Hi everyone! Hope you’re all doing well. Im currently in a bit of a plight in terms of figuring out what options would work for me in terms of teaching in Japan. I am a Lebanese citizen currently residing in Dubai. I wanted to apply for the JET programme but the UAE is not listed as a participant. On a more personal level I’m not very content with my life right now and living in Japan has been a calling of mine since i was 11. I am currently 25 and lost on how to approach getting to Japan to become an English teacher. I currently do not have teaching experience. English is my first language as my mother is an English teacher. Essentially the point of this post is getting recommendations on how I can become an ALT in Japan. Just to mention as well INTERAC doesnt recruit teachers from where I live. Also I do have a TEFL certificate. I am just wondering what my chances are? Where I should start applying? and if my goal of getting there is realistic.
Looking forward to your responses and appreciate anything you can put me on <3
5 comments
For you JET is out of the question. You or country (Lebanon) is not part of [JET participant](https://jetprogramme.org/en/countries/),and UAE also.
JET applicant is about citizen not resident.
*English is my first language as my mother is an English teacher.*
Doesn’t matter as the requirement is ” ‘a native’ speaker or have been educated in English for at least 12 years” if you want to get visa for teaching English in Japan.
Do you have a University Degree?
Read this to understand how [Moving to Japan as an English teacher](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japan101/teaching-english-in-japan/)
I think it will be very difficult. Japan doesn’t really hire out of the Middle East, unless you can prove your education was in Formal English for 12 years. University is sometimes a good way to sneak in 4 years but outside of that it can be tough unless you went to an international school or something similