TEFL to nowhere

[Visitor]

I did some years in Korea. And I'm now considering Japan (teaching). Although I'm a little bit hesitant about the occupation. For those in Japan who witness 1-st hand, whether as teachers or as just expats, would getting into TEFL at the end of one's 20s be a bad idea?

[wuchan]

you will probably get laid.



you will probably make $30,000US for the rest of your life.

[Visitor]

Hm. I can probably get laid already. Actually, I heard its common that Japanese women, once married and with kids, tend to go off sex. Is this true? Or is it too much of a generality?

$30,000, that's about £15-17,000...not great. What about job security?

If I were to do it for life (speaking hypothetically), I'd rather open up my own school at some point, is this doable? Not a giant school, a small one.

[wagyl]

As was suggested in your other thread, you will get much better advice elsewhere from people who are in the industry, rather than us here who are generally not.

[Taro Toporific]

I did some years in Korea. And I'm now considering Japan (teaching).

Good news: Yes, Japan is a better place than Korea to live.

Bad news: Ever increasingly, Engrish teaching is a marginal occupation in cursed-with-stupidity eikaiwa industry.

Worse news: Your dubious goal of opening your own little engrish school is doable, but the amount of effort and drive it will take for you realize your own successful school in Japan is far more than you just fucking sucking it up and make it go in your own country, sheesh. (Over the past 40 years, at times I have taught English in the US, UK, and Japan: Japan sucks, US was ok, UK was ok but my reception as a Yank teaching there was tiresome. )

As wagyl wisely suggested, a forum called "FuckedGaijin" is not going to give you the advice on the totally fucked engrish teaching profession that you want to hear. Most folks here are not in the eikaiwa industry. Many have thankfully escaped the eikaiwa industry or they are desperately trying to escape the eikaiwa industry.

[Coligny]

The sugarmama industrie is cool though...

[IparryU]

As was suggested in your other thread, you will get much better advice elsewhere from people who are in the industry, rather than us here who are generally not.

Ya... i cannot think of one person who currently teaches engrish here.. but I do know of at least 3 who did, but left for better jobs.

[matsuki]

The sugarmama industrie is cool though...

[Level Three]

It's a career or even a starter job - at least for people who went to expensive boarding schools at home and who couldn't work out why their BA was not useful for more than getting a job at Red Lobster. That or their IQ is below 80.

You may feel uncomfortable working with these people and you wouldn't be the only one.

The reality is that many see it as a good job and enjoy the cache of being somebody somewhere and not just another server at Red Lobster, and the cache of being called "Sensei", an honorific term reserved in Japan for people with real jobs (doctors, lawyers) and for some reason, foreign ESL teachers with sub 100 IQs.

It's not for everyone. Google is your friend.

http://sleepny.lefora.com/2010/05/26/ho ... -in-japan/

http://sleepny.lefora.com/2011/08/12/if ... ney-teach/

Yes, people here do actually teach for food.

[Samurai_Jerk]

It's a career or even a starter job - at least for people who went to expensive boarding schools at home and who couldn't work out why their BA was not useful for more than getting a job at Red Lobster. That or their IQ is below 80.

You may feel uncomfortable working with these people and you wouldn't be the only one.

The reality is that many see it as a good job and enjoy the cache of being somebody somewhere and not just another server at Red Lobster, and the cache of being called "Sensei", an honorific term reserved in Japan for people with real jobs (doctors, lawyers) and for some reason, foreign ESL teachers with sub 100 IQs.

It's not for everyone. Google is your friend.

http://sleepny.lefora.com/2010/05/26/ho ... -in-japan/

http://sleepny.lefora.com/2011/08/12/if ... ney-teach/

Yes, people here do actually teach for food.

There are also the older guys (I know a couple) who came here when you could still make decent money in eikaiwa without working too hard and by the time that wasn't true anymore they were too old to do anything else. Now they're stuck, miserable, and have to hustle to make 3 or 4 million yen a year. Those guys are also married to Japanese women with stable jobs so they don't have to be bread winners.

[Taro Toporific]

The sugarmama industrie is cool though...

A gaijin owned, small engrish school is a sugarmama industry. That is, behind every successful, gaijin owned, small engrish school is a Japanese. A Japanese will be signing/paying for the leases (or her family providing free rent) and doing 90% of the real work, sales, and cleaning the toilets.

[wagyl]

http://sleepny.lefora.com/2010/05/26/how-to-be-a-successful-english-teacher-in-japan/

http://sleepny.lefora.com/2011/08/12/if ... ney-teach/

Don't tell me that one plus one equals three again....

