Is my dream possible ?

Hi, here I go, asking a question that may had been asked before me. (I hope it's not the case..)

You see my dream is to become an english teacher in japan, since my young age I always love this country, but I got a little problem. I'm a french native from Canada. So my question is this one:

If I'm not an english native are there any chances for me to achieve my dream one day ?

I forgot to mention that I had passed my english classes with more then remarkable marks. Even though I'm sure it doesn't really matter but I had to tell anyway.

I'm waiting for your responses. Thank you in advance.

Sayônara!

Veldryn,

This is quite a frequently asked question, so if you look through the archives here, you will see that it is possible even for non-native English-speakers to become English teachers in Japan. If you come from an English-speaking country like Canada, then you should have few problems.

It depends on whether your schooling was mostly in English schools, outside Quebec for example, or mostly in French and you only studied English as a foreign language starting at 11 years of age or something like that. In the first case you will have no problems at all.

Well thanks for your responses.

Unfortunatly I went to a french school so I'll find some complications in my way I fear. But either way I'm ready to fight for my dream so as long that there's a glimpse of hope I'll not hold back. Thanks again for your help!

Sayonara

Veldryn, having studied in a French school (I should say a French speaking one as French..anything, including schools, are only found in France) is not a problem in itself if you have mastered spoken English on your own. You can improve it quickly on your own at any rate (for example, judging by Radio Canada staff, many Canadian francophone have problems with words starting by th, kn etc.) Language schools in Japan will judge you on your speaking abilities, not on the name of your school.

Well thanks again for the tips I'll note them. But first thing first, I think I need to obtain an university degree before making any move of going further right ?

right! there is along list of posts (questions and answers)about teaching. Just enter "teaching in Japan" in the small search window about this forum main page, or look at the list of all the questions for anything about teaching in Japan, teaching English etc. don't forget to check older pages etc.

Veldryn,

But first thing first, I think I need to obtain an university degree before making any move of going further right ?

If you want to work in Japan for more than one year, you will need a working visa, which is only obtainable with a university degree. However, as a Canadian national, you qualify for the Working Holiday Visa, which lets you work in Japan for one year.

While I'm not one to bust anyone's dream, but even for English teachers it is not a "dream job".

Each year the pay seems to get worse, the benefits get worse and the working hours get worse.

I know someone from France and she works in a Japanese company speaking Japanese, aspire to do something higher then English teaching.

Bonjour Veldryn,
BTW, why don't you think to become a french teacher in Japan? i'm not sure but is it more difficult to get a job in this country?

BTW, why don't you think to become a french teacher in Japan?
A couple of weeks ago, I had to convert a computer program that already existed in French French into the French Canadian locale and the differences between the two versions are rather big. Not only do they use different words and some spelling but also different sentence constructions. Maybe it is difficult to teach French Canadian as French ^_^;;

It all depends.. quite a few French Canadians speak a French that is similar --vocabulary wise-- to the standard French spoken in France but with a slightly different accent. Other French Canadians speak a "French" that other French-speaking people can't understand at all. BUT it is the same in France!!! We learn the standard French vocabulary in school. Some of us learn to also use the accent from the Loire Valley (the nicest sounding French of all. the Parisian accent is harsh) OR we speak standard French with our native regional accent. Others only speak using both the regional accent and the regional vocabulary, neither of which are close to standard French. By the way the French government recognizes that there are about 25 native languages in metropolitan France. Some are variations of French, others are languages that aren't French at all (like Basque, Corsican, Occitan, etc.). There are also the 50 or so native languages spoken in overseas France. In the UK,the USA, Italy, Spain etc...in most countries in fact, the national official language has numerous variations and there are also native languages different from the official language. I am sure that any Canadian willing to teach French abroad will teach a French understood in all francophone countries.

Thank you all for the comments or other thing you post it's helping me in many ways.

To John: Well to be honest I really love English so it's maybe why I want to be an english teacher. The other reason is that I don't really know what other kind of job I could do in Japan sooo ^^'.

Hum French teacher wouldn't be a bad idea too but I'm making much more orthographs errors in French. My english's writings skill are much better. A little thing though, it's true that the french spoken language of quebec people is a little off the page from standard french. Even if almost no one from where I come from would tell so. But I talk to a lot France persons and I know how to talk 'normally'.

Well enough about all that.

Merci beaucoup!

Watch out for "false friends"! Most English speakers would have no idea what "orthograph" means- we use the word "spelling"- make sure you don't talk about "orthography" in any job interviews for teaching jobs! :p

Oops you're right, I did a mistake thanks for the tips I think I have messed up a bit in my last text sorry.