Monthly pay sure but this is without bonuses which are roughly an extra three to four months salary more. Still, the stress and overtime and club activity work don’t make it worth it
Varies by prefecture, but in many, graduating students make less per month than ALTs. They get the bonus eventually, of course. But the complete garbage they’ll have gone through to get it is hilarious. That’s why the biggest emotional changes you’ll see are with young ones. The older ones are just waiting out the clock.
The Internet says in my area (very country side) the average for brand new teachers is 250,000 a month but two of my friends who became elementary school teachers started at 200,000
Do you know how many hours Japanese public school teachers work?! I can’t imagine why any foreigner would study for years to achieve that level of hell.
When I was on JET, there was a teacher at one of my schools that was a regular teacher in the English dept. American that went through the same process and took the test just the same as all the other teachers. Was in charge of bukatsu, etc. and regular 公務員 teachers make much better money than ALTs/eikaiwa, but obviously more responsibility, longer hours, gotta attended all meetings, among other things. I seriously considered this path as it beats the hell out of salaryman life and working with kids is really rewarding, no KPI BS, office politics, etc.
There is definitely politics. I’ve seen power harassment amongst teachers and I’ve also experienced disrespect so bad that I had to get a JTE reprimanded by the BOE. I’ve also seen shady things at BOEs. Accepting gifts they shouldn’t be. Also google Noda city BOE giving the domestic violence report to the father of the abused girl and she was found murdered. I was working at that BOE and quit after they failed that girl.
I’m not too sure it beats the salaryman life. It seems to be the school version of it to me.
I knew a guy with a bachelor's degree who was working as an ALT at a private JHS (already a good gig). He got a teacher's license and became a regular English teacher and the school's soccer coach. He seemed happy.
So yeah, that’s a completely different ballgame. It’s why I’m happy to be at a private school. I get loads of other stuff, but dealing with parents? I would get a headache from consistent Keigo. Sure, phone, Keigo is a proper noun. Whatever.
Yeah, some private schools do this. Several of my child's HS teachers were foreigners teaching as the main English teacher. They had licenses and home rooms and everything. The school DID have an English department, though, and sent students overseas on short or long stays.
FINANCIALLY, It is just not worth it.
The herculean effort to get to near-native in Japanese (ten times the effort to get to N1, at minimum) and then get the Japanese teaching license is at least five years of seriously hard work.
If you are going to work that hard at something, why not get paid for the work? Like, become a surgeon. Or an engineer. Or a computer scientist? I mean, there are so many better choices.
Enjoyment and fulfillment, perhaps?
I have no interest in being a surgeon, engineer, or computer scientist. I did a year of computer science in college because I had no other ideas and had heard that it would make money - I had no interest in the subject, had no motivation to study it, flunked out, and hated my life until I changed majors. I love teaching and look forward to going to work every day.
Fuck this shit-ass world that makes people choose between being financially successful and doing what they're passionate about.
If you genuinely *love teaching*, then you can find better teaching jobs outside of Japan.
If you just want to stay in Japan, but want to make more than an eikaiwa teacher, your smartest move is to do something other than teach.
Being a public school teacher is the worst job I can think of in Japan. They often work weekends and evenings for club activities for very little compensation, and it's hard to have a social life. I'm amazed anyone does it willingly.
"I love teaching and look forward to going to work every day.
Fuck this shit-ass world that makes people choose between being financially successful and doing what they're passionate about."
- But I think people are saying you could still do that without all the extra work and extra cost
It's not impossible to surpass native people but its pretty much impossible. I mean its very possible to surpass them to take a test but for actual use of the language it's pretty much impossible. And the only people someone would be able to surpass would be someone who dropped out at third grade or something and lived pretty cut off from others
I hate people like you, who put others down and belittle their capabilities. No one thought I was worth anything and I’m now soon to graduate Columbia Universities Med program with stellar grades. If I gave a shit about Japanese I would far surpass most natives knowledge and abilities because of my indefatigable work ethic.
Nobody belittled anyone serioulsy, what are you talking about? congrats on graduating college? Its not at all relevant here but cool story?
Are you high or are you a bot?
