Graduate from college if you want to live in Japan.

[Tsuwabuki]

Work visas can be one, two, or three years long. I have quite a bit of time on my visa right now. If I was fired, I still have my visa. Japan will not ask me to leave. I will have until the end of my visa to either a) locate another job to sponsor my renewal b) prove income above ¥200,000/month to self-sponsor.

[Compaqmac321]

Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki

Ah. Bulldogs, in Athens. Been there a few times when I lived in Atlanta. More of a GT fan myself though...

What we had there was a semantic miscommunication. What you speak of is what I would call a teaching attempt and sadly, Japanese companies will indeed allow, with the right paperwork, any English speaking individual to attempt teaching. This is usually a degree necessary for the visa, but plenty of companies hire individuals with only spouse visas. Some aren't even native speakers. Japanese ability isn't usually necessary at all.

It's possible to teach younger students without teaching credentials/experience because of internalisation, but if it was possible to teach older students without teaching experience Japanese Teachers of English would not exist. A native speaker would simply be able to handle a classroom entirely by him or herself regardless of what their degree (or whether they have one) was in. With my experience teaching alone at the junior high school level, I am pretty sure that most individuals, even with degrees, could not teach grammar construction in English, let alone in Japanese (which I have done, and continue to do on a regular basis).

I'm not arguing with you, you obviously agree with me, I am just clarifying for understanding.

Momomaggie, good on you! Just the type of people we NEED in Japan are passionate and caring teachers. Like you, this is my career, and it is what I went to school for.

oh yea i wasnt arguing with you either, i can tell an intelligent person when i see one, and clearly you are, i just wanted to clarify what i had meant. yea uga was str8, not enough black ppl tho, lol my older brother went there too and he was going to harvard BUT he ran out of money and he didnt want to take a student loan in this economy not to mention a scholarship wouldnt be enough to handle that expensive ass school, i was shocked to see he was qualified to get in tho, he had a 3.8 at uga but i didnt know that was good enough, i guess it was his extracurricular things that got him in...but yea, teaching is a hard job, ppl dont realize that teachers are the ones that make sure that your lives are easier...i used to think any could teach as long as you had a clear understanding of the material until i got to 9th grade and my geometry teacher couldnt teach worth a damn and i pretty much had to learn everything on my own, but i've had some teachers that made the material easy like my ap physics teacher, teachers like them ill never forget, its hard work! i remember having to teach 9th graders when i was in 12th how to use auto CAD for drafting, i had a headache after that day lol.
and i HATE ga tech, ha and uga really, but uga opens the door for me to be able to go to other schools.

[alanX]

So a CC would be acceptable as long as it's "nationally accredited?"

No one really answered this...

There's a small @ss private community college out in the middle of nowhere here in NC, and if I must I would attend there and get some bachelor's degree in something (just to have a degree) But I have no clue if it's "nationally accredited" or not. Anyone know? Yes, no, maybe, probably. I know nothing.

Originally Posted by spicytuna

The same way the 8.5% of the unemployed in North America live without work.

I don't read the NYT, I don't know how 8.5% of unemployed people in America survive...

[StangGuy]

Originally Posted by alanX

So a CC would be acceptable as long as it's "nationally accredited?"

No one really answered this...

There's a small @ss private community college out in the middle of nowhere here in NC, and if I must I would attend there and get some bachelor's degree in something (just to have a degree) But I have no clue if it's "nationally accredited" or not. Anyone know? Yes, no, maybe, probably. I know nothing.



I don't read the NYT, I don't know how 8.5% of unemployed people in America survive...

One of the defining features of a Community or Junior college is that they don't offer bachelor's degrees. They only offer associates degrees. So no, a degree from a community college generally wouldn't be enough to get you into Japan. However, if properly accredited you can transfer the credits or degree you earn at a community college to University and ultimately your bachelor's degree will be considerably cheaper and you might finish your bachelor's degree up to a year earlier. You should also look at earning college credits while still in highschool. This has become more common around the US and typically the credits you earn are free or at a greatly reduced cost

[MMM]

Originally Posted by alanX

So a CC would be acceptable as long as it's "nationally accredited?"

No one really answered this...

There's a small @ss private community college out in the middle of nowhere here in NC, and if I must I would attend there and get some bachelor's degree in something (just to have a degree) But I have no clue if it's "nationally accredited" or not. Anyone know? Yes, no, maybe, probably. I know nothing.



I don't read the NYT, I don't know how 8.5% of unemployed people in America survive...

Stang Guy is right. A two-year associates degree is not the general requirement. In general a bachelor's degree (4-year) is required.

In my state unemployment is over 11%. It has doubled in numbers in the last two years.

Most of my friends are college graduates, but I have one friend I went to college with who ultimately didn't graduate. He has been unemployed for over a year, despite applying to literally hundreds of job openings.

Having that degree definitely makes a difference, whether you want to go to Japan or not.

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by alanX

So a CC would be acceptable as long as it's "nationally accredited?"

No, because a Community College is only for two years. Most people go to a Community College for two years and then transfer over to a four-year university, to finish up the remaining two years and get their BA/BS.

No one really answered this...

There's a small @ss private community college out in the middle of nowhere here in NC, and if I must I would attend there and get some bachelor's degree in something (just to have a degree) But I have no clue if it's "nationally accredited" or not. Anyone know? Yes, no, maybe, probably. I know nothing.

As mentioned above, at a Community College, you can only obtain an Associates Degree. The requirement for a Visa is a Bacehlor's. You go to CC for two years and then transfer over to a University.

I'm sure you were taught this or your high school counselor went over the options you have after graduating from high school. To be honest, we were getting taught about this type of stuff as early as Elementary School around here. Not sure if that's the norm even now but it was for when I attended school (1986 - 1999).

I don't read the NYT, I don't know how 8.5% of unemployed people in America survive...

With a strict budget I suppose. *One of the 8.5% despite the fact that my state doesn't have a high unemployment rate compared to others*

Edit: Just noticed that the question had been answered. That aside, I pretty much went the route above. I did two years of CC, but I got a job, so I never did finish up to get my Associates from there because of the job. After I lost my job in 2007, I looked into Universities to finish up, since I knew a degree would help me in my job search. I transferred what I had over from the CC over to a University, and now I'll be done this upcoming June. ^_^ IMO, that's definitely the easiest, and more than likely, cheapest, route to take. I do have a student loan payment, but it's way lower compared most people's I'm sure.

[spicytuna]

Originally Posted by alanX

I don't read the NYT, I don't know how 8.5% of unemployed people in America survive...

Well, people who work are entitled to something called Unemployment insurance.

People who aren't eligible for UI may choose to temporarily move in with some friends/relatives or collect something called welfare.

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by spicytuna

Well, people who work are entitled to something called Unemployment insurance.

Doesn't last long.

People who aren't eligible for UI may choose to temporarily move in with some friends/relatives or collect something called welfare.

Not everyone is entitled to welfare. For the most part, seems that mostly those who have children are the ones who fit the criteria to get that. What about single people, no dependents, no children, etc.?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

What about single people, no dependents, no children, etc.?

Move back in with their parents.

[spicytuna]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

Doesn't last long.Not everyone is entitled to welfare. For the most part, seems that mostly those who have children are the ones who fit the criteria to get that. What about single people, no dependents, no children, etc.?

They move back in with their parents. It's actually very common in Japan - especially with women, hence the term "parasite single".

As for myself, I was in university back in the early 90's during our last recession. My parents wouldn't pay a cent towards my tuition fees so I ended up joining the army reserve. Two days a week, one weekend per month and a few months during the summer got me through those tough times.