Is Japan worse than Korea in terms of expectations and housing?

19 comments

1. Money wise ans housing, I’d rather be in Korea. I taught there for 3 years and the pay was about ￦2.3 million, but I could save up ￦1 million a month, plus as you know housing is provided. Here in Japan, taxes go up every year.

   There’s way more to do here in Japan, but I struggle to save and housing is never included.

2. Korea already has a reputation of having abusive workplaces, it’s common, so Don’t let it get to your head or knock you down as bad as it sounds.

   There’s only one reason to teach English in Japan and that is to experience Japan. The 1)pay and 2)cost of living and 3) expectations of you are all difficult compared to Korea. Korea is a walk in the park financially you just have to learn to survive the psychos and abusers there if you want to stay–either that, or join them in their toxicity.

   If you want to come to Japan simply for a more civilized people and better society then just keep in mind a lot of people are willing to put up with getting paid basically less than $2,000/month, wearing a suit and tie, cleaning for free and barely scraping by enough to go on a date with that pretty girl you met in a country with high cost of living and high taxes, and you are a loser english teacher. You get no housing. Coming here to save money is like going to the desert to find water. You better fucking love Japan otherwise you are an idiot to come here to teach English.

3. I have always been told by people who have taught in both that the cost of living is much lower in Korea and you get much better housing for less money.

4. Is this discussion about a career in teaching, or are we talking about Eikaiwa/dispatch? Legit teaching positions in Japan do tend to have a lot of unpaid overtime, but usually come with decent benefits and bonuses.

   But fast food English is going to pay poorly anywhere, and would be a bad reason to eat a bunch of moving/travel costs to find out.

5. I taught in Korea for a few years during the 00s, and then Japan all through the 10s. Japan has been better but it took a few years to get off the ground. It’s very hard to save money at first, whereas in Korea I saved a lot without even trying.

   You ask about housing and so on and that’s a part of it. In Korea, I just found my job and boom, within a month I was in a furnished apartment in Ulsan with my flight fully reimbursed. Coming to Japan, I had to save for my own flight and then get ripped off for the first six months by one of the few rental companies I could communicate with. In other words, you have to be independent from the get go. You need to get your own visa sorted, you probably won’t live near your school, your school won’t go with you to get a new mobile phone contract or sort out your WiFi. Mostly you are on your own.

   My view is that Japan does need a bit of a commitment for it to pay off. You’ve got to know a bit of the language and know a bit about the culture before you’ll find a half-good job.

6. > So I went into a 11 class deal from a very popular brand name Hagwon in Korea for my first year of teaching, and of course, It didn’t work out.

   From my perspective it worked out. You had a year, got to experience Korea and can move on now. To me all ‘English teaching’ jobs are entry-level and picking your time to move-on is paramount.

   > Most of the teachers here at the school say it’s fun but you don’t make enough money to survive. Most of the real money is in China or the middle east or being overworked at an international school.

   I’d fact-check that. Watch some of serpentza and laowhy86. My understanding is that the CCP’s pretty much shut-down the English teaching industry. In any case… when I picked Japan, it paid jack shit and you were relying on the cost of living being low. China’s changed since then. I wouldn’t wanna visit there with Jinping in charge.

   Middle East? You’re looking at working in some really restrictive countries with sharia law and no alcohol. They might HAVE to pay more to encourage people to come over but you couldn’t pay me enough. 90% of the fun is having lotsa piss-ups!

   There’s always been runours that [country x] pays a fuck load of cash (at one stage it was Singapore). IMO no ‘English teachers’ are rich. I’d go somewhere that you wanna go above all.

   > Just curious is all. I may just go back home and get into trucking or something.

   English teaching can be pretty draining. I don’t think Japan will give you a second breeze if you’re tired and jack of it. It’s a new culture with new expectations, in an industry where you’ll only ever be entry-level. Can you handle another year? You’ll know. Saying ‘yes’ isn’t something to be ashamed of.

7. Same same but different

8. There are all kinds of help wanted signs in Texas for oil and gas jobs. 18 bucks an hour. You work about 80 to 90 hours a week. Time and a half ($27) after 40 hours. $300,000 a year if you become a company man. Fossil fuels are not going away anytime soon

9. I’ve met several people who went from Korea to Japan but I’ve never met anyone who went from Japan to Korea. They often complained that while the money was good in Korea, they were worked too hard and felt a bit unwelcome. Those who have left Japan have generally done so to return to their own country or been forced by personal circumstances. It’s quite common for people here to marry a local and stay for life, whereas it sounds like that’s less common in Korea. Perhaps more of an endorsement of Japan as a country than of its English teaching industry.

   There is a lot of negativity in this sub with regards to career paths in Japan, but I find that those who are actually good teachers tend to land on their feet here. By good teachers I mean those who are naturally predisposed to teaching and earnestly apply themselves. It’s those who treat it like a job rather than a vocation who tend to get stuck in shitty roles.

   One of the best things about Japan vs Korea is that your visa isn’t tied to your employer so you can work for multiple employers and change jobs easily. This is great when you hear of lucrative side work opportunities that you can fit around your main job. Short of being directly hired by a university or private school, putting together a mixed schedule of highly paid work (like business teaching and tutoring) is a good way to make good money here. It’s possible to make up to ¥6000 ($44) an hour doing that kind of work. The trouble is it often comes through word of mouth.

