Teaching English as a second language to adults in Japan, Is this a good career move? -

I am planning to move to Japan in four years with my Japanese wife, we think a career in teaching english would enable us to live comfortably and the demand for english teachers will increase. How do i find out if my personality is suited to teaching english? What do i have to do to become a teacher in Japan? How much money can you earn teaching english, are second language english teachers well paid?

The article quot;Standards for Good Teachingquot; states that a good teacher should: - be joyful - love the natural curiosity of students - be excited about learning - be passionate about the subject they teach - be inquisitive - be creative - seek help from others - not be afraid of change and realize that change can be a positive element in every classroom - be flexible or have the ability to roll with the punches and not let the little things get them down. See full details here: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/teachin... You could also see a career counselor. They often have a list of characteristics, pros and cons for a multitude of careers. Not to mention the tests you can take to find out what type of employment matches your personality. For information specific to teaching in Japan check out the article quot;Teaching English in Japanquot; at http://weblog.teachingopportunitiesabroa... Good luck! :)

My son basically had the same situation. He was stationed in Japan with the US Navy. Now he is moving back to the US. He married a Japanese girl who could not speak any English, and taught him how to speak Japanese. They married in the US, and he taught her how to speak really good English. They have two daughters who can speak several different languages and they are very young. His wife is now very afluent with the English language now and she is looking forward to moving to US.

If I might make a practical suggestion? Why don t you get a job in the interim teaching ESL to Koreans (for instance) as there are numerous companies. You can do this over the iinternet from your home. IF you find you enjoy working with this population, I d say ESL is a good move for you.

wait dude.....do you speak japanese?

it is probably needed. you know english is the business language of the world.

Check out eslcafe.com - the largest most comprehensive overseas teaching site. There are job postings, teacher forums, information boards. Post your question there and you will get information directly from people who ve been there or are there right now. Incidentally, you don t necessarily need to speak Japanese to teach there. I ve taught ESL to immigrants for 18 years and I didn t speak most of their languages (my niece has been teaching in Japan for 4 yrs and she only speaks quot;survivalquot; level) However, since your wife is Japanese and you plan on living there I would highly recommend a program through www.rosettastone.com. My nephew married a Japanese lady as well but he learned Japanese fluently and they bought an English school franchise and they are doing extremely well. I would suggest that you find a community volunteer ESL teaching position in your area and go and teach a while. Good luck

Nearly all of the questions that you ve asked are well delineated at http://www.abcplus.info/job06.html?gclid... This will guide you through all of the steps, explain requirements and even current job openings with pay rates. Alternatively, Google ....teaching english in japan I know a few who have done this, they enjoyed themselves but you also need to realize that living expenses there can be quite high, target a smaller town, avoid the bigger cities. Some of the schools may provide limited housing so keep your eyes open for those.

You may want to learn Spanish. Japanese learn English to communicate with Americans and British for business reasons. By far they own or work with America more. We will be speaking Spanish by 2020.

Since your wife is Japanese, shouldn t she be able to know the market there and whether you are suitable to teach? I guess, the most basic thing to survive in Japan is that you should be able to read and write Japanese because the people there are really very dependent on their main language. You should be able to earn quite abit from teaching English. I m not so sure about teaching adults, but I know they start learning Japanese even earlier than in high school some times. By the time they reach University, they should be equipped with English, or at least a little of it already. Language teachers, esp foreign language, I think are generally in good demand everywhere.