English teaching in Japan the best way to improve Japanese?

[Brody]

Hi, I was thinking of staying in Japan after my study abroad there in order to continue to work on my Japanese.

I think my Japanese will improve greatly after studying there for a year, but I do not think I will be prepared to work in an environment where Japanese is the language of business. Thus, I see that English teaching is probably my only reliable option.

However, I have heard from English teachers in Japan that you get very little exposure to Japanese if you are an English teacher. Reasons are:
1) You are speaking English all day to the students and most schools forbid you to speak Japanese at school.
2) Most of your friends will be non-native Japanese speakers since the native Japanese probably will not also be native English speakers, hence they will not be teaching English
3) Most Japanese people who are willing to talk to you will only be willing to do so to work on their English.

Hmmm....So, my main reason for teaching English in Japan would be to work on my Japanese. I figure if I want to improve my Japanese, I should be in Japan. Yet, recently I've heard a lot from people's experiences as English teachers and I've also noticed that I'm improving pretty nicely here in America. Also, what would be the advantages of being in Japan? Yes, I would be able to walk out my door and here and see Japanese and I would have much easier access to Japanese television, literature, movies, etc. But everyday here I am finding more and more ways to gain more exposure to Japanese.

Thus, my question is: do you think it is such a great advantage of being in Japan as an English teacher for the sake of improving Japanese skills? Do you think the advantage is so great that if one's options were to: A) work in Japan as an English teacher for low pay, long hours, and have little social contact in a job one ultimately does not care about or B) live in one's native country, get a good career and continue to study on one's own,
that one should be an English teacher in Japan?


Naturally, I guess it would come down to my goal with Japanese. Mine is probably ultimately nothing more than personal satisfaction. But I still want to attain a very high level of fluency.

Thoughts? Ideas?

[Bueller_007]

I think my Japanese will improve greatly after studying there for a year, but I do not think I will be prepared to work in an environment where Japanese is the language of business. Thus, I see that English teaching is probably my only reliable option.

There are a decent number of scholarships available for people who want to do university or grad school in Japan. Google "monbukagakusho" or 文部科学省. I think individual universities also offer scholarships to capable foreign students. Some schools allow you to complete your degree in English instead of Japanese. Otherwise, I believe you have to pass the EJU (http://www.jasso.go.jp/eju/index_e.html) to gain admission. I've heard it's about the same as JLPT level 1 in difficulty. If you're really interested in Japanese, Japanese university is a much, much better idea than teaching English.

However, I have heard from English teachers in Japan that you get very little exposure to Japanese if you are an English teacher. Reasons are:
1) You are speaking English all day to the students and most schools forbid you to speak Japanese at school.

This is true. BUT, getting paid to talk to Japanese people all day is an EXCELLENT way to learn about the culture.

2) Most of your friends will be non-native Japanese speakers since the native Japanese probably will not also be native English speakers, hence they will not be teaching English

Some English schools do hire Japanese staff to teach introductory English grammar. I believe GEOS (http://www.geoscareer.com/) does this. Of course, working with these people, you will probably run into your next problem:

3) Most Japanese people who are willing to talk to you will only be willing to do so to work on their English.

I wouldn't say this is true about MOST people. But you will meet some people, like this, yes.

Thus, my question is: do you think it is such a great advantage of being in Japan as an English teacher for the sake of improving Japanese skills? Do you think the advantage is so great that if one's options were to: A) work in Japan as an English teacher for low pay, long hours, and have little social contact in a job one ultimately does not care about or B) live in one's native country, get a good career and continue to study on one's own, that one should be an English teacher in Japan?

Teaching English is a good way to put your life on pause for a while. You can always pick up where you left off when you go back home.

By the way, the hours are not long (teachers generally work about 7-8 hours/day, 5 days a week), there'll be no problem with "social contact" as you will likely have foreign roommates and co-workers, and the pay is not necessarily "low".

