Teaching English?No Japanese?Working Visa?Help?!

[Salem O'Brien]

Hi,

I'm an Australian university student deffering study as of next yr. I'm looking into working in japan during this break hopefully.

I've looked into both the Working Holiday Youth Visa and Work Visa, not sure which would be best, any ideas?

Also I don't speak any japanese so what sort of jobs would I realistically be able to get other than english teaching?

I've looked into english teaching but it seems you need to have completed a course in teaching english as a 2nd language to get a job in the industry. Is this correct or would i be able to again realistically be able to get a job teaching without it? I'm trying to avoid undertaking the course as it costs a fair bit from what i've seen.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Salem

[synthia]

Well the course used to be a disadvantage. A working holiday visa is your best bet, since a working visa requires sponsorship by your employer and a university degree. Having a visa makes it much easier to hire you and gives you an advantage over those who need visas. However, I think most schools are going to want you to have finished your degree anyway. You will need a fair chunk of money to support yourself while you look for a job.

Without Japanese, your work options are pretty much non existent.

Have you looked at Dave's ESL Cafe, which is the gold standard for looking for ESL jobs?

[AZAM]

hi
i have moved to japan 3 weeks ago from pakistan. language is a sound barrier thats what i also feel and suffering from. Although i am here on work visa... i am computer professional (oracle expert) i want to apply austrailian immigration... plz guide me where is the detailed description of my profession. i have found my profession on MODL (oracle category) but where are the detialed job responsibilities of this profession....thanks!

AZAM
azamunis at hot mail dot com

[synthia]

AZAM - Look in the Australia forum, especially at the stickies, for information about immigrating.

Salem -

I forgot to mention that in general you are not allowed to speak Japanese in English classes even if you are fluent. The goal is to get the student to think in English, and Japanese interferes with that. Every person in Japan takes six years of Enlish in school, but they concentrate mainly on what is needed to pass university entrance exams, not on speaking. Hence the many language schools.

In my school, speaking Japanese was a firing offence. I once left my class to get permission to use the word 'ebi' after my drawing of a shrimp proved unrecognizable and no one could find 'shrimp' in their dictionaries (another thing that you shouldn't use in classes).

[MisplacedAussie]

You need proof of a completed degree to get the Work Visa to work as an English Teacher. I'm not sure what you can do on the working holiday visa. I did know 1 person who managed to work though without a completed degree. I think you're very limited though to schools who'll take advantage of you (low pay, bad conditions) and I'm not sure it's legal. And that person had special skills - preschool experience, fluent Japanese and taught preschoolers.

I never did the course. A lot of schools don't like the course, because they don't really want English "teachers". They want people who can engage Japanese in conversation without mentioning too much grammar and rules. The Japanese already know the grammar rules, better than we do!

In Australia there are volunteer jobs teaching English to foreigners. I did that for quite a while. It's run by some government dept. They train you and match you up with students. That kind of experience will demonstrate interest in the subject just as much as the course and costs you nothing but time. I really enjoyed it too.

Schools definitely don't want you talking Japanese in class. A lot of teachers wanting to learn Japanese were quite frustrated teaching English

I'd find out more about what you can do on that working holiday visa.

good luck

Originally Posted by Salem O'Brien

Hi,

I'm an Australian university student deffering study as of next yr. I'm looking into working in japan during this break hopefully.

I've looked into both the Working Holiday Youth Visa and Work Visa, not sure which would be best, any ideas?

Also I don't speak any japanese so what sort of jobs would I realistically be able to get other than english teaching?

I've looked into english teaching but it seems you need to have completed a course in teaching english as a 2nd language to get a job in the industry. Is this correct or would i be able to again realistically be able to get a job teaching without it? I'm trying to avoid undertaking the course as it costs a fair bit from what i've seen.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Salem

[Salem O'Brien]

Thanks for all the replies,

I can do pretty much any sort of work under the working holiday visa accept in areas like pubs, clubs etc. My concern was if i'd be able to get employed in some area with my current skills and no japanese knowledge. With the language schools most of you seem to be saying i could get employment without undergoing any teaching course which is great. What are the conditions like for that? pay etc? Also i'm wondering what sort of a social life is available for a foreigner my age over there if any.

Thanks again for your helpful advice,
Salem

[larabell]

If I'm reading the replies right, it seems you'll still need a degree to get a job teaching English. If I read your original post right, you don't have one. Given the glut of English teachers on the market now and the current state of the economy, I'd say the visa isn't going to be the end of your trouble if you're hoping to find work here teaching English.

You also didn't mention what your "current skills" happen to be. Or what age you're talking about when you say "a foreigner of my age". So it's going to be pretty hard for anyone here to help you.

My advice would be to come over with enough cash to support yourself for the duration of your trip. Once you make some connections, you might be able to find part-time work. I met a guy once who was desperately looking for an English speaker who could install server systems for something like $10/hour. The problem he was facing is that nobody he knew who could speak English well was willing to do the job for that kind of money and the Japanese "freeters" (graduates who choose to take part-time jobs so they have more free time) didn't speak English well enough to deal with the home office. If you landed something like that, you might be OK.

What you should do is think about your current contacts. If you're affiliated with any clubs, fraternities, cults, etc... find out if any of them have members or, better yet, chapters in Japan. Before you come over, make contact with fellow members of these groups and offer to meet them for food and/or drinks. If you can establish some connections here, you have a much better chance of hearing of these odd jobs. And, from what it sounds, your working holiday visa should allow you to hop around from odd job to odd job during your stay. You could also try joining your local Youth Hostel chapter and making use of their facilities while you're here -- who knows, you might meet someone with a connection to a job. At the very least, you'll find others who speak your language.

Social-wise, there are plenty of clubs around that cater to English-speaking clientèle -- mostly in Roppongi. If you're the kind of guy who makes (and keeps) friends easily, you might be able to make a connection or two there. If you haven't already noticed the pattern... the emphasis in Japan is on connections.

Your chances of getting any full-time work with no degree and no Japanese are close to zero. As for your other questions, I'll have to defer to someone who has actually taught English in Japan ;-).