Hi there,
Firstly, I appreciate this question has probably been asked a number of times in different forms. So apologies in advance. But I can’t find anything recent and specific to what I’m trying to find out.
I want to go and teach English in Japan. I’m a UK native, currently in the UK working as a teaching assistant at a school and I’m in my mid thirties. I’ve been doing some research into this to try and find what kind of options are available to me in terms of what companies will be the best fit. I’ve been wanting to do this for a very, very long time. But as time has gone on I’ve put it out of my mind as I’ve felt I’m too old because a lot of these programmes seem to be aimed at recent graduates or people in their early twenties still at university. JET being the most notable example. This has often scared me off as I don’t want to just be ‘the old guy’ and feel out of place because a lot of the foreign English language teachers will presumably be a lot younger than me.
I’ve looked into just getting the necessary qualification via TEFL and just finding my own way, but I feel like I’d be missing out on a lot of the benefits with doing it via a company. I still want the whole social experience of being with other English teachers on the programme and having that community that I wouldn’t be part of if I just went solo. And many companies seem to help you with things like travel, accommodation and generally just settling in, which would be very useful as this is all a new experience for me.
During my research I’ve come across companies such as Nova Japan and Interac, who seem to have programmes that are more mixed age ranges and not just graduates. But they largely have HORRENDOUS reviews and the general consensus from many people seems to be to avoid going with them (terrible pay, little help, long hours/days that leave little time for travelling and exploring).
This has been a bit of a ramble. But I guess I’m generally just looking for advice really. What can people who have done this kind of thing before recommend based on what I’m looking for? What would be the best fit for someone in my position based on what I’m looking for? Are there any good companies to work for that I haven’t come across? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
by AshReeves87