The so-called "big-box" companies (NOVA, GEOS, ECC, AEON) offer about $15-$20/hour. (Probably worse now due to the crappy exchange rates though.) But Japanese taxes are low, and you'll lose little money this way. PLUS, all of these companies are scamming the government, which saves you more money. They don't enrol their foreign employees in 社会保険 (social insurance), because they don't want to pay the premiums. Instead, they offer their employees insurance through a private company at a fraction of the cost. While it's all highly illegal, it saves the companies and the teachers BIG bucks.

The real money, however, comes from teaching private lessons. Companies like Will Square (http://www.will-square.com/) act as English pimps. They find you a client, they take a finder's fee (and a monthly fee) from the client's credit card, and they hand the student off to you. DONE. You will never even see or hear from Will Square unless he wants you to do a demo lesson (which is good news, because it means more clients for you.) The student gives you ¥3,000 at the end of each lesson. Cash in hand. So there's no need to report it on your income tax.

Other sites (www.findateacher.net) let you set your own price. One of my students was the president of a pharmaceutical company. We went to the Osaka Ritz-Carlton lounge every week for our lesson, where he would buy me the $12 cup of tea of my choice, and after one hour of English teaching, I'd get out of there when his mistress showed up, $60 richer.

One of my friends teaches a language class to a group of 12 elderly women on Tuesday mornings. In one hour he makes $100. If he chose to "sell" the class to another teacher, he could probably get $1,000 for it, if not more.

So don't fool yourself, there's PLENTY of money to be had teaching English. I lived a pretty expensive lifestyle in Japan, travelled all over the most expensive country in the world for two years, and I still have enough money left over to take a year-long vacation, albeit a third-world one.

[Brody]

Thanks for your response, Bueller-san.

But what if my goal isn't to make money?

My only reason for teaching English in Japan would be because it was the only way to stay in Japan to work on my Japanese. I don't care about money right now, other than being able to eek out a living.

I've looked at that scholarship, but they want people who are in the middle of their bachelor's degrees in a country outside of Japan and will study for a year in Japan and then return to their home country. As I've pretty much already graduated, I'm not eligible.

So, is it worthwhile to teach English in Japan if your only goal is to improve your Japanese? Is the benefit of being in Japan studying on your own so great that you would recommend it over studying in your home country, alone or possibly at graduate school?

I'm just trying to figure out what would be my best course after my study abroad. I know I want to continue with Japanese; I just have to figure out the best way to do so.

I've kind of heard of other jobs available to native-English speakers in Japan, namely working in the travel industry where non-Japanese speakers would most likely speak English. I wonder if that's a viable option...

Thanks.

[Bucko]

I work at one of those big conversation schools and you've heard exactly right about it not really helping your Japanese ability. All day I have to speak simplified English, but outside of class I try to use as much Japanese as I can. There are schools, however, that require you to speak a small amount of Japanese, and other schools where there are two teacher, one English speaking, one Japanese, so you can pick up Japanese there. The school I'm at is all English and forbids the use of Japanese (but I still use it sometimes to explain something to really low students).

The overall experience is good for learning Japanese, just rememember that there might be 8 hours a day, five days a week, where you won't be speaking it.

[Bueller_007]

I work at one of those big conversation schools and you've heard exactly right about it not really helping your Japanese ability. All day I have to speak simplified English, but outside of class I try to use as much Japanese as I can. There are schools, however, that require you to speak a small amount of Japanese, and other schools where there are two teacher, one English speaking, one Japanese, so you can pick up Japanese there. The school I'm at is all English and forbids the use of Japanese (but I still use it sometimes to explain something to really low students).

The overall experience is good for learning Japanese, just rememember that there might be 8 hours a day, five days a week, where you won't be speaking it.

Hahaha. I've got a good feeling I know exactly which school you work for. The same one I used to work for.

[Bueller_007]

I've kind of heard of other jobs available to native-English speakers in Japan, namely working in the travel industry where non-Japanese speakers would most likely speak English. I wonder if that's a viable option...

Thanks.

Hospitality jobs are few and far between, I think.

There's really no reason NOT to try living in Japan teaching English. You lose nothing except a couple of years where you'd otherwise be living a status quo life in America.

It's a decent experience (at first). Just make sure you leave before you get sick of it.

[LBRapid]

check out this podcast: http://englishteachinginjapan.blogspot.com


very interesting to listen/watch