I’m a 28 Y/O male, and I want to become an English Teacher. I want a change in my life, and I want to do something new and exciting. I’m not here to be a english teacher for a year then leave, I’m willing to dedicate the next ten years of my life to this career path. Thing is I want to know how to become a english teacher in the first place. I’m not fluent in Japanese but I do know the basics of Japanese which is a good start in itself. I was also in Japan for a year when I was in the Airforce, so I know the lifestyle pretty well.
About me:
6’2
Male
28 Years Young
Military Veteran: Airforce
Former City Cop
BA in Criminal Justice
AA in Criminology
7 comments
Get a teaching license. What state are you in?
You could get a bachelors that grants a cert or join an alternative certification. Then, work for two years as an English teacher. Then apply for international schools in Japan!
Since you seem pretty sure you want to be an English Teacher (as opposed to ALT), the best prospects are with private/international schools.
1.) Get a teaching license (in Washington I believe it’s with OSPI)
2.) Get a TEFL certification (in Washington this is ELL)
3.) Teach English in Washington for 2-3 years
4.) Apply to private/international schools looking for English Teachers.
If you’re looking into JET, I would be a bit careful with your background unless you have experience working with 13-18 year old delinquents. I had a friend who had a similar background (bachelor’s in criminal justice, cop for 2 years) and they got placed in a very rough school (students would get physical, spit in their face, not show up for class, etc)
> About me:
>6’2
Too tall, you are doomed to fail .
all you need to teach in Japan is a bachelors degree in anything. Look at current jobs on Gaijinpot.com. You can earn a degree online in the meantime on teaching for more high paying teaching jobs. Fastest way if you just want to get out there asap!
Go to JET.
If nothing else they will sponsor your VISA, and you’ll get paid well. There’s also no rhyme or reason to placements. It just depends what the schools/BoEs tell JET they are looking for.
If I were you, I would get on JET, get the experience and in tandem I would get a qualification to become a proper teacher while ALTing in Japan. When you’re ready move on to whatever you can, universities and international schools will pay best and I can tell you that unless you have a rewarding side hustle, ALTing is a dead end. The 5 years on JET were enough.
To keep it balanced, JET is not perfect. Every single JET I know has had a certain degree of bad experiences during their time here. Personally I would do it all again, the positivity outweighs the negativity. To be honest, the biggest and most important variable is the applicant. If you come here thinking “oh fuck, this is gonna suck” then I promise you it will suck, and I promise you the reverse is true too.
Best of luck to you.
Why did you put your height..
Since you’re a veteran, you can get hiring preference for certain federal jobs. You might have an easier time with applying for a job at one of the US military bases in Japan— whether it’s at a DOD school or something unrelated to education. (Of course you’ll have to meet whatever qualifications and credentials they require.)