Teaching English is Japan is a fun thing to do and a terrific cultural experince should you will not soon forget.

If you are going to teach English in Japan there are few things that you need to know that will help you get started.

First it’s not a bad idea to learn some basic Japanese like how to say hello in Japanese before you go. However I do recommend you learn a little more than just hello, as it not difficult and you will be more warmly received by Japanese people if you do. You can take a Japanese language course online these days and learn fast for very good prices.

Qualifications

You will find that a majority of the english teacher employees will require you to have a 3 year bachelor degree before they take you on. You will also need to get your TEFL (teach english as a foreign language) qualification completed too.

People still get jobs though without a degree and sometimes even the TEFL so don’t let it stop you if you don’t have these but be prepared to look a little harder for a job and maybe even move to the countryside.

The Cambridge CELTA is the most popular TEFL course around at the moment. It takes a total of 4 weeks to complete the course full time, but you will often find they offer a part time course also.

Visa’s

Visa are not to difficult to acquire if you have the correct qualifications and paperwork you need. The most straight forward and easiest method is to send your information to your employer and they will submit it the correct authorities on your behalf.

When you gain approval you then need to take done to your local Japanese Embassy with your passport and they will issue your visa for you. (please check the all legalities and proceedure with you local authorities thoughroughly as each country is slightly different).

Applying for a Job

Applying for a job in February or March is a good idea as this just prior to the new school year starting and teachers are in higher demand then, but don’t worry if you can’t go then as you can still find a job at anytime of the year.

One piece of advice I woud stress that you do is make sure that you think carefully about where you want to work. Ask good questions in the interviews such as - “what are the holidays?” , “will I get to meet a lot of Japanese people?”, “will I get to experience Japanese culture?” , and don’t just except a polite “yes” ask them to be specific.

There are two types of employers; the public system or the corporate system.

The public system as indicated to in the name is where you will teach in public schools. Some people say that the public system is better because it is not profit driven and therefore they are more relaxed and give better holidays but you need to decide for yourself.

When it comes to the corporate system the largest company is called ‘JET’, and they can quite easily be found on the internet. However please consider your application carefully before submitting as JET turn away alot of applicants every year.

“Should I learn Japanese before I go?”

Well the answer to this is ‘no’ you don’t need to speak Japanese however it is rather silly not to. As I mentioned above it is very easy to learn basic Japanese grammar such as japanese verbs, nouns and particles, and not only will this help you communicate it will also help you understand where the learning blockages might be for a Japanese student with English.

For free Japanese lessons and infomation on how to learn Japanese click here: Japanese Language Software