Interested in teaching in Japan

[tokyobec]

Ok now I know right now you are probably thinking stupid newbie there is already a stickie on this...

I am looking into teaching English in Japan for about 6 months...

But I couldn't find the information I wanted so here are my questions for you:

What company did you go through? Good or bad?

Can you recommend a company to go through?

And what do you need to do it? Qualifications, Visa's etc?

Bec

[chachava]

you need a degree from a university... so long as the country you go from is English-native, and you have no criminal record, you will get a 12month visa easily

[jasonbvr]

I'll reply in the teaching thread

[glaylover]

I went on the working holiday programme. It is pretty easy to get a job. I worked for a company called Chris English Masters(CEM) They are a Kyoto based company, but they have some out of city brances aswell. Nova group is another that you could try.

[luna2]

if i do liv in japan my bakup work there is a teacher-1st i wana be a game artist tho

[gaijzilla]

I think most places are going to want you to commit to at least a year, but go ahead and see what you can find.

I'm an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) which means I work in the regular school system teaching kids and teenagers rather than at a language school. I'm most familiar with ALT companies.

With most of the private companies, you're going to get both horrorstories and pleasant experiences. I work with Interac. I've had pretty good experiences with them but some people I know have had a rought time.

I wouldn't recommend Heart. I've heard they treat their workers ok but they pay ridiculously less than the other companies. We not so fondly refer to them as "Fart."

I've heard only bad things about Borderlink as well, but I don't know if they recruit outside of Japan.

[Suki]

I know that guy who graduated in journalism and is now teaching Spanish in Kyoto. You don't need to have an specific degree, you can just go there and offer to teach English at some language academy.