She I teach with a masters or bachelors?

I am studying to be a English teacher in Japan. That is, I want to make a living there, a life, family, etc. However, It worries me about the future, about money. I want to be able to provide and give a really comfortable life and happy. That is, and still be able to spend time with them, Hence, is a Masters degree my better choice? This seems like something that is pretty obvious, but I want to live there already so bad .However, does it matter that much?

I am from USA, studying English BS emphasis on esl. Probably masters in English of ESL

I'm not an English teacher but from what I hear it's difficult for non-native English speakers to get a teaching job here. The ones that do hire them will pay a lower salary (less than 250,000 per month). Will you be happy with that?

There was an error in the title but I'm not so sure Noe is not a native English speaker- can you clear that up for us?

If you would really like to make a career out of TEFL then a Master's degree is the better choice. This will enable you to eventually get a university position once you have the requisite experience and academic publications.

In the meantime, entry level English teaching (which is what you will have to start off with even with a Master's) pays only around 250,000 yen a month these days. Once you have been here a couple of years though you will be able to find better paying jobs and gradually increase your salary. I know people who are earning over 400,000 yen a month teaching eikaiwa (English conversation) with a mixture of jobs.

At that kind of salary it is possible to support a family.

In any case have a look at the sites that are set up specifically to provide info for current/ potential English teachers, like the Japan Forum of www.eslcafe.com, or www.ohayosensei.com- you will find lots more info there.

Yup, I am native English speaker. But I've heard various people talk about how having a masters degree makes it harder to get a job instead.

So, I worry.

It is possible that one of the eikaiwas will see you as over qualified, or think that you won't want to follow their method if you have a Master's in TEFL. You might be better off to be an ALT or even go with the JET programme.

In the long term though a Master's will give you a much better career and potential salary. Are you really sure you want to make it a career though? You may not enjoy it, and you may even find after a few years that you don't want to stay in Japan forever after all (this is very common).

Maybe get your Bachelor's, come to Japan and teach for a couple of years, then see if it is something you'd like to pursue further- it might be better not to put all your eggs in one basket.