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Moving to Japan - advice please!!

2218 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  april, 
L
Hi - my wife is Japanese and has been offered a great job in Japan.

We are both keen to move out there.

The problem I guess I have is what I do when I am there! I work in education and have a good job in London with a growing professional school, (teaching marketing, fianance, finance etc). I am willing to take a plunge and leave the comfort of my job to experience a new challenge.

Do you think I will likely be able to work in education in Japan?

I meant I guess the obvious answer is to work in languages which is fine - but I would rather be involved at a more managerial level like I am now.....

My question is....with my lack of Japanese language, am I facing a virtual impossible task of being able to organise language courses with limited Japanese?


Am I crazy to think that I can get a job in Japan without Japanese language?

Thanks for all replies - I really apprecaite your advice!!
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L
listerd said:
Hi - my wife is Japanese and has been offered a great job in Japan.

We are both keen to move out there.

The problem I guess I have is what I do when I am there! I work in education and have a good job in London with a growing professional school, (teaching marketing, fianance, finance etc). I am willing to take a plunge and leave the comfort of my job to experience a new challenge.

Do you think I will likely be able to work in education in Japan?

I meant I guess the obvious answer is to work in languages which is fine - but I would rather be involved at a more managerial level like I am now.....

My question is....with my lack of Japanese language, am I facing a virtual impossible task of being able to organise language courses with limited Japanese?


Am I crazy to think that I can get a job in Japan without Japanese language?

Thanks for all replies - I really apprecaite your advice!!
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Under the assumption that you do not sell what no one has - The answer is yes.
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larabell
listerd said:
Am I crazy to think that I can get a job in Japan without Japanese language?
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If you mean "crazy to think that you can get a job *managing* Japanese people without being able to speak their language", I would say: "probably so".

As for a job in education, though, maybe not -- I'm assuming there's still a glut in the market for teachers of English, but... as a professional educator, you may have an advantage over the typical English teacher. And, as the spouse of a Japanese National, you have the advantage that you don't have to have a job already lined up in order to get a visa that will allow you to work in Japan.

But if you can't speak Japanese, it's unlikely you'll be hired for anything *other* than teaching your own native language and, even then, English teachers are not in short supply so you may have a bit of a challenge ahead of you.

But... what the heck... worst case, you end up job hunting for a few months and take on private English students on the side (which your spousal visa would allow). If your wife's job offer is worth it, I'd say go for it. The competition will be intense but once you're here, at least you'll have a chance.

And if you can pick up a reasonable amount of Japanese Language prowess once you're here, the chances of getting back into "education", per-se, can only increase. Just be prepared to take a few "menial" jobs along the way.
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If I were you I would target the international schools for teaching positions. You will be teaching different subjects in English to mostly native-English speaking kids (though a lot are from India, I heard). I doubt you would get managerial work.

There are also some kindergartens that aren't actually international, but for some reason teach all classes in English to Japanese kids.
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