On Teaching English in Japan

How do you teach English in Japan?

What are the first steps you should take?

YOUR Stories Your best, worst, strangest and funniest teaching experiences!

How much are the salaries in Japan?

Oikawa san of Keio, keeps us mindful of some important aspects of teaching

Professor John F. Fanselow of Columbia University Teachers College, observes that what you think is happening in the classroom may not be what is happening at all

Jobs in Japan for Americans, the unique American situation

How do you learn Japanese for free or cheaply?

Conrad Matsumoto enlightens us with his "almost no prep activities"

How do you teach young children?

Chris Weber gives us his hard won advice on teaching English to Japanese

David Martin of EFL Press talks about how to be an Effective EFL teacher

Should you teach on the JET Program?

How do you teach English online?

Devanshe Chauhan explains classroom management for newbies

What are the Japanese people like?

What should I know about working visas?

What are the big schools like?

Thomas Anderson weighs in on how he teaches university students

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Teach English in Japan

Teach English in Japan - A Basic Overview of What to Expect

By John Bardos

Japan seems to attract an almost endless supply of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers, and for good reason. Very few local teachers are qualified or able to provide instruction in spoken English, and so demand for native speakers remains high. Furthermore, there are abundant entry-level teaching positions available which makes Japan an ideal destination for those who are just getting started in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). There are also plenty of opportunities for mid-career level teachers, and these openings increase the longer you stay in the country.

Note: Most people refer to teaching English abroad as ESL (English as a Second Language). ESL actually refers to teaching English to immigrants in an English speaking country. Teaching English in Japan is really EFL (English as a Foreign Language).

Teaching positions are available in a variety of working environments, including language schools, primary, secondary and tertiary education, cram schools and large companies who provide classes for their employees. Almost without exception, they hire only native English speakers from the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.

Requirements

In order to teach in Japan, it is necessary to have a university degree for the purposes of obtaining a work visa although, in most cases, the field of study is unimportant. Previous experience and/or TEFL certificates are not often necessary, though they may give you a distinct advantage when applying for the more sought-after jobs and, quite possibly, a slightly higher salary. For full-time university positions, a masters degree is usually required.

Salaries

Average salaries for full-time teachers continue to be around the ¥250,000 (US$2,950) mark. Take a look at some current English teaching jobs in Japan to get a feel for the typical salary and benefits. In language schools, it is likely that you will work 40 hours per week over 5 days, of which 30 or more hours might be spent teaching. Holidays can be anything from 2-4 weeks per year. In primary and secondary schools, teaching hours are likely to be much less, however you can still expect a total working week to be around 40 hours. Holidays will be in line with regular student breaks. Corporate and university positions offer the most relaxed working schedules, and salaries for full-time positions can be in the range of ¥350,000-¥400,000 (US$3,872-4,425) per month. Of course, such positions are much harder to come by.

The JET Program, which places Assistant Language Teachers in public schools, has long been considered the ideal way to begin teaching in Japan. ALTs enjoy a salary of ¥320,000 (US$3,540) per month, cheap accommodation and extensive holidays. However, due to budget cuts, many education boards have abandoned the program and now hire teachers indirectly. Salaries tend to be 30% lower and often don't include holiday pay and other benefits.

Living Costs

Although the cost of living can be quite high, a frugal lifestyle would enable most people to save up to US$1,000 per month on an average salary. Avoiding expensive imported goods and adapting to the Japanese way of eating will save a considerable amount on groceries.

Culture

Japan has a lot to offer from an historical and cultural point of view; you can explore centuries-old temples, shrines and castles; huge fireworks displays throughout the summer; a multitude of ancient festivals, some of which continue long into the night; and take advantage of the vast swathes of countryside outside the cities.

Whether you are just starting out in TEFL, continuing a career, or simply want experience Japanese culture first hand, it is hard to find a better destination for teaching English.

For more information Teaching English in Japan and other popular EFL destinations, please see YouCanTeachEnglish.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Bardos


http://EzineArticles.com/?Teach-English-in-Japan---A-Basic-Overview-of-What-to-Expect&id=4984510

Teaching English Abroad Guide

We have created a Teaching English Abroad Guide which we believe could benefit your site and your readers if you choose to share it with them. Here it is:

http://www.tripbase.com/d/teaching/

The guide itself breaks everything possible teachers may need to know before helping children throughout the world.

If you feel that the guide would benefit your readers then please feel free to link it on your site.

Many thanks for your time,



Kindest Regards,

Claire

C/D Borderline Kids need Social,Emotional and Motivational Interventions

From our many years experience of working with C/D borderline kids we know that they need social, emotional and
motivational interventions to help them through their exams. Revision techniques on their own are no good.

Our pre-exam course Pump up the Volume for year 9, 10 and 11 students incorporates two important things:

Why Education is important to Your Future.
This part of the course paints a bleak future for those who will leave
school with low or no qualifications. It is a form of 'negative' motivation that is
intended to make students sit up and think about their future. We also highlight
the benefits of leaving school with good qualifications especially the relationship
between education and greater choice of career paths.

Accelerated Learning Techniques.
This part of the course shows students how they can memorise and recall
many items of information over a short period of time using visualisation. On average
most young people can memorise from 50 to 100 bits of information, chronologically,
in approximately 1 hour.

