[Japan Work]: Teaching English past 30 = loser?!

[chochajin]

Hello everybody!

As most of you know I'm an English teacher in Japan.
Most (Western) foreigners who live in Japan are English teachers as this is basically the only job you can get if your Japanese is not perfect - and even WITH perfect Japanese it might be difficult to set foot in any other business.
If you think about it, it's only logical. Why should they pay a foreigner to do something a native Japanese person can do just as well!?! Unless there's a reason they need a foreigner for that position (travel agency, hotel, international company etc.) they won't hire a foreigner!!!
Furthermore Japan is NOT an immigration country. It's very difficult to get a work visa here and it's (almost) impossible to get Japanese citizenship.
I only can compare this to my own country (Germany) which is an immigration country. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get a work visa, but I think it's pretty easy for at least EU members! It's not that difficult to obtain German citizenship either.

Anyways, I don't want to talk about immigration today, so let's go back to the "teaching English" part.
As some of you probably consider to do that as well as a way to set foot into Japan, this might (or might not) be interesting for you.
A lot of people seem to think that being an English teacher in Japan cannot be considered as "real" job! Please note that I DON'T share this opinion!!!
People say that this is only something one does as adventure after uni and eventually should look for something else (read: a real job) ASAP!
There was even a thread about this on Gaijnpot: "Teaching English past 30 = loser?!"
They were also talking about it in this forum (reply#15 onwards).
And those are not the only threads like that!

To me personally it IS a real job. I mean HOW the hell do you define what a real job is and what not????!!!! I work 8h every day, I get paid properly. Why is this not a real job? And when I say I WORK, I mean it!!! I know that it absolutely depends on where you are working. I know some ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) are complaining about being nothing more than a human tape recorder and that they have no responsibility at all, sitting around the whole day with nothing to do! People working in the big Eikaiwa (English conversation schools) chains complain about being worked to death and having to sell stuff to people above all. In my case, I work in a very small family run school with only a few employees! I'm not only a teacher but also a manager (not on the paper though)! There are so many things I'm in charge of and I feel like I learned quite a lot in the past few years! I don't feel that I'm worked too hard, but I have to admit that it gets kind of repetitive after all this time (BUT that can happen in ANY other job as well!) So, now please explain me why this is NOT a real job????!!!!! The sad thing about it is, though, that if you apply for any other job they most likely won't accept your "English teaching" time as valuable job experience at all! Not here in Japan, not in America and from what I heard so far also NOT in Germany!! So even if I can argue that it's a real job after all, it doesn't help if my future employers don't agree to it. In their eyes I've probably just been waisting my time! :(

I think another reason why being an "English teacher" is often looked down is that a lot of English teachers come fresh from college, have only a BA degree and their degree usually has NOTHING to do with teaching English at all.
Being an English teacher in Japan is considered as something ANYBODY can do! Yet you need a university degree as this is a requirement not for the job, but the work visa!!!!!
The majority of English teachers in Japan are very young men who come here to play around and who don't take their job too seriously! Those are also the guys we have to thank that some people in Japan have quite a bad image of foreigners
If (almost) anybody can be an English teacher, it's not considered as a very good job then, but it's still a REAL job, no???!!!

Most people call you a loser when you stay in this kind of field for too long, suggesting that you should get out of it ASAP!
A lot of people only do it as a short adventure anyways.
Well, it was supposed to be a 1-year adventure for me as well at first, but I soon realized how much I actually like my job and also had the feeling that I still could learn a lot and all. So I decided to stay longer and in a few weeks I'm going into my 4th year. I turned 30 last year. Am I a big loser as well?!
What's wrong with staying in a job that you enjoy??!!!

My biggest problem is that I don't have any prospect for back home or even here in Japan.
My qualifications might not be too bad (I have a MA degree and a publication in my hands, but maybe in a field that's too special or not special enough .... educational science...), but the biggest issue has been and still is that I have no freaking idea WHAT I want to do instead!
I know that this will be my last year at least staying at the same school, because I feel it's time for a change. Probably it would also be good to change the field of job completely.
I've been brushing up my Japanese all this time, but it's stil not good enough.

I still need some time to actually find out what I might want to do in the future. And what I CAN do.
It's a fact that it will be difficult to find something else the longer I stay in the "loser job" - even though I myself don't consider it as "loser job".

