A Question from the Studio Audience
A letter from Eydie:
hi, im 17 and i live in canada.
im deciding to go on to learn Japanese and eventually get a degree in English.
i want to go to Japan to teach english at a school, any school may it
be elementary or high school.would it be wise for me to start at this age? would i survive with the
pay i will get teaching english? is it hard to find a job there as an
english teacher. i dont know anyone who lives in japan, only a
godfather of mine, but i dont know him. please reply =/
Hi Eydie,
Teaching in Japan is a pretty well paying job, and unless you have an extravagant lifestyle, you should probably be able to save some cash on the side ;)
The main obstacle in front of you is your age. To work in Japan you need a work visa or at least a working holiday visa. To get a work visa in Japan, you need to have completed a degree in anything. To get a working holiday visa, (at least, in Australia) you need to have completed at least a year of tertiary studies.
I’m pretty sure the rules for Canadians are similar to the rules for Australians, but you may want to check the Japanese Embassy in Canada website.
There are many websites that will help you find a job, and once you’re there in Japan, there are dozens of classifieds published offering English teaching jobs.
But again, you’ll need a work visa (it’s more difficult to find work on a working holiday visa – you’re only allowed to work part time) so maybe you should consider doing a Japanese degree, or at least a year of it, before heading off to teach English?
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Take care!
Regards,
Chidade
Anyone, please feel free to email questions (chidade AT gmail DOT com) and I’ll try answer them as best as I can.
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November 4th, 2005 at 12:35 pm
My advice: get a college degree first. You won’t be able to get a job without one. (Unless you have connections already)
November 5th, 2005 at 9:28 pm
I find as a general rule that the Japanese employers don’t care whether you have a degree. Not for teaching English. The only pre-requisite is that you are an native English speaker. But that’s just the employers. The government has other ideas. it’s the GOVERNMENT that requires you to have the degree for your visa application.