Pump up the Volume is presented by Tom Hendry whose background includes children and foster homes, father in prison,
mother on benefit, leaving school with no qualifications and doing dead-end jobs for the first few years of his working
life. He has experience of working with over 80,000 young people since 1999.

If you would like further information please do contact us or visit our website.

Yours faithfully
Lyn Hendry
T: 0044 (0)1706 229858
F: 0044 (0) 1706 211849

Esteem/Confidence/Motivation Courses Available
www.school-teacher-student-motivation-resources-courses.com/coursesavailable.html

Join our Motivation Newsletter for Free.
www.school-teacher-student-motivation-resources-courses.com/motivationnewsletter.html

Do you have problems with disruptive students? Here is a solution guaranteed to reduce disruptive behaviour.
www.school-teacher-student-motivation-resources-courses.com/behaviourmanagement.html

Teacher Testimonials
www.school-teacher-student-motivation-resources-courses.com/teachercomments.html

Interested in becoming licensed to run our Motivational Courses?
www.school-teacher-student-motivation-resources-courses.com/licensingopportunities.html

Genki English Newsletter October 2010

Genki English Newsletter October 2010
-------------------------------------

Contents:

1. Song of the Month: Who is in the haunted house?
2. Song of the Month 2: Let's make a monster!
3. Game of the Month: Monster Making
4. And finally

Hello,

I hope you are all enjoying being back at school. October for a lot of teachers means Halloween. I find it a great excuse to not only teach all the Halloween style bat, mummy, vampire etc. but to also teach many of the other topics we teach throughout the year, but in a funky, slightly scary, Halloween way. The kids love it, and it's great fun to teach. So to help you out I have two brand new songs, and a classic Halloween game, for you!

.

1. Song of the Month: Who is in the haunted house?
---------------------------------------------------

This song is a time limited (get it now!) free download for VIP members.
http://genkienglish.net/hauntedhouse.htm

The rooms are the same as the "Where is Baby Monkey?" Rooms of the House song (Who is in the kitchen? Who is in the bedroom? etc. ) so it's a great chance to review, and very easy to teach!

.

2. Song of the Month 2: Let's make a monster!
----------------------------------------------

Once you've done body parts (with Doctor, Doctor, Skeleton Soup, Heads and Shoulders, Make a Face etc.) and the numbers you can try this song where the kids draw the monster they hear in the song!

Adding in the music really makes a huge difference to the class.

They come up with some very funky designs!

http://genkienglish.net/letsmakeamonster.htm

.

3. Game of the Month: Monster Making Game
------------------------------------------

This game has been a classic on the site for ages. But this time ....

1. Do the song above so the kids know what to expect.
2. Play the song whilst passing 2 balls (or Halloween toys!) around the class.
3. Stop the music!
4. Whoever has the first ball has to say a "Draw " plus a number.
5. The other person has to say a body part.
6. Everyone draws this body part on their piece of paper.

This is great practice of the plural body parts and also gives the kids something funky to take home.

.

4. And finally
----------------

There are tons more Halloween ideas (the Halloween masks are a huge hit) on the site:

http://genkienglish.net/halloween.htm

and lots of new games on the blog this month,

http://genkienglish.net/teaching/

Plus keep checking back as I've got a ton of new things coming over the next few days!

See you next month,

Be genki,

Richard

======================
Richard J. Graham
The Fun Way to Teach.
Primary School Games, Songs and Ideas
www.GenkiEnglish.com

ETJ English Language Teaching Expos

ETJ English Language Teaching Expos

Bringing together All English teachers

Tohoku Expo (Sendai)
Sunday October 3

Aichi Expo (Nagoya)
Sunday October 10

Chugoku Expo (Hiroshima)
Sunday October 24

Tokyo Expo
Tokyo English Language Teaching Book Fair
Saturday/Sunday November 6/7

Kansai Expo (Osaka)
Sunday November 28

Kyushu Expo (Fukuoka)
Sunday December 5

_______________________________

Would you like to give a presentation at one of the Expos?

There are many presentations at each Expo. Some are by famous
writers or academics, and many are by local teachers.
Each presentation is 45 mins.

If you would like to give a presentation, please submit the following in reply to this e-mail:

Name of presenter
Title of presentation
Presentation outline (max 50 words)
Information on the presenter (max 30 words)
Types of teachers aimed at (e.g. university teachers)
Topic area: (e.g. reading)
Please also state if a presentation is in Japanese.
Please state any commercial connection you have which might be relevant*

Local teachers who have no relevant commercial connection are very welcome to give a presentation free of charge. The ETJ group organising each Expo will decide on which presentations to accept.

* Those with a relevant commercial connection need to reserve a display at the Expo.

_______________________________

Would you like to have a display?

Please reply to this e-mail saying what type of display you are interested in, and you will be sent more information. There are three types of displays:

Commercial displays
The fee varies according to the size of the display and the number of Expos attended.

Displays for individuals or small companies
There are cheap one-table displays available at all Expos.

Free displays
For charities, associations for teachers, unions, support groups for foreigners in Japan.....

Results of Japan Living`s Poll on Teaching English in Japan

Japan Living`s Poll on Teaching English in Japan


This poll was from a few years ago. However, I don`t imagine
things have changed so much, even with the Nova fracas a while back.





What`s your opinion about working for English schools here?


What is or was your experience working for English schools in Japan?



Responses



Positive 33.33%



Mostly Positive 28.57%



Average 14.29%



Below Average 19.05%



Poor 4.76%