Still, I'll never get what's so bad about being an English teacher in Japan.
Thanks for reading this little rant.

Comments

[vixenofflames.livejournal.com]

I see where you're coming from, and I don't think it's a loser job! And teaching English in a different country is still considered more "exotic" or "out of the box" than teaching English in America, though a lot of people I know go to India to teach/student teach.

Who cares what people think? Everyone has to do a job (well, you know what I mean), and every job needs a person to do it! If you can't GET another job but want to live in Japan, what else are you supposed to do? What are these people's solutions to the problem of "teaching over 30" then? Do they offer an alternative or better job position? Sounds to me like they're being elitist for no reason.

If you like your job and get decent pay, that's all that should matter, imo.

[vixenofflames.livejournal.com]

I also wanted to add: The guy in that first thread sounds like a GIANT troll to me. Most of the people on that thread were defending teachers, and the rest were trolling him back. That sounds like a REALLY stupid forum. That guy was just trying to piss people off.

[karu-chan.livejournal.com]

*HUGS*

Ich sehe das auch als richtigen Job - zumindest das, was du machst.
Leute, die nur als "lebendes Tonband" missbraucht werden tun mir aber wirklich leid.

Und jetzt fast ohne Zusammenhang: Wenn du dich an einer internationalen Schule hier in Dtl. bewirbst? Du bringst gute Japanischkenntnisse mit, hast Englisch unterrichtet und könntest sicher auch Deutsch, Mathe etc auf Grundschulniveau unterrichten (oder auf Japanisch _._ )
Die meisten internationalen Schulen unterrichten ja viel auf Englisch.
Das alles gilt aber nur, wenn du im Lehrerbereich bleiben willst und mir war gerade so, als ob du das jetzt nicht die nächsten 35 Jahre machen wolltest, aber... nur mal so als Gedanke.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Ich würde wohl auch als "lebendes Tonband" durchdrehen. Null Eigenverantwortung, den halben Tag blöd im Lehrerzimmer rumsitzen (wenigstens können die meisten dann machen, was sie wollen: Internet surfen, lesen, lernen etc.).

Ich habe mich ja damals (bevor ich nach Japan) bin schon ausgiebig informiert, aber solche internationalen Schulen (auch die hier in Japan) verlangen alle ein abgeschlossenes Lehramtsstudium. Und da es solche Schulen ja nicht wie Sand am Meer gibt (anders als die Englischschulen in Japan) können die sich die Leute rauspicken. Es gibt einfach eine zu große Konkurrenz und ich hab nicht die nötigen Qualifikationen ;o;
Dass ich irgendwie im Erziehungsbereich bleibe, macht ja erstmal Sinn. Vorstellen kann ich's mir auch (ursprünglich habe ich mich auf Erwachsenenbildung spezialisiert, also Coaching und so), aber wer weiß ^-^; ....

[bowtomecha.livejournal.com]

You being a german teaching english in japan really attracts me. haha. I would marry you in a heartbeat.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

*lol* Thank you.
Sometimes my brain doesn't quite follow. Mixing up English, Japanese and German every day can get VERY confusing! XD

[cherrypop.livejournal.com]

I know a guy who teaches English in a foreign country but he switches up the country every year. His life is VERY exciting and satisfiable. People might look at him and say "That's your job? Nothing special about that" but he's getting rich with culture, diversity, ways that other people just can't even imagine and I feel sorry for THEM as opposed to him. To me, he's an example of someone living their life to the fullest, not someone living to make end's meet or to gain respect from his peers or have his name jotted down in history forever. And I respect those people too. If you're doing a job that you like, you already have gone farther than most people get. I say that because most people are working at a job they don't like and it's everyone's hope in life that they manage to tie down a job that they do like.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Swichting the country or generally the location every now and then might be necessary if you want to stay sane in this job for a longer time. As great and rewarding as it can be it also can get REALLY repetitive and boring after some time.
I know. To me money doesn't matter that much, I'd rather do something I enjoy. Although I have to admit that I already know that this is a job that eventually will grow boring and then I need a change. Still no idea what I'll do then, but maybe I just should do it like this time as well, just go for it and then I'll see if it's something I enjoy or not :D You never know until you've tried anyways, right?! :D
Thanks a lot for your wonderful comment!!! ^____^

[hinoai.livejournal.com]

Some of them are jobs, and some like you said are basically human-tape-recorder gigs that are more jokes than jobs. Although they are still jobs.