Also, no, you wouldn't surpass Japanese. You haven't even surpassed English speakers yet and thats closer to your native language
You made far more grammatical errors than me jackass. You wouldn’t know how hard it is to get accepted into Columbia Universities med program. It’s only for the %1 of the %1 and that’s just getting in. Read a book. Aren’t you Japanese people supposed to give your superiors respect, say you’re sorry and I’ll forgive you.
Knowing a language isn't about not making grammatical errors haha, otherwise the best language speakers would be bots.
I do know that its hard to get in, the thing is that I don't care.
"you Japanese people"? What are you talking about? I'm not japanese you moron. LOL.
and your not my superior, you're some kid who's not even out of college and thinks that grammar is all that matters.
Man you got accepted into that program just to come across as a completely insecure dickhead? Maybe if you actually reached a level of Japanese above N4 you'd realize that he's right - achieving a native level is close to impossible just due to the sheer amount of time it takes. It's not impossible, but it'll take much more than 5 years of consistent and focused study. Also there's a big difference between fluent and native level.
Dude, you are the college kid who can't even speak natural English and thinks that I'm Japanese for some weird reason. And who brags about being in med school thinking that I'd care haha
You made all kinds of mistakes
You are completely wrong. I started learning french, my third language, when I was nineteen and now when I go to Paris I have a greater vocabulary and understanding of French than the average Parisian. If you truly work hard towards something and have no choice but to learn in order to fit in you can adapt. Japanese is not harder than French and definitely not harder than Arabic and I am fluent in both.
You claim foreigners are incapable of fully learning Japanese so you can push your xenophobic ideas and hate, it is disgusting.
I never said anything about foreigners learning Japanese. What are you talking about? And what xenephobic ideas? You aren't making any sense.
And I doubt you are better than most French people. I'm gonna guess that English isn't your first language, am I right?
What? you're more successful than me? LOL, what are you talking about? dude you couldn't even answer one simple question from me before melting down.
Learn English before you brag about surpassing others buddy
I’m in med school, in higher education than you could ever achieve mister bachelors. I already have my residency set up, in 3 years I’ll be making 400k to start out. Didn’t I tell you to lick my boots, make them sparkle. Also I already have my bachelors dumbass.
Watch what those teachers do. Not just teaching English, everything. Then take a minute and ask yourself if that’s what you want. If it is, then go get the qualifications to do it.
It probably isn’t, though. It’s like taking baby steps into a pool to find out how deep it goes and in one single step, you’re in over your head and precious little of what you’re doing is teaching English. Glub glub.
My friend did it. He graduated university in the US then did the Eikaiwa thing here for a long time. He got his license which from the look of it meant a lot of exams and studying and now he works in a high school as a legit teacher.
The bad side is he fucking hates it. He's worked most weekends, has to run all these different clubs, is overrun with stress and considers quitting every day.
The GOOD side is he's got all the perks you get from any typical seishain job but his bonuses are huge and if he keeps moving forward he can work on the Board of Education in a nice position with a good salary.
Not for me, but if you're serious about teaching this seems to be one of the only ways to make it an actual career.
Wife’s an ES teacher and when I saw her monthly salary it wasn’t that much different to my alt salary but then I saw her bonus and I was gobsmacked . She gets 2.1months bonus in summer and 2.2 in winter + monthly salary on top. In December she’s bringing in just over 100万円..ridiculous in comparison to my salary.
I work at a private JHS-HS, and I’m full-time (専任 ) same responsibilities as Japanese colleagues with having a HR class, club, etc. I couldn’t have this job at a public school because I don’t hold a Japanese teaching license, so it happens with private schools only I think. I got hired on a term-contact with just a BA and US teaching certificate, did my Masters while working here and then got 専任 after I completed my Masters. Pay is much better than ALT or JET type jobs (close to double, I’d say, but didn’t start that way). Responsibilities are a lot though too.
Benefits package (once 専任 ) is very good too. Mat leave was full-salary for several weeks before birth and 50-some days postpartum, then took the standard government-supplemented parental leave that is available until age 1. Health insurance and subsidies for buying teaching materials are very generous, too. There is benefit-defined pension on top of employer pension if I stay 20+ years. I get good discount vouchers to use for my babysitter… very good package.
