Being an assistant-teacher in Japan

Hello everyone,

I'm from germany, I just finished school and I'm planning to travel to Japan for a couple of months.
But before that, I'm going to visit my uncle in Thailand for 2 months. In that period, I thought it would
be a great idea to do a certificate such as TEFL. So that I, eventually could get a job as an assistant-teacher of the english language in Japan.
So here are my questions:

1. As I just finished school, I ain't got any degrees such as the BA plus I'm a non-native speaker.
Is it still recommendable to just participate TEFL? Or should I eventually add any other courses?
What advice could you give me here?

2. As far as I heard, the standarts of english they expect in Japan are very high. Is there even a single possibility
to get an advantage out of the TEFL course without any degrees or experience?
Maybe some of you can tell me something about it. Actually I'm willing to do something with children or something like that, it's not about the money.

3. TEFL is just one possibility of many. I got that. But to be honest, while I am roughly understanding
the difference between TEFL, TESL, TESOL and so on, I am not able to see what is best for me. So what would you recommend me to do,
if my aim is to work with maybe children, pupil or just people whose english isn't the best :P
As I already said, its not for earning money, just to provide a small financial aid.

Thanks a lot
In Peace Simon

I'm afraid that without a degree and being a very young non-native speaker your chances are virtually non-existent- the TEFL won't make any difference at all.

Having said that, the first thing to check is whether Germany has a working holiday arrangement with Japan- if it does and you can get one then you do have some chance of finding work here, although being still under 20 and not being a native English speaker will make it a lot harder.

If there is no working holiday visa arrangement, then without a degree or 3 years experience teaching English you will not qualify for a working visa I'm afraid, and there is no way around this.

Hey Simon,

If you are from Germany then Im pretty sure you can apply for a working holiday visa. Heres a link to a company with which Im pretty sure you can get a job. Theyre pretty stellar.
http://www.eslpages.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=207&sid=352e82...

I believe Germany does have this Working Holiday Visa agreement with Japan, which means there is a visa for German nationals who want to travel extensively in Japan while earning a bit of money to help with the travel expenses. Please note, though, that if you intend to come for two months and need financial aid so that you have to work, then it might be more advisable to shorten the trip (to an extent you can afford without extra income) and to enjoy the trip fully. People normally use this WHV program for 3, 6 months or 1 year's stay.

But considering that you are not a native speaker of English, getting work in the area of teaching English could be difficult, TEFL or not. Please look into sites on Working Holiday Visa to see what other kind of casual/short term jobs might be available.

By the way,
TEFL = Teaching of English as Foreign Language
TESL = Teaching English as Second Language
TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages,
.... I believe, and those are different terms to refer to, well, essentially the same kind of course/certificate. This assumes that you are a native speaker of English or equivalent, and teaches you to become good teachers :)

as you said u donn have any university (BA etc) degree
i suggest its always good to have a proper graduation university level degree
anyways in future u have to go for...
yeh u can choose BA english lit. as u r specialisation if u wanan be a english-teacher

have a nice time !!