What I think people mean is that it's a job, but not a career. A career being something that you plan to do for the rest of your life. English teaching in most situations in Japan are more like the part-time job that you have as a student, that you eventually intend to quit.

I don't think that it's bad at all to do it above 30, as long as you enjoy it! If you want to do it as your career, then good for you!

But I do disagree that it's the only job that an english-speaking foreginer can do without perfect Japanese. I mean, look at me. More than half of the people I know who can't speak Japanese that well don't work as english teachers. There are all sorts of jobs out there to do, as long as you have the skills, position, or drive! I especially know a lot of artists, entrepreneurs, businessmen, financiers, entertainers, translators, writers, and people who work in the embassies, consulates, media, hospitality, the list is endless. :D I think that the reason that a lot of people think that english teaching is the only job available is because they don't really take a look to see what else is out there. But there are tonso f things out there!

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Well, you can have a career if you get into university teaching or open up your own English school I guess, but most people can't/don't.
In my case I think it's a special situation anyways. I'm not a native speaker and I've got a MA in education, so it's not like I'm doing something that will look strange or completely out of place in my future applications. Why would I not be a teacher when I studied education anyways?!
Still being an English teacher especially in Asian countries isn't considered a "real job" because basically ANYBODY can do it! The only requirement is a BA in whatever and if you bring your own visa then you might not need ANY qualifications at all.
Depending on your actual work place it might be a challenging or interesting job nevertheless.

That being said, although I enjoy doing it right now, I KNOW that I need to change at least location/workplace soon or I'll go crazy as it's just too repetitive. I'm not a person who can stay in the very same job for her whole lifetime.
And as you said, there might be other jobs out there, but it's hard to actually FIND those jobs - at least when you live in an inaka like me and only have the internet to rely on.
I guess moving to a bigger city, meeting new people will give me new ideas and chances - at least I hope so.

I still am envious that you always knew exactly what you wanted to do! If I knew I would just work for it straightforward just like you do! All I knew was that I wanted to live in Japan for a while and then I did everything to make it come true. Luckily the job I "had" to do in order to fullfil that dream was something I really came to like although I didn't expect it at first ^-^;

Thanks a lot for your comment! :)

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

I don't think that any job where you can learn something new is a waste of time at all (assuming it's properly paid as yours is). I never expected to end up in the travel industry, but hey, that's how life is.

You find a job that you enjoy, where you can still learn new things and expand your skills and then you stay. Why shouldn't you? Besides when you write a CV you don't write "English Teacher" or some such lazy thing, you expand on it anyway. "English Instructor for all ages + Administrator of this and that". Besides having experience in a Japanese working environment and knowing how Japanese business work is a huge bonus in itself.

As you said yourself, most people teaching in Japan only come here for the quick buck and some experience and then go back. But you came to learn more about Japan and Japanese culture and what you found is a profession that you like. Isn't that great? I've often heard said that teaching is not something you can learn, it's something that you're born to do. Didn't you have that one teacher (or more) that you enjoyed the lessons with even if you weren't terribly good at it? I had a Latin teacher that taught us so many things in the guise of "Latin", it was amazing. He even took us to Florence and Rome (during the holidays!). And no, I never was good in Latin, but I still enjoyed his lessons.

About other jobs... why worry? If you like your job stay in this field. It's a good profession to teach others. Besides why compare yourself with the folks on Gaijinpot? Losers are the people who hate what they do, complain all the time and don't do anything about it = pretty much 80% of all Gaijinpot users. Though the 20% who are sane usually don't write much.

If you are unhappy with something, you fret, you ask for for advice and then you actually do something. That's quite different to being a looser :)

If you do think that you like your job though and that you might stay for a longer term in Japan, you really do need to get out and meet people. Buy a small car (don't tell your boss). Get out, do something! Join courses, whatever!

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I think after staying for that long at my current school (no non-Japanese teacher ever stayed this long) I can talk to my boss once I leave so that he'll write me an awesome reference/recommendation in English and Japanese which should definitely help as well :)

I'm not sure if I'm a born teacher or not. Actually I was REALLY worried when I came here first because I wasn't sure if I would be able to teach YOUNG children!!! My major was adult education because I wanted to avoid small children at all costs. And here you go, I love teaching them!! However, I'm not sure if it would be the same in Germany - probably NOT!!
Doesn't matter, though.

