Is it easier to get a job teaching English in Japan if you are fluent in Japanese?

Question

Is it easier to get a job teaching English in Japan if you are fluent in Japanese?

Answer 1

Not necessarily. There have actually been some jobs that prefer for their teachers to have NO Japanese proficiency. That said, every word of Japanese you speak makes your life in Japan easier, so if you are serious about teaching in Japan you should learn as much Japanese as possible anyway. There is no way to guarantee that you'll wind up someplace with a lot of English speakers around you.

Answer 2

You could quite often want some industry japanese to work in a manufacturer outside of English instructing or an identical. Tokyo would even be your first-class city, because the character beneath has said - most jobs will go to a jap. My son lives and works there and moved to Tokyo for work for that reason - he is in IT with a significant worldwide organization.Speaks very fluent eastern and needed to take time to gain knowledge of trade japanese.He had to take a job in a reasonably one of a kind subject first to a) get his work visa and b) get work experience and industry jap to a precise degree . Having JLPT degree 1 may support, -you may good be interviewed in jap, he was. Also he had a obstacle in one firm where he didn't get the job given that he was once so much younger than those he would had been managing, and was once no longer eastern. He also had excellent work expertise at dwelling in his discipline in a significant worldwide company. Even housing there - as a non eastern you are going to be confined to what accommodation you can live in.No longer all accommodation is for persons who usually are not japanese. Nonetheless, he does have a colossal number of acquaintances from distinct nations - New Zealand, america and many others who are all residing and dealing there. I see your lack of work expertise on your subject as possibly a challenge. Visiting the arena on business from Japan? Well, that might come in time if you had proved your self as with all place, however i'd be amazed.

Answer 3

Most recruiters would look favorably upon some Japanese skills even if these might not be necessary for the classroom. Usually basic Japanese ability is a requirement for a lot of teaching jobs in Japan. Most recruiters for English jobs in Japan will require the following:



1. Native English Speaker

2. Full Bachelor Degree (in any field)

3. Basic Japanese Ability



The market is really competitive now so they also prefer teaching experience and qualifications such as ESL, TEFL or CELTA.

Answer 4

No, but it makes it a lot easier to get a non-English teaching job. If you are fluent in Japanese and get an MBA or JD, you will be highly sought after by American banks or law firms' Tokyo offices.

Answer 5

Getting a job teaching English in Japan is not a difficult thing to do, nor does it pay well. Living in Japan for a year to teach English is nothing more than an extended vacation for most foreigners and few opt to stay for more than a year.



Teaching English in Japan is not a career.



Fluency in the Japanese language does not come easy and very few foreigners in Japan achieve it. Although Japan has the lowest English language scores /speaking ability in the world** it is likely that their English will be better than your Japanese regardless of what you tell yourself now.



A basic understanding of how second language acquisition works would tell you that Japanese language ability is not required, needed or advisable in the ESL classroom anyway. Japanese language ability is required to interact with faculty members and that old lady on the corner that wants to know what variety of foreigner you are.

Answer 6

I would say to look at the job boards and see for your self. There are some good answers here already. It won't matter much for most schools, but some schools in Japan do prefer some basic ability.

Answer 7

Not really, no. It will help a little but it will not be the deciding factor and certainly most foreign teachers in Japan do *not* speak Japanese.



Remember, to actually teach you don't need to know the local language. These days classes are taught almost entirely in the Target Language which means you introduce, explain and practice in English.

Answer 8

Nope. At times it is a hindrance. Many schools don't want teachers speaking Japanese in class and guess what a good way is to prevent that from happening.

Answer 9

I knew Japanese and was a teacher. What George and Aya say are right. You should know Japanese, and never flaunt it, or use it in class if not specifically required to.



Generally I like teaching. So I lasted for about 6 years as an English teacher before I had to change careers to something where I could use Japanese. If you are a self-employed English teacher, knowing Japanese is essential, or close to it. You can find a lot more teaching opportunities, and places like schools where no one can speak English won't be too worried about hiring you to teach their weekly English lesson. Those are opportunities that non-Japanese speakers can't take advantage of, unless they get their Japanese girlfriend to act as their mommy/secretary/boss, which is kind of lame, but fairly common.

If you work at a big school, they usually want people that are fresh off the boat and know no Japanese. You won't want to stay at a place like that anyway, because it is somewhere between prostitution and panhandling on the scale of dignified jobs. Many want a smiling blond young man or woman to provide entertainment to lonely, lonely people who just want human interaction. Only about 10% of the students go their to learn. (Granted I worked at the worst school, NOVA. It went bankrupt. Maybe others are better?)

Answer 10

Probably not. Many schools don't want Japanese to be used in the classroom.

Answer 11

Yes. Some schools don't want you to use Japanese at all, but some schools prefer having teachers that know a bit of Japanese. For the ones that prefer you not to use Japanese, they don't have to know that you speak it, right?

Answer 12

I would say yes. However I wouldn't suggest going to all the trouble of learning Japanese for that reason.