I think a person has to want to keep ties with Japan and settle here, but there are some positions like this available and imo very good.
It is possible - some threads on the topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/90hqck/is_there_a_path_to_becoming_an_actual_teacher_in/
https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/1b84k04/alt_certified_teacher_any_success_stories_or_tips/
https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/uwkbh6/becoming_a_qualified_teacher_n_japan/
What type of master degree? Better look for a job linked to your MD especially if the JP companies can relate to your Uni and diploma without translation or other BS
I know a guy that did that. He went back to being an ALT in my city. I actually like the replies on this thread and they give you a lot to think about. I find myself agreeing with my coworker about staying as an ALT though it really depends on your working conditions as an ALT and what is fulfilling to you. Every ALT position is not necessarily the same. I’ve worked as a direct-hire for 4 different cities because I realized some places are better than others.
There was one on my town. He did JET years before, married a Japanese woman and then went through the steps to become a standard teacher and an assist homeroom teacher. Even so, the HR teacher was unhappy that he wasn’t able to handle a lot of tasks, particularly the ones regarding parents and helping kids through emotional issues.
No foreigner/ALT, especially if married with kids, in their right mind, would want to go from 8:00am-3:30pm five days a week (earlier depending on school) to 6:30am to 8:00+pm seven days a week (especially if married with kids and with little to no athletic or artistic aptitude) and have to deal with the local koban in lieu of actual parents after hours on any given day because Taro-kun or Sakura-chan are 2kool4skool and get busted shoplifting, smoking or being out past curfew every other day, for a few extra "man" a month.
It’s possible. If you intend to teach in a school following the standard MEXT curriculum and haven’t graduated from a Japanese teaching program, however, you’ll need to be granted a special license, which can be given at the discretion of the BoE that hired you and is generally good for all schools within the bounds of their jurisdiction (even in private schools). Note that you can never be made head teacher of the grade or be named head of a MEXT-designated operational division (i.e. Academic Affairs or School Discipline), and you won’t be considered for promotion to an administrative role without further education, although your duties will otherwise be identical to locally-educated teachers.
IIRC international schools and the like are more lenient in what kinds of qualifications they accept because they don’t follow the Ministry of Education.
Work in a Japanese company or real school for a few years then you will understand. Low pay, both hours, endless pointless tasks that do nothing. Japanese people hate it just like us and think it’s stupid, but they just have to do it.
My kids go to a Japanese private middle/high school that’s famous for international education. They’ve got many native English speaking teachers from all over the world. They don’t do overtime like public schools teachers, and they’ve got tons of long vacations like foreign based companies.
I may not be answering your question but please do know that private school teachers (at least in Tokyo) don’t have it bad like you often hear. And I don’t see why a master’s degree from a Japanese uni can be a disadvantage if not better unless you majored in something completely unrelated to education.
More and more schools are focusing on real English education nowadays (increasing number of international courses’ in private schools and they are very popular.) i don’t see why someone like your situation cannot find a job in a middle/high schools in Japan.
You only need a bachelors degree (and teaching license) to teach in Japan. If you have a masters (I’m assuming in teaching/education) in your own country I don’t know why,if you know Japanese, you would want to teach those levels? I would recommend, if possible, to go for college level or adult teaching. (For financial reasons)
Teachers don’t get paid much in Japan.
Teachers in public schools are government worker, so you need both japanese citizenship and English teacher's license, and need to pass the employment test for prefecture you wanna work for.
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Monthly pay sure but this is without bonuses which are roughly an extra three to four months salary more. Still, the stress and overtime and club activity work don’t make it worth it
Yup this. Lots of overtime work
I think Japanese teachers get paid a bit more than 200K a month.
Young ones? You’d be surprised.
Surprised by what? What is the pay?
Varies by prefecture, but in many, graduating students make less per month than ALTs. They get the bonus eventually, of course. But the complete garbage they’ll have gone through to get it is hilarious. That’s why the biggest emotional changes you’ll see are with young ones. The older ones are just waiting out the clock.
How much on average?
The Internet says in my area (very country side) the average for brand new teachers is 250,000 a month but two of my friends who became elementary school teachers started at 200,000
Thank you.
