Unfortunately, I (28yo, 4YOE) got laid off recently in my post and I'm hoping to take the time to reassess my career and perhaps taking a break as well. One of the considerations would be to take an experience in Japan before going back to work.
Hoping anyone here can share what are some of the more popular or common programs that you see people take on apart from JET or WWOOF-ing?
Thanks!
by loopyutopia
6 comments
If you just want to screw around for a year, no need to do JET, just apply for any english teacher job.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/wiki/index/](https://www.reddit.com/r/movingtojapan/wiki/index/)
Have you given any thought about this thing call ‘visa’ ?
When are you looking to go to Japan? This year? Or next year?
What’s your nationality? There are many paths to visa, check the visa wiki
JET is definitely more comfortable. The salary is good (for an ALT) and you’re almost guaranteed to be re-contracted each year if you want unless you really screw up.
A lot of people end up spending a lot of time at their desks or being a human tape recorder/CD player. It’s usually not stressful, and has better conditions than eikaiwa or dispatch ALT work. I know people that have gotten master’s degrees or learned to program, etc. while at work because they had so much free time.
Of course, some people are at the other extreme and have a lot of responsibility and are spread very thin. It completely depends on the placement you receive.
JET significantly increased the amount of placements in Tokyo a few years back, and I heard they’re still increasing them, so if your goal is Tokyo it’s not actually unrealistic to get placed there like it was in the past. It can be pricey at the beginning though.
If you did get placed in the country side, there’s a higher chance you’d get free or subsidized housing, which helps you save money.
WWOOF, from my understanding, pays you in room and board, so you could do that for a while, but you wouldn’t have any savings after.
Go to Japan and take a TESOL course. That usually goes for a month. You are basically a student for 5-6hrs a day, but then get the rest of the time and weekends to explore Japan and enjoy yourself.
After you finish they will in most cases try and help you find some work. I was offered some tutoring positions but wasn’t really interested at the time. Others I knew through the class did this and eventually got full time teaching positions and now live in Japan. Others just used the month to explore and party with no intent on teaching.
It can be whatever you make of it. I personally enjoyed the experience and got the opportunity to go into an elementary school, high school, and college class to practice various teaching techniques and English lessons. Was cool getting that unique experience.