Hello! I’m wondering, all things considered (cost of living+salary) in Japan. What area of the country/type of school might provide the highest saving potential. I have a 120hour TEFL and will have a Bachelor Education from a Canadian University within 2 years time. I also have 2 years experience teaching in Vietnam and China, as well as online teaching experience at home in Canada.
I know international schools tend to pay the highest, so this would be my preference.
Any advice on this matter based on your experiences/knowledge would be highly appreciated!
PS. My majors are sociology/english
PPS. If you think Japan is not feasable to save money, suggest other countries.
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Thank you !
6 comments
Get a job working in a Uni.
(While doing that)
Do your Masters online.
Publish 2 papers (peer-reviewed)
Finish Masters.
Get a job as a contracted full-time Uni teacher.
(While doing that)
Become an officer in a professional education organization (like JALT or JACET).
Publish at least once a year.
Present your research/curriculum design/etc. at conferences as much as possible.
Contribute something to the school. (Japanese uni love people who go above and beyond. Head down, do your work, isn’t enough.)
Get a tenured position.
As for where, Chubu (Nagoya area) seems to have good pay. I worked at a Uni in Kanagawa and the pay was much less for more work. I’m in Nagoya now and really enjoying it. Not the most exciting city, but I’m happy with it.
Best of luck!
Japan certainly isn’t the place to go to save money. And unless you have a teaching license and 2 years experience teaching a subject, international schools will not be interested in offering their better roles. The general TEFL experience doesn’t usually count toward that.
You say you worked in China so you should know their salaries trend among the highest in TEFL work.
Japan is too saturated for salaries to be that high. PhDs are competing for non-tenure University slots. That’s the kind of certification creep going on.
Teaching English in Japan will not get you a high salary. If you’re fine with that, by all means come to Japan. If you’re not, rethink your priorities.
The highest salaries are in UAE/Saudi Arabia/Qatar
TEFL/Bachelor’s isn’t really going to get you much more than a dispatch private JHS/SHS. Only like $3000 a month
If you want to teach at a legitimate international school, you will need an actual teaching license. You can probably get $5000 a month in that case. Decent enough
The people who make the most money are those that work full-time gigs at Universities. You can get between $5000-$8000 a month. Of course, you need a Master’s (minimum and many are wanting PhDs too)
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My honest advice would be bolstering your credentials in Canada first and foremost (Can be Master’s/PhD, teaching license, I.B. certification etc) MA/PhD for Uni, License for Intl School and I.B. for I.B. schools (I.B. schools can actually pay over $5000 a month)
You’ll make more teaching at any level in Canada, especially Ontario where the wages are the highest. You will also get a nice pension and job stability that is difficult to get in Japan.
People from the g8 don’t come to Japan for money.
Teaching in Japan and high salary are two things that are not synonymous with each other.
I would not come to Japan for the money as an English teacher, but for the experience. I don’t earn much but am happy here. If you stay longer than a year, you are going to have to pay resident or city taxes as well as a rather high cost for health insurance fees. If your main goal is to earn money as an English teacher, I would not come here to Japan. Although the experience here is amazing, with a limited budget as a teacher you might not be able to experience as much as you may like. I eat out occasionally but traveling abroad and even domestically are out of the question. I am older so other jobs are not feasible for me at my age. If I was younger, I would be more motivated and find a well-paying job that has an opportunity for advancement. At my age, I am happy to have a job that pays. Yes, you can think about teaching at International schools, but the competition is stiff. Some people have a teaching license from their home country and have taught for awhile before they come here to teach at International schools. If you have such credentials, then by all means apply for these schools. If not, I am not sure how you will fare as an applicant against others with such credentials. Also, nothing is guaranteed as an English teacher in Japan. The contracts are for a year at best. If your goal is to earn a lot of money here as a teacher, I would not even entertain coming here. I would come here for the experience though and keep looking for another high-paying job elsewhere.