Junior high school teachers get paid way more than ALTs!
I get bonuses
Teaching license is the key here.
Do you know how many hours Japanese public school teachers work?! I can’t imagine why any foreigner would study for years to achieve that level of hell.
It is hell
Well said.
Sounds like a waste to become an English teacher after doing a master degree at a JAPANESE uni
When I was on JET, there was a teacher at one of my schools that was a regular teacher in the English dept. American that went through the same process and took the test just the same as all the other teachers. Was in charge of bukatsu, etc. and regular 公務員 teachers make much better money than ALTs/eikaiwa, but obviously more responsibility, longer hours, gotta attended all meetings, among other things. I seriously considered this path as it beats the hell out of salaryman life and working with kids is really rewarding, no KPI BS, office politics, etc.
There is definitely politics. I’ve seen power harassment amongst teachers and I’ve also experienced disrespect so bad that I had to get a JTE reprimanded by the BOE. I’ve also seen shady things at BOEs. Accepting gifts they shouldn’t be. Also google Noda city BOE giving the domestic violence report to the father of the abused girl and she was found murdered. I was working at that BOE and quit after they failed that girl. I’m not too sure it beats the salaryman life. It seems to be the school version of it to me.
No office politics? Ha!
I knew a guy with a bachelor's degree who was working as an ALT at a private JHS (already a good gig). He got a teacher's license and became a regular English teacher and the school's soccer coach. He seemed happy.
That is probably not the same amount of BS he’d get working in a public school, though. Was he a home room teacher?
Not to my knowledge.
So yeah, that’s a completely different ballgame. It’s why I’m happy to be at a private school. I get loads of other stuff, but dealing with parents? I would get a headache from consistent Keigo. Sure, phone, Keigo is a proper noun. Whatever.
Yeah, some private schools do this. Several of my child's HS teachers were foreigners teaching as the main English teacher. They had licenses and home rooms and everything. The school DID have an English department, though, and sent students overseas on short or long stays.
This
FINANCIALLY, It is just not worth it. The herculean effort to get to near-native in Japanese (ten times the effort to get to N1, at minimum) and then get the Japanese teaching license is at least five years of seriously hard work. If you are going to work that hard at something, why not get paid for the work? Like, become a surgeon. Or an engineer. Or a computer scientist? I mean, there are so many better choices.
Enjoyment and fulfillment, perhaps? I have no interest in being a surgeon, engineer, or computer scientist. I did a year of computer science in college because I had no other ideas and had heard that it would make money - I had no interest in the subject, had no motivation to study it, flunked out, and hated my life until I changed majors. I love teaching and look forward to going to work every day. Fuck this shit-ass world that makes people choose between being financially successful and doing what they're passionate about.
If you genuinely *love teaching*, then you can find better teaching jobs outside of Japan. If you just want to stay in Japan, but want to make more than an eikaiwa teacher, your smartest move is to do something other than teach.
Being a public school teacher is the worst job I can think of in Japan. They often work weekends and evenings for club activities for very little compensation, and it's hard to have a social life. I'm amazed anyone does it willingly.
"I love teaching and look forward to going to work every day. Fuck this shit-ass world that makes people choose between being financially successful and doing what they're passionate about." - But I think people are saying you could still do that without all the extra work and extra cost
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It's not impossible to surpass native people but its pretty much impossible. I mean its very possible to surpass them to take a test but for actual use of the language it's pretty much impossible. And the only people someone would be able to surpass would be someone who dropped out at third grade or something and lived pretty cut off from others
I hate people like you, who put others down and belittle their capabilities. No one thought I was worth anything and I’m now soon to graduate Columbia Universities Med program with stellar grades. If I gave a shit about Japanese I would far surpass most natives knowledge and abilities because of my indefatigable work ethic.
Nobody belittled anyone serioulsy, what are you talking about? congrats on graduating college? Its not at all relevant here but cool story? Are you high or are you a bot? Also, no, you wouldn't surpass Japanese. You haven't even surpassed English speakers yet and thats closer to your native language
Show your Japanese pride
What Japanese pride? I'm american you moron LOL
You’re American, that makes much more sense.
yup, thats why my english is better than yours collge boy
Silly American, you are the trash of the world. Even your language is simple. I only use English while I’m online.
