Is there still a demand for ESL teachers in Japan? What does it pay?


esl
Toad Face asked:


Is there still a demand for ESL/TEFL teachers in Japan? Or has that market been flooded by Americans teachers seeking work? What does it pay?

This entry was posted on Friday, March 20th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Teaching. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Is there still a demand for ESL teachers in Japan? What does it pay?”

  1. tapioca_spatula Says:
    March 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Yes, there is definitely still a demand for ESL teachers in Japan. However, there are more and more teachers going to Japan, so don’t expect special treatment. The pay is enough to live off of, and maybe save a little. If you teach at a language school, you will probably work a lot of hours a week.

    I would recommend you look at the information on the websites below to get more information.

  2. Bonbu Says:
    March 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 am

    Just one thing to add. Japan will require English to be taught in Elementary Schools soon. Schools Generally have little money to pay for this sort of stuff, but suddenly one day soon every Elementary School will want a ESL teacher.

  3. Lamia Says:
    March 25th, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    There is still demand for native English speakers, but less than there used to be. You may hear stories about the “good ol’ days” of EFL teaching in Japan when they’d take just about anyone, but this is no longer the case.

    As an American, you’ll need to have a 4-year college degree (any major) in order to qualify for a Japanese work visa. But first you need a job offer. EFL certification is usually not required (I taught in Japan without one), but it would give you a big advantage over other candidates.

    A beginning EFL teacher could expect an annual salary worth between US $20,000 and $24,000, depending on the current yen to dollar exchange rate.

    You may want to look into the Korean market as well. I hear that there is higher demand there now, and it’s possible to make just as much money as in Japan.

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