[IparryU]

The sugarmama industrie is cool though...

A gaijin owned, small engrish school is a sugarmama industry. That is, behind every successful, gaijin owned, small engrish school is a Japanese. A Japanese will be signing/paying for the leases (or her family providing free rent) and doing 90% of the real work, sales, and cleaning the toilets.

I just wanna skip the Engrish bit and start with sugar mamas...

or say fuck that idea and get straight into porn.

[irimi]

I've taught ESL in the US and in Japan, both with their own distinct advantages. For me, it was a career choice and I've stuck with it, though I've often thought of doing something else. If you don't love teaching English or love learning about foreign cultures, do not even bother because it isn't the most employable career. And even when you get the job, you'll never receive the respect that the profession deserves because A) most people think that ESL instruction is a remedial service, and B) most people believe that anyone who speaks English can teach English. Sigh.

If you're in it to see the world, you can. If you're getting in it to get a lot of money, look to the Middle East.

If you can do something else, do it.

irimi
(Long time lurker....)

[irimi]

Oh, one more note....Japanese universities really want the PhD. You can get by with the MA for a bit, but you'll be changing jobs every three years or so. Get the PhD if you want to make a long term career out of teaching English in Japan.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Oh, one more note....Japanese universities really want the PhD. You can get by with the MA for a bit, but you'll be changing jobs every three years or so. Get the PhD if you want to make a long term career out of teaching English in Japan.

I taught ESL in the US for several years. I was "lucky" to get the job since I wasn't qualified. All my colleagues had MAs or PhDs but the job market for qualified teachers was horrible. The best thing most could hope for was a part-time gig teaching at a community college. Getting even a non-tenured full-time job with benefits at a CC or 4-year college or in the public school system was all but impossible. Getting a tenured job .....

[Visitor]

Y'know. I think I'm not going to bother with further TEFL work. As one subtle poster advised, I'm just gonna suck it up at home and get a real job.

Back to school for me for some proper edumaction.

Cheers guys.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Back to school for me for some proper edumaction.

That's only a good idea if you have rich parents who are going to pay for everything or you're going to get certification in a field that requires such certification and will offer excellent employment opportunities for the foreseeable future.

[Coligny]

Vocationnal school ?

Not everyone go to an MBA wankskool for getting edumacated...

[Level Three]

MBA? I can tell you now you are wasting your money from experience.

Again, google is your friend

http://www.thembaforum.tk

Most MBA grads end up getting that shift at Red Lobster that those who couldnt get the shift and who come to Japan only dream of.

[Visitor]

Not an MBA. Hells no. I guess you could call it a vocational college...or just college (UK). It's an IT certificate anyway. Basic entry level stuff, but hopefully a step in the right direction.

[Dreamy_Peach]

Oh, one more note....Japanese universities really want the PhD. You can get by with the MA for a bit, but you'll be changing jobs every three years or so. Get the PhD if you want to make a long term career out of teaching English in Japan.

Yeah they really love the PhD but the short term contracts still remain. You'll get a five year at most in my experience, but show your dedication to Japan and the system and it seems pretty easy to get tenure and become a Professor (of course, it does help if you have some publications or at least if your sponsor/sensei/lab head is/was powerful.

A PhD is also a great ticket to travel around. If you're young you can basically go anywhere on a series of underpaid postdocs. It's all age dependent though- after 35 it's just any other racket and just another job, probably similar to eikaiwa or most other jobs.

[***]

Oh, one more note....Japanese universities really want the PhD. You can get by with the MA for a bit, but you'll be changing jobs every three years or so. Get the PhD if you want to make a long term career out of teaching English in Japan.

Yeah they really love the PhD but the short term contracts still remain. You'll get a five year at most in my experience, but show your dedication to Japan and the system and it seems pretty easy to get tenure and become a Professor (of course, it does help if you have some publications or at least if your sponsor/sensei/lab head is/was powerful.

A PhD is also a great ticket to travel around. If you're young you can basically go anywhere on a series of underpaid postdocs. It's all age dependent though- after 35 it's just any other racket and just another job, probably similar to eikaiwa or most other jobs.

First, OP - forget about Japan. Stay in Korea or head of to China. The carcass left over from the 80's and 90's is well picked over for any tiny morsel by the dispatch ALT companies and the greasy eikaiwa criminals of NOVA, AEON, Shane, Berlitz, ECC, GABA, etc.

SEcond, Dreamy Peach, you're full of shit. Even a doctorate won't get you a guaranteed contract job now. And contracts are typically 2 years - maybe 3 - with the *possibility* of a 2 year renewal.

OP, stay where you are.