lioness in japan

As promised in my first post about advice on teaching in Japan, I will do two more entries in this “series”. Today, I will talk about how to get a teaching position in Tokyo.

I have only managed to get private one-on-one type of gigs and any advice outside of that realm is from other people’s anecdotes. This is a super long post so don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

Do I need a teaching qualification?
You don’t need one, especially if you come from a native English speaking country (North America, UK, Australia, New Zealand), but your salary could jump significantly if you did — at least 25 to 40 per cent more.

The basic rate for teaching in Japan is pretty much what you need to live on so it would be hard to have significant savings. Teachers who earn more are attached to big corporate companies that actually have a training centre, which includes an English language and communications department. But they would want to see qualifications and tons of experience related to teaching Business English, so that is something you might want to consider at a later phase in your career.

But don’t feel you can’t hack it if you don’t have a teaching qualification. What was your degree in? For example, if you studied Economics, you could teach Japanese students who are in finance-related roles. I think most Japanese language schools have that basic requirement — a university degree, so anything less than that is a challenge or you would get very low pay (JPY1,500 per hour; market rate is JPY3,000 per hour for an unqualified teacher). If you majored in English — even better — which is how I nailed the jobs I got.

What do Japanese English language schools or companies look for?
Enthusiasm. Lots of it plus you need to be engaging and fun. Across the board, in any kind of teaching position, this is the top quality they are looking for. I have experienced this myself and have heard many other teachers and students say that is the most important thing in a teacher.

This aspect always scared me since I’m pretty shy to speak in front of a group of people, but I quickly got over this by being prepared.

In conversational gigs, the first lesson is the “trial” lesson where the student will judge and see if they like you. One important thing that the teaching agency coordinators always told me was to be on time. That is like 50 per cent of the work.

Next would be your degree and relevant experience. Think: transferable skills. I was a magazine journalist so I highlighted my experience in speaking to many kinds of people in different situations, both business and social. They were also impressed that I was a published reporter. Lastly, what always got me the job was that I emphasized I was easy-going. Japanese adults can be fairly nervous about speaking in a foreign language so if you can assure them you would be nurturing, as opposed to being strict and exacting, they would love you.

In all teaching interviews, you will have do a demo of your teaching skills, even in one-on-one situations. For all the schools that I have encountered, they would require you to prepare a five-minute presentation on a simple topic. You need to look like you are confident at keeping an audience’s attention and giving clear explanations.

For teaching beginner classes, you need to make or buy supporting materials. My props could range from soft toys (my own…don’t laugh, but Mickey and Minnie have been great in He and She dialogues!), fruit, pictures, drawings, and be prepared to “act”. I’ve had to show what certain adjectives were — for example, “arrogant” so I would act it out — and role-play in mock social situations (waitress, mother, boss etc.)

Don’t worry so much about the scope of your knowledge. Most of us normal human beings don’t even care what’s a dependent clause but you will learn from the textbooks that you teach. What I forgot in my English degree came rushing back and I’m grateful that my memory was refreshed — the nitty gritty of a language I use everyday is not based on instincts anymore.

What is the interview process like?
I have never completed a formal interview with a major brand school like Berlitz or Aeon which I have heard are very good schools to be with. These jobs take at least three months to process — from sending in your resume to signing on the dotted line on your contract. In between this time, you have to be prepared to fly down to Japan for a face-to-face interview, at your own expense.

The cycle of the school term system matters when you apply. For Berlitz, they go by seasons so it would be advisable to send in your resume three to four months ahead of the time you think you want to start work. I was turned down by Berlitz because I was too late for the Winter application (I submitted my resume in early November to start in January) so they told me to apply for the Spring cohort. I’ve applied to several other schools but was rejected, too, for reasons unknown.

I don’t know if it was because I was too inexperienced or because of my nationality. In Singapore, English is our first language, but I still meet a lot of people who don’t know that — they are floored by my English ability because they think Mandarin is my first language (sad to say, it trails behind my English as a sorry second at best).

It is a little harder for Asians or non-Caucasians to get teaching positions because I think there is a stereotype of native English speakers being white but this perception is changing slowly as companies are more open to different coloured folks. I knew an Indian lady who was teaching English in Tokyo and my Japanese friend has a British-Jamaican English teacher — so how about that.

One thing that really hits some foreigners is the hard reality of living in an extremely mono-cultural society — you encounter a lot more discrimination than in your own country. I think it is especially harder if you come from a very Western, liberal culture and many gaijins leave after several years because they get sick of being “different” or elbowed out.

A word of warning: if you feel very strongly about equality and it truly upsets you when things aren’t right in this department, Japan is not a place you would be very happy in — you would be a very angry person. I’ve had Swedish friends whose rental application was rejected just because they were foreign. Don’t imagine a lack of human rights type of situation but you will definitely be treated unfairly at some point to a certain degree. If you can overlook this aspect of life, then it is a fantastic country to be in.

Back to teaching: am I embarrassed to admit I didn’t manage to get a full-time gig? A little, but I found my niche in teaching conversational English last year and here I am on the Internet every single day doing what I do. I wasn’t too fussed about it either, because I didn’t have a teaching qualification, nor did I want to branch out to teach children and teenagers where the possibilities just seemed limitless.

As a last note, you can find a teaching position with some effort but do consider the terms carefully, which brings me to my final point.

What should my salary expectations be like?
The schools are upfront about this on their websites — I see an average of JPY200,000 to JPY250,000 per month as starting pay being stated. You would also have to pay tax, which is less than 10 per cent in Japan in this income bracket. I mentioned the cost of living in Tokyo and some may find it hard to deal with having less luxuries like travelling overseas and other lovely frills.

Teaching is a very noble profession but an extremely embattled one. Even those who teach may look down on their own jobs. This job pays very little in a city where most people would regard JPY600,000 per month as just average. The teachers I know who have a more comfortable lifestyle supplement their income with a side business (one guy I knew taught 40 hours a week, on top of his part-time venture of helping small foreign companies to set up operations in Tokyo), or teach privately in their spare time, or are attached to lucrative contracts teaching business English solely in Japanese corporations.

Business English is red hot in terms of demand and I would’ve definitely continued in this direction if not for taking up my web editor position. Many Japanese employees take the TOIEC or TOEFL tests annually as a salary incentive and have to deal with overseas colleagues in English. I have made several forays into teaching business English and it is about helping your students communicate in formal language in various situations and accumulate presentation skills. It is not the same as teaching grammar but you would find yourself going back to basics occasionally.

That’s all for now and if you have reached this far, thank you for reading, and look out for the next episode — what it’s like to teach Japanese students and some useful tips.