   You seem like a person who is interested in becoming a better teacher. While that is possible here, I’m not sure if it’s the best environment. Unfortunately a lot of institutions will be quite restrictive of your practice, making you use their textbooks or “method” because that’s what they’ve sold to clients. Meanwhile there are rarely financial incentives for obtaining qualifications. While employers are often quite impressed that I have a master’s degree in TESOL and it helps me get lucrative work in the first place, I’m not paid any more for it.

   I’ve heard Vietnam is a place where you can rise through the ranks and qualifications are well respected. I think in your situation I’d do an intensive CELTA or CertTESOL while staying in some resort in Thailand or Vietnam. I think International House in Thailand offers those kinds of packages for reasonable prices. If you do that, you could improve your skills and your CV and then consider whether you like it down there. If you don’t, consider Japan.

10. It’s very simple.

    If you are confused between Japan and South Korea, you should go to South Korea.If you don’t know enough about the differences between the two countries to be confused, then you should go to Korea.Korea is the home of k-pop, which all Americans adore

11. If you want to teach in Japan, apply to JET. Substantially better pay, worth the lengthy interview/application process, government-run, and often with perks (some places have free rent, etc), and better working hours work/life-balance.

    A lot of the teaching companies out to make money in Japan are very predatory with staff. They know you’re here for a good time and not a long time, and aren’t likely able to pursue legal action, so they are going to do some exploitative and sometimes illegal things to workers.

    I know nothing about Korea and Chinese settups. I’d suggest chatting with folks who are not paid recruiters who are working at companies you are considering to see what their experience is like before signing on anywhere.

    Best of luck.

12. this is one of the most toxic threads i have ever read

13. Yes Japan is worse, wouldn’t recommend it.

14. Do you have a degree in teaching (pedagogical degree or educational psych degree?) And if you do. Is it possible for Japanese authorities to confirm this? Because if you do you can get a proper English job at the board of education in the city of your choice. Eikawa owners are usually a bunch of Midwestern racist redneck Americans who have the audacity to think they can teach English just because they happen to kindda speak it. Stay away from those. All they do is treat foreigners like slaves. Apply with your proper qualifications to any board of education and you can get 1 to 5 year contracts making anywhere from 350000 to 500000 yen a month plus gas and free housing. Unfortunately then yen is kindda weak right now so it won’t translate to as much in dollars, but good pay non the less. At least in my experience. Some BOEs only offer yearly contracts; however they keep you coming back if you do a good job. If you do not have an education related college degree….then it might be harder to find a good paying job. Also fyi even though Japanese people respect and are considerate to foreign language teachers; there is a cap on growth and career advancement for foreigners in whichever institution they might be working at. So do not expect to work hard for 15 years and climb up all the way up to regional education supervisor. You can also break the cycle and set up your own English school and teach for real for a change. People will notice if you are a real teacher and not some born again Kentucky asshole christian poser with a fake degree. Don’t give up and keep trying! You can do it!

15. **The “worst” jobs**

    Advantage: Korea. At the end of the day, you can save a little bit on a “Bad” job in Korea. Not really true in Japan

    **The “medium” jobs**

    Advantage: Tie. While you can save a little bit more in Korea, the visa system in Korea leads to less freedom and more abuse. It’s harder to move in Korea.

    **The “best” jobs**

    Advantage: Japan. Pay is not good in Korea at all. Uni pay is horrible. You can make more in Japan and get more vacation.

16. Depends on what you plan on doing here.

    ALT / Eikaiwa work that isn’t through JET pays abysmally low.

    If you have a degree and publications:
    You can work at private schools, international schools, direct hire opportunities come easier, university Jobs. The options are vast and the pay will vary depending on your field and skill.

    There is also the option of doing a low level job at first and working up to a manager, director or dispatcher. But you better be great at your job or the only one that never quits because other people want the higher paying job too.

    All I can say is your experience in Japan all depends on why you are coming here and what you plan on doing. If you dream of saving big money and buying a house on an ALT/eikaiwa dispatch salary, tough luck. But if you have a social mobility mindset and have the right paperwork, it’s doable.

    In my personal life, I’m doing fairly well and have no significant complains or disadvantages.

    Goodluck.

17. I live in Korea (been here 10 years) and never lived in Japan but I studied there and visit. My husband and I found food, coffee, and snacks in Japan cheaper than Korea. Pay in Korea for English teachers is still 2.1-2.3 million won even after 10 years (I’m not a teacher anymore, but in my last year it was becoming more difficult to save money because of inflation. Things are not as cheap as they used to be). I think taxes and public transportation are cheaper in Korea but housing is about the same now. In Korea, your housing is “free” but technically that is part of the pay since there is a giant deposit of 10-50,000,000won before monthly rent that most teachers don’t have to deal with (sucks when you get married and wanna start dealing with jeonse though lol).

    Overall I think it just depends on which country you’d rather live in.

18. In pretty much every metric I’m doing better in Korea than in Japan.

    The only way that Japan was better was number of days off, but that’s mostly due to public school in Japan vs Hagwon in Korea.

19. The pay’s ok. I earned 200,000 after rent, bills, etc. I needed about half of that for food, coffee, and general expenses, and I ate and lived well. Then, I’d have the other half as completely disposable. It’s really not so bad for a singleton, and the work was anything but stressful. Probably the easiest day job of my life.