I guess for my next job or whatever I want to do from now on I shouldn't think toooooo much about it! Maybe I should just try and will end up liking it although I at first thought I won't - just like it happened with teaching English! ^-^;

I know that there are many trolls on Gaijinpot and whatnot ;)

It would be impossilbe not to tell my boss (or rather even if I don't he'll find out immediately!).

[siberian21.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

I think it is a real job too. I mean you love your job and you get paid enough that you can live from it and that is all that matters.

And I think you're awesome for staying so long in a country where the culture and language are so different from our own. Do want you think is best for you and ignore what the others are telling you.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! ^-^

[jimjamjenny.livejournal.com]

I think that native speakers teaching English have that kind of image, because unless you actually have experience of teaching a language, everybody assumes that it must be easy if you're a native speaker. Which obviously it isn't.

There is definitely that kind of image in Japan, but I think that it's mostly in the foreign community rather than amongst the Japanese themselves.

I personally really don't want to end up teaching English here for the rest of my life, in my current circumstances. If I carry on being an ALT, then I've pretty much reached the peak of my working life already (in terms of salary (unless I get a direct contract with a school at some point) and status) , which I find a bit depressing seeing as I'm only 24! But if I were to start my own little Eikaiwa, or teach English from my house or do something like that, I don't think that I would be seen as a loser as such, even if I passed 30 (or 40, or 50..)

I wonder if this is more attached to men rather than women - in my experience, a lot of Japanese women aren't really expected to have a career - once they're married and they have kids, they're expected to do part time jobs or something for a bit of extra money. And that's all. Whereas men are supposed to work really hard (most people don't see teaching English as hard work) and to support their family... which, to be honest, would be hard to do on a typical English teachers salary... there are loads of men who are ALTs for the company I work for who have 2 or 3 kids and are the main breadwinners for their families - I honestly have no idea how they cope, because I wouldn't be able to do it!

... I do think that it is possible to get other work without perfect Japanese though. It probably helps if you're in a big city, but I know quite a few people who aren't teaching English and who don't have that great Japanese, but who are doing other jobs over here.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how Japanese people think about it. Would be interesting to find out. Thus far I've had the impression they DO look down on us. Whenever I talk to Japanese people (during my journeys) they assume that I'm an English teacher - which just shows that at least they think that we're not good enough for anything else.

You're only 24 which means you still have plenty of time figuring out what you want to do and whatnot. Being 30 now - I don't really have that option anymore. Most people have their career (and a family) by that time already.
Even you're engaged and will eventually have a family, right?

I know. I don't like that fact about Japanese culture actually. I've seen it with my coworkers. As soon as somebody gets married they stop working (they're not even pregnant yet). WTH?! ... Well, as long as they can live from only one salary, then it's okay I guess ....

The thing about "other jobs" is that I'm afraid that this would be "too Japanese" with crazy overtime hours etc.
Being an English teacher you usually earn quite a lot and you're usually not worked too hard.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I know. I shouldn't worry about it, but I'm just angry that it's a fact that a lot of people think that way :/
I don't think people are too impressed when they hear that I can speak English, German and Japanese, because then they will ask about my qualifications and really I don't feel I have any ...

Thanks a lot for your comment! ^-^

[kevinsensei.livejournal.com]

I must be a REAL loser then.

By the way, have you ever thought about teaching German at a university here in Japan? Your credentials are similar to my neighbor who is doing just that. However, he came over about 10 years ago, so it was easier to get a job like that back then. Still, you could get lucky and something might come up.

For the record, here is where I found my job.
http://jrecin.jst.go.jp/seek/SeekTop

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

First of all, I don't think I could teach German at all, so let's not talk about UNIVERSITY level. Second, German is not really very common in Japan. Unlike English where they're always looking for people (so there are enough positions), they're not really looking for that many German (university) teachers. That means the competition for these kind of positions is high and so they can ask for tons of qualifications. You need a Ph.D in German language studies / literature etc. in order to get such a job, so I have NO CHANCE AT ALL! And honestly I don't wanna do it.
I think just being a native teacher doesn't qualify to teach that language. I admit I can't!