You made far more grammatical errors than me jackass. You wouldn’t know how hard it is to get accepted into Columbia Universities med program. It’s only for the %1 of the %1 and that’s just getting in. Read a book. Aren’t you Japanese people supposed to give your superiors respect, say you’re sorry and I’ll forgive you.
Knowing a language isn't about not making grammatical errors haha, otherwise the best language speakers would be bots. I do know that its hard to get in, the thing is that I don't care. "you Japanese people"? What are you talking about? I'm not japanese you moron. LOL. and your not my superior, you're some kid who's not even out of college and thinks that grammar is all that matters.
Man you got accepted into that program just to come across as a completely insecure dickhead? Maybe if you actually reached a level of Japanese above N4 you'd realize that he's right - achieving a native level is close to impossible just due to the sheer amount of time it takes. It's not impossible, but it'll take much more than 5 years of consistent and focused study. Also there's a big difference between fluent and native level.
You better put energy into your apology
Dude, you are the college kid who can't even speak natural English and thinks that I'm Japanese for some weird reason. And who brags about being in med school thinking that I'd care haha You made all kinds of mistakes
When you lick my boots they better sparkle.
ok college boy
You are completely wrong. I started learning french, my third language, when I was nineteen and now when I go to Paris I have a greater vocabulary and understanding of French than the average Parisian. If you truly work hard towards something and have no choice but to learn in order to fit in you can adapt. Japanese is not harder than French and definitely not harder than Arabic and I am fluent in both. You claim foreigners are incapable of fully learning Japanese so you can push your xenophobic ideas and hate, it is disgusting.
I never said anything about foreigners learning Japanese. What are you talking about? And what xenephobic ideas? You aren't making any sense. And I doubt you are better than most French people. I'm gonna guess that English isn't your first language, am I right?
Say what you want, when I close my screen I’m still more successful than you. My French is flawless.
What? you're more successful than me? LOL, what are you talking about? dude you couldn't even answer one simple question from me before melting down. Learn English before you brag about surpassing others buddy
What are your accolades, what have you done? I don’t answer stupid questions from inferior people.
you don't answer questions from people either. Its ok college kid, I get that real conversation in a language you can't speak well scares you.
You’re cheesed lol
aLso, my accolades? I graduated college. You haven't college boy
I’m in med school, in higher education than you could ever achieve mister bachelors. I already have my residency set up, in 3 years I’ll be making 400k to start out. Didn’t I tell you to lick my boots, make them sparkle. Also I already have my bachelors dumbass.
Watch what those teachers do. Not just teaching English, everything. Then take a minute and ask yourself if that’s what you want. If it is, then go get the qualifications to do it. It probably isn’t, though. It’s like taking baby steps into a pool to find out how deep it goes and in one single step, you’re in over your head and precious little of what you’re doing is teaching English. Glub glub.
My friend did it. He graduated university in the US then did the Eikaiwa thing here for a long time. He got his license which from the look of it meant a lot of exams and studying and now he works in a high school as a legit teacher. The bad side is he fucking hates it. He's worked most weekends, has to run all these different clubs, is overrun with stress and considers quitting every day. The GOOD side is he's got all the perks you get from any typical seishain job but his bonuses are huge and if he keeps moving forward he can work on the Board of Education in a nice position with a good salary. Not for me, but if you're serious about teaching this seems to be one of the only ways to make it an actual career.
Wife’s an ES teacher and when I saw her monthly salary it wasn’t that much different to my alt salary but then I saw her bonus and I was gobsmacked . She gets 2.1months bonus in summer and 2.2 in winter + monthly salary on top. In December she’s bringing in just over 100万円..ridiculous in comparison to my salary.
Apparently teachers get a hefty retirement bonus too.
