Quote:
Originally Posted by xzinnu
All I really want to know is if there a need in Japan for native English speakers who want to teach there?
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Yes English teachers, whether or not they have formal qualifications, are desired almost everywhere in the world. In Japan there are thousands of us but the market is such that it can support the numbers and in fact still needs more teachers. Jobs are available year round since most of the teachers are not in Japan indefinitely and the average teacher only works for about two years in one country before moving. The second reason being that after gaining a bit of experience and acquiring contacts, many English teachers that stay in Japan move on to more profitable teaching jobs or a completely different line of work entirely in Japan.
Since you asked, I will break down the need for English teachers by country. China is really wanting English teachers but the income of your average Chinese family is such that they are not able to attract the number of foreign teachers that Japan does. South Korea compensates their teachers very well, but you have better be prepared for Korea and the fact that you are practically owned by your company. Not only that but there are new stipulations that not only do you have to be born in a selective list of English speaking countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), your degree has to be earned at a university in the country of your origin. That means if you are British and go to school in the US, they will not grant you a work visa. Singapore there is less a need for teachers and those who are needed have to perform at a much higher level. Taiwan pays better than mainland China and on par with Japan but again the expectations are higher.
The bottom line being that Japan is one of the most desirable places to teach English in Asia. Things are convenient. Japanese are polite. The pay is sustainable even without experience or qualifications. While this does make getting a good location in Japan a bit more difficult since we are all competing for that dream position of some little eikaiwa off the beach in Okinawa, there are still plenty of jobs to go around and with the economy picking up steam will be more and more of a need for native speakers.