Thanks for the link! :)

[kami-angel.livejournal.com]

you enjoy what you do, i think there are a lot of people who would envy your position. as a child I wanted to be an english teacher and sometimes still dream how different my life would have been if i listened to myself rather than what everyone around me was expecting of me. To do something you have no interest in drains any enjoyment other things in life may have once held for you. I do not consider your job a 'loser job', and I have the greatest respect for teachers. There will always be times when you don't know what will come next or what life will hold but usually if you follow your joy then only good things will come. It's taken me a long time to learn this and I don't intend to forget it anytime soon especially after spending 6 years studying something I have no or very little interest in...this year lets both do our best to follow our joy. <3

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I know. I've done several internships during my university time and I didn't enjoy those jobs. Although it was only for a short time each time, I felt horrible and I knew that I can't do something that I don't like at all!
Although I had NO idea what I wanted to do after university, I knew what I didn't want to do.
And then my urge to go to Japan became so big that I didn't care what kind of job I would have to take in order to make this dream come true. Luckily I came to like that job more than I ever thought I would. So I guess I was just lucky.
So, I still have no clue what to do from now on. I know that I don't wanna stay in that job/workplace forever. It's time for a change soon.

I changed my field of study once in university as well, because I realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. My parents weren't happy about it. My friends finished university before me as I had to start from zero again, but I don't regret that I did it. I enjoyed my studies, although I don't know if it will ever help me get a got job in the future!

Thanks so much for sharing your own experience!! ^-^

[bat-bow-tie.livejournal.com]

It must be so interesting to teach English! I know it's something I could never do. I don't have the patience for it. I tried teaching dancing to some homeschooled children for a year and I didn't even have the patience for that ^_^;; I'm just not teacher material xD
But it's really really awesome that you love it so much!! I really hope that you can continue to do what you love..... They need to see that you're good at what you do and that you DON'T deserve to be looked down upon. There is nothing wrong with it and loving what you do!!
But Japanese are like that, aren't they? ^__^; Not very accepting of foreigners in their workplace.. *sigh*
And yet we keep loving on them anyway xD WHY OH WHY!! *bashes head against a wall*

I have a question for you if you possibly have the time to answer it, btw
I would love to get to school in Japan for a year, but I have absolutely no idea what to look into for schooling (I'd want it to be in either the Saitama area or the Kanagaway area.. since I have been there before <3) ... and I don't know if I can be offered any financial aid. I graduated with an associate degree in illustration/animation a few years ago, but I REALLY want to study in Japan to aim toward Japanese fluency!
But I'm 26! Is that okay? I don't know where to begin T_T lol

Anyway... good luck and all =D Haha And I love reading all of your posts even if I never respond x3;

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if I would enjoy teaching in another environment (say a normal Japanese school or a German school)!!! I think it really really depends on the situation .... though I don't know XD
I'm not 100% sure how Japanese people actually think about it, it's more other foreigners who look down on that kind of job it seems.

When you say school do you mean a normal schoo, language school, university?
Anyways as I've never done that I have absolutely NO idea!! :( I'd be better to ask in LJ communities such as lifeinjapan tokyojapan japanese
Sorry ;o;

[your-insomnia.livejournal.com]

Very interesting post, thank you for this!

I'm graduating this year from college and I've been looking at what my prospects are for the future and they don't seem to be all that encouraging and I've been considering going to Japan or Korea to teach English. But I haven't looked at it as "part-time" job or something to do until grad school, I view it as a something a lot more serious; probably the first serious and professional job I will have. Also I think it's a tremendously brave step to do something like that and perhaps it's not a conventional career path but it's certainly requires a lot of effort and skills. And how could such an expirience not be part of your career? What if you after doing that you go on to become an ESL professor in college? Or go on to get a Master's or even a Ph.D in linguistics? Then it is an invaluable expirience that you definitely would want to put down on your resume ;)

[your-insomnia.livejournal.com]

Also, after I read the thread that you linked to, I wanted to add that the original poster is a real loser, bashing other people and you need not to pay attention to people like him (and others who are trying to find faults with other people just to make themselves feel better it seems). As long as you are happy doing what you like and enjoying your stay in Japan, then that's really amazing. I really think people who care so much about money, 'career' and 'pretisge' are the unhappy ones in this life xD

[nfr.livejournal.com]

I don't think that the job you're doing is for losers! ¬__¬+++ So don't worry too much about all the other people say! >:(

[ruru-inu.livejournal.com]

du bist kein "Loser"
>_<; wer sagt denn, dass dein job..kein job ist?
ich finde das gut, was du machst ! und wie kann englisch lehrer bitte kein richtiger job sein??
ach ärger dich nicht über solche aussagen! du weißt, dass du richtig arbeitest und dafür geld verdienst.. das ist wichtig !
wenn andere etwas anderes meinen, haben die keine ahnung ! ganz ehrlich!