I work at a private JHS-HS, and I’m full-time (専任 ) same responsibilities as Japanese colleagues with having a HR class, club, etc. I couldn’t have this job at a public school because I don’t hold a Japanese teaching license, so it happens with private schools only I think. I got hired on a term-contact with just a BA and US teaching certificate, did my Masters while working here and then got 専任 after I completed my Masters. Pay is much better than ALT or JET type jobs (close to double, I’d say, but didn’t start that way). Responsibilities are a lot though too. Benefits package (once 専任 ) is very good too. Mat leave was full-salary for several weeks before birth and 50-some days postpartum, then took the standard government-supplemented parental leave that is available until age 1. Health insurance and subsidies for buying teaching materials are very generous, too. There is benefit-defined pension on top of employer pension if I stay 20+ years. I get good discount vouchers to use for my babysitter… very good package. I think a person has to want to keep ties with Japan and settle here, but there are some positions like this available and imo very good.
It is possible - some threads on the topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/90hqck/is_there_a_path_to_becoming_an_actual_teacher_in/ https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/1b84k04/alt_certified_teacher_any_success_stories_or_tips/ https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/uwkbh6/becoming_a_qualified_teacher_n_japan/
Thank you!
What type of master degree? Better look for a job linked to your MD especially if the JP companies can relate to your Uni and diploma without translation or other BS
Consider working at an international school if you have proper accrediting.
This
Yes. I have a teaching license and do that
Yes. The methods of becoming one vary.
I know a guy that did that. He went back to being an ALT in my city. I actually like the replies on this thread and they give you a lot to think about. I find myself agreeing with my coworker about staying as an ALT though it really depends on your working conditions as an ALT and what is fulfilling to you. Every ALT position is not necessarily the same. I’ve worked as a direct-hire for 4 different cities because I realized some places are better than others.
There was one on my town. He did JET years before, married a Japanese woman and then went through the steps to become a standard teacher and an assist homeroom teacher. Even so, the HR teacher was unhappy that he wasn’t able to handle a lot of tasks, particularly the ones regarding parents and helping kids through emotional issues.
No foreigner/ALT, especially if married with kids, in their right mind, would want to go from 8:00am-3:30pm five days a week (earlier depending on school) to 6:30am to 8:00+pm seven days a week (especially if married with kids and with little to no athletic or artistic aptitude) and have to deal with the local koban in lieu of actual parents after hours on any given day because Taro-kun or Sakura-chan are 2kool4skool and get busted shoplifting, smoking or being out past curfew every other day, for a few extra "man" a month.
It’s possible. If you intend to teach in a school following the standard MEXT curriculum and haven’t graduated from a Japanese teaching program, however, you’ll need to be granted a special license, which can be given at the discretion of the BoE that hired you and is generally good for all schools within the bounds of their jurisdiction (even in private schools). Note that you can never be made head teacher of the grade or be named head of a MEXT-designated operational division (i.e. Academic Affairs or School Discipline), and you won’t be considered for promotion to an administrative role without further education, although your duties will otherwise be identical to locally-educated teachers. IIRC international schools and the like are more lenient in what kinds of qualifications they accept because they don’t follow the Ministry of Education.
Yes, but I have never seen one who was not asian. Lot's of Korean or Chinese, or Philipino get jobs as standard teachers (not english)
Work in a Japanese company or real school for a few years then you will understand. Low pay, both hours, endless pointless tasks that do nothing. Japanese people hate it just like us and think it’s stupid, but they just have to do it.
My kids go to a Japanese private middle/high school that’s famous for international education. They’ve got many native English speaking teachers from all over the world. They don’t do overtime like public schools teachers, and they’ve got tons of long vacations like foreign based companies. I may not be answering your question but please do know that private school teachers (at least in Tokyo) don’t have it bad like you often hear. And I don’t see why a master’s degree from a Japanese uni can be a disadvantage if not better unless you majored in something completely unrelated to education. More and more schools are focusing on real English education nowadays (increasing number of international courses’ in private schools and they are very popular.) i don’t see why someone like your situation cannot find a job in a middle/high schools in Japan.
You only need a bachelors degree (and teaching license) to teach in Japan. If you have a masters (I’m assuming in teaching/education) in your own country I don’t know why,if you know Japanese, you would want to teach those levels? I would recommend, if possible, to go for college level or adult teaching. (For financial reasons) Teachers don’t get paid much in Japan.
Teachers in public schools are government worker, so you need both japanese citizenship and English teacher's license, and need to pass the employment test for prefecture you wanna work for.