Teaching in Japan  “Eikaiwa” The Most Traveled Road
“Eikaiwa” refers to the teaching of English conversation and basic grammar and believe it or not it’s a billion dollar industry in Japan. These consist of your large chain schools like ECC, Berlitz, Geos & Aeon. These organizations employ  thousands of  teachers throughout Japan and can be found in practically every single city in Japan irrespective  of size. There are literally thousands of “eikaiwa” schools dotting the country side.  All of them carrying out the task of teaching English to the Japanese.

What’s Needed to Teach
You need a 4 year degree from an University to get a job. (2 year degrees won’t cut it.).You need to be a native level fluent speaker of English. Some do succeed in finding work in Japan, even though English isn’t their first language but the overwhelming majority of postions that get filled are filled by native level fluent teachers.

Although there is no minimum wage, most teachers drag in  250,000 yen a month before taxes.Most work weeks will be 5 days. Don’t expect weekends off. Saturdays are usually work days. The “eikaiwa” or English conversation business whirs like a motor on Saturadays and Sundays and someone has to teach the students right? This means that most teachers work at least one Saturday or Sunday with another weekday off.  Vacation packages are quite similar for most schools. Expect 2 weeks  of paid vacation and most national holiday off. Schools differ on which national holidays they observe but the norm is 8 to 10 per year. It’s worth noting that ECC has the best vacation package of the monster chain schools and  arguably the  fewest complaints. Here is a handy chart to help you compare salaries and working conditions for huge chain schools like Geos, ECC, Berlitz and Aeon.

You should expect roughly a 40 hour work week. Each school is different but you can expect roughly 20 to 25 actual teaching hours per week with the rest being office hours.  Most schools also will provide you with health insurance or subsidize it. Most office hours get filled by preparing lessons, talking with students and taking class notes. And (depending on the school) some teachers are expected to hand out school advertisments. Make no mistake at the end of a typical day, you’ll know you worked. When the dust settles, your typical teacher workds roughly 40 hours per week.

Larger chain schools, mentioned above,  have fixed curriculums. What this means is that you’ll be using their textbooks and other teaching materials. For those who don’t have a lot of teaching experience it’s a helpful in reducing stress (there already is quite a bit in adjusting to the culture and learning the language etc.Creative types will probably find it a bit stifiling.

ESL teachers typically teach all ages. Literally from 5 to 75 year olds. Some schools have only children as students like Amity English school and Peppy Kids Club. Other  schools like Gaba concentrate on adults.  Because of the competitiveness of this industry, most schools cater to all ages. Most teachers teach children, young professionals and some housewives.

Most of your large chain schools will provide you with some type of accommodations. This is a very big help as it’s difficult to find accommodations on your own without the help of a Japanese national. And it’s definitely not cheap. Although the type provided will vary expect things to be on the small side. In general, furnishings will be a bit sparce as often they consist of departing teachers belongings.

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A Heavily Traveled Road to Teaching in Japan -ALT
Thousands of teachers work abroad and start their teaching careers in Japan as ALTs which stands for Assistant Language Teacher. ALTs are native speakers of English who  assist the Japanese teacher in teaching English to elementary and junior high schools throughout Japan.

Salaries and Such
Despite the road you choose to teach in Japan you need to be a native English speaker and need to be an university graduate. Most ALTs aren’t hired by schools but instead find employment through BOEs or Boards Of Education. Hiring agencies are quite a bit like temporary hiring agencies. Placement isn’t exactly free as hiring agencies will take a percentage of the teacher’s salary.  In general expect the salaries to be in the 230,000 to 250,000 yen per month range with fixed curriculums and work hours.
By far, most ALTs are dispatched to junior high schools. An instructor is generally rotated between 2 or 3 schools. Hours are the quite the opposite of “eikaiwas” or English conversation schools, which have quite a few evening classes and generally start in the early afternoon and run until 8 or 9 at night. In general, ALTs work between 8:00 and 5:00 p.m. with both all observed national holidays and weekends off.

Just like the JET Program, every single situation is quite different. ALT experiences are all different. Some have pretty easy work and spend time surfing the net during the day while others complain of being saddled with more work than they can handle. There are 3 roads into teaching in Japan. The most traveled one is regular “eikaiwa” or English conversation. Another common road into teaching in Japan is the JET Programme but it’s quite a challenge to get into and the 2nd most common one is that of an ALT.

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The JET Program: Another  Road Into Japan Teaching In Japan
Honestly, the Jet Program is undoubtedly the most desired path to being an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) so it’s really the toughest to get into. JETs are assistant language teacher to Japanese teachers who are saddled with the task of teaching mostly English to junior high school students.

Benefits , Salary And More
As far as teaching jobs overseas goes, this Program pays a little better than your average language school. A typical salary will be about 3000 U.S. or 300,000 yen. Annually 3,600,000 –if you don’t pay Japanese tax. If you do, your yearly salary will be 3,760,000.)
You’ll receive about 10 or 12 National holidays and 12 more personal days.

The local government or BOE that hires becomes the teacher’s boss, so there are differences between benefits etc. that JET participants get. The JET Program doesn’t pay for health insurance so you will need to pay about 40,000 yen for it.S. By the way, this is mandatory and is deducted from your pay automatically.

JET experiences range from “wonderful” to “horrible”
JET experiences vary greatly. Newbies to the teaching scene regard the JET program as the “holy grail of jobs in Japan. JET does pay a bit more than other large chain schools, like Geos, but they’re not without problems too. some get ultra-cush jobs with nice apartments while others claim they don’t have heat in their shack of an apartment. The JET official line regarding the massive swings in living and working conditions is “each situation is different.” It’s the mantra of this organization.

Program Locations and Waiting
Teachers will typicall be stationed throughout Japan’s 47 prefectures. Like Geos and other giant chain schools, you don’t have a choice as to where you’ll be located. Keep in mind you might get stationed in a super busy city or in a rural area – this should be kept in mind. Final hiring is done in June and applications are taken in November in the prior year. With the JET Program, competition for positions is fierce and waiting for acceptance is often cited as  the hardest part.

Which Road to Japan is Regarded as “The Best”
All in all, the JET Program is seen as being one of the more cushy jobs regarding salaries and apartment subsidies.Teacher employment services are yet another way of making money in Japan.

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