[kamishey.livejournal.com]

i hate when people say that a job it's not a "real job" what is a real job then? something that you hate doing? i mean i think people consider being a janitor a "real job" but that doesn't mean that you want to do it.. so what is better? doing a job that you hate but its "real" because is crapy? (no offence to any janitor reading this), or doing what you love and doing it right?

i also don't have a "real job" im a "color assistant" for a comic book colorist and since i don't have to go out of my house to do it other people think that is a easy job.. and it's a lot of work especially when dead lines come...

i think if you like your job you shouldn't quit because other people think its not a "real job".. besides the world needs good teachers that take seriously their job :) without you guys the people that don't speak good english (like me) are doom! D:

so cheer up and even if you are 40 or 50 and decide that you want to do something else and change your life completely trust me it's doable, maybe it would be a lot of work at first to start over but it's not impossible :)

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for your encouraging words!!!
And I think your job sounds quite cool as well!!! ^-^

[kurikuribebi]

I don't think it's impossible to get other work. I guess it depends on who you know? Many of us at Ferris got offered jobs at different places such as AU and Saizeria and blah blah.

Most of my friends consider ATLs a joke. I wouldn't say it's not real work, but I do see it as kind of a transition job?

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. It depends on who you know and what your qualifications are.
And I think that's the problem. I don't have any real qualifications (or at least I don't know of any) and I don't know anybody. This is another reason why I think about moving to a bigger city.
On the other hand I'm always afraid that "other jobs" means "too Japanese" with horrible overtime work and all :/

ALT has it already in the word itself you are an ASSISTANT language teacher - I guess that's why a lot of people look down on that kind of position. I've never done ALT work, so I don't know for sure.

[miyu01.livejournal.com]

You are not a loser if you like your job. My english teacher from my last work is around 37 years old and with a husband and child. If you want to do it for a living why not? To be a teacher is a hard work and other people should appreciate it!

I wish you luck :)

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for your nice comment! ^-^

[venia.livejournal.com]

It's sad to hear how some people see this job there. Of course there are always those who are not serious about it, they go to teach english in japan for the heck of it for a year or two and they are not even related to the teaching field, as you say.

In greece- just to give my two cents- being an english teacher... -although lately more and more people get this uni. degree so work places might be fewer-...automatically means a good salary and TONS of opportunities to apply everywhere. you can be an interpreter, you can do book translations, you can teach in public schools or in private tutoring schools (which are even more numerous than public schools because in greece freakkin' everyone from the age of seven starts a second language nowadays -- which is why private lessons are always requested), you can work in the minister of foreign affairs, you can work in hotels everywhere esp. the islands, or in travel agencies and i don't even knowwhat else! in short, you get this degree you never lose. you'll allways have bread for your teeth, as they say hereXD

But back to japan. since the japanese are so bad at english, obviously they have lower standads and expectations from teachers than greek people, who grow up with subtitled tv series and have enough engish around them to make the demand for quality rise.

i agree with the others, you shouldn't care about what people think, you can't change he situation but it's good to rant once in a while. XD

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome! In Germany I guess only native English teachers get to do English teacher jobs OUTSIDE of regular school. Same goes for any other language.
I don't think I could be an English teacher in Europe, but that's okay with me :)

Thanks a lot! ^-^

[amvn.livejournal.com]

1st of all: You are NOT a loser, and you have to keep telling yourself that! I have so much respect for people who want to work as teachers, because not that many people want to do that these days, and teaching is one of the most important jobs there is - especially English, which more people strongly need to learn in the future even if they want to or not. So yeah, you definitely have a REAL job, as far as I'm concerned. But I see what you mean about many of the foreign teachers being less serious about their work. Although I know a few people who work longer days than you, few of them work as hard and efficiently as you and I so admire you for that. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that we strongly need people in the educational field, at least that's the situation here in Norway, and I definitely think you can put your qualifications and work experience to good use in the future, that is if your still interested in it. Do they have any national job advice centre in Japan, that can maybe help you furthering your career path?

