Immigration in order to get a visa) may give you away.

If you are coming on a working holiday visa then this won't be a problem of course.

As for a hint of a French accent, it will depend on the interviewer. There are some schools which will only hire North Americans, because the students think they don't want to learn "Australian English" or "British English", but others will hire any English speaker, including from India or the Philippines, where people tend to have "non-standard" accents.

A lot depends on your personality and perseverance!

Good luck and I hope the Nova thing blows over by the time you arrive.

I've met a few francophones from Quebec who were teaching on the JET Programme. They all spoke English without a noticeable accent though. If you're hoping to apply for the summer of 2008 intake, the applications are usually due sometime in the fall of the previous year - that means, now. The JET Programme is really the best one to go on for most new university graduates. Get on that application fast!

there are quite a few French-Canadians whose families have been living in English speaking Canada for generations. In many cases they have either gone to the English school system or/ and been so much immersed in the Anglophone culture outside their homes that they speak without a French-Canadian accent.

French Canadians I have met have spanned everything from complete bilinguals, i.e. native English speakers with no trace of an accent, to people with little English at all.

Max's English is great, but I notice a few unusual sentence constructions in both his posts that give away the fact that he is not a native speaker. It would be misleading to say this will not affect his chances of getting a job at all. It really depends on who he interviews with.

Sira,
I see what you mean..
Besides a perfect command of a language, teaching skills should also be a pre-requisite. as teaching anything is so much harder that one think..
(English is my third language by the way.)