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much dear!!!! ;o;
They do have "Hello work" here, but I doubt they can give help to foreigners, really. At least not in such a small town. Tokyo or so might be different, but as you should go in person to those institutions, it's kind of ... impossible at the moment ^-^;

[miraiklenta.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's certainly a job. You said that your major was in educational science, so it sounds like teaching is related to what you want to do for a career anyway. And that is what you're doing.

I was at a college in Kanazawa for a short study aboard that focused on Japanese language and culture. One of the professors was an American guy, and I'd say he's been in Japan quite a while.

But that college was a sister college to my college. So if you still think you want to teach, you could always try to find German universities (or American?) that have sister schools in Japan. At least, I'm guessing that there might be some German universities that do that. They're also more likely to have kids going back and forth between the schools for a study abroad. So you could teach English/German or German culture in Japan for a period, then teach Japanese and/or Japanese culture/history while in Germany.

I know I definitely appreciated having an American there teaching Japanese culture alongside the Japanese teachers. It gave myself and others someone who we could pull aside and ask questions without being embarrassed and likely understood the confusion we had. With your experience in two countries, that could be really great for study abroad students.

I'm not sure if you would need to go back to school though to get higher degrees since you would be teaching at a university level.

[miraiklenta.livejournal.com]

Also another thought. As someone else mentioned earlier, there's bound to be many other positions in Japan, if you looked.

It would probably be less steady income, but at the same time, it would give you the opportunity to discuss what you love. You could become a tour guide for Germans and English-speaking people. I'm not sure what a job as a tour guide is like since I can think of two different kind of tour guides. There's the tour guide who only focuses on a certain place. Then there's a general tour guide who take groups across a region. I imagine the pay for the second would be better, but less steady.

[hesaki.livejournal.com]

man kann alles schlecht reden, wenn man will.
Lass Dich von dem Gequatsche nicht irritieren. Ich finde, es ist nicht einfach, Englisch zu unterrichten, wenn das nicht Deine Muttersprache ist.
Also sei stolz auf Dich!

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Danke! :)

[dgm-allenwalker.livejournal.com]

Haha tell me about it, the work visa!!

Yeah, those English teaching jobs are real but some make you work long hours. But that is still a job no matter how many hours you work. I don't know about the human-recorder thing but I don't see anything wrong with that!! I like it haha 8'D

I have been reading forum topics like this for over a year and I'm quite shocked to hear about it. There's this school in Chiba whom they accept teachers at the age of 50!!!! Seriously, 50 year old teachers!? That's something I've never heard of while looking for English teaching jobs in Japan.

So...here's my saying:

If you love your job, don't lose it. You'll regret it in the end...<3

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

That's right. You'll regret it, right?!
Well, it depends on the job I guess. For my kind of job we don't accept teachers that are over 40, because you have to be really fit (physically) especially when teaching the young kids! :D

[luckydragongirl.livejournal.com]

In my experience most of those who call English teachers losers are English teachers themselves. When I got my first non-teaching job here in Japan, my employers were impressed with my teaching experience.

Also, you are teaching your second language, which is definitely much more difficult than teaching one's native language--how could anyone not respect that?

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Really? I'm very glad to hear that :)

Thanks a lot for your comment!

[red-apple-meli.livejournal.com]

ok, I got so pissed off by this entry that I don't even know what to say!

of course, YOU didn't piss me off. but all the things people say, THOSE made me go berserk for real.
what, theaching isn't a serious job???? what are they talking about??? you work, they pay you, people learn thanks to you, and you don't call it a job??? are they serious?
I would love to do something like that for my whole life! what, only lawyers and doctors do REAL jobs, now?
and why does it not count as working experience???? are you kidding? it makes no sense at all!!!! really, the more I read on, the more I went crazy. sometimes people are just a bunch of idiots.
and then I thought about those guys you talk about, those who just get the chance of going to japan and teach and "play around" for one year or more or WTF just because they speak english and I don't even know if they really like Japan, and so many other people never get a chance like that when they deserve it much much more!
AAAAAAAAAARGH!
I will have nightmares tonight because of this!

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I know, I just got as angry and people keep saying it no matter where you go/read :(
It's not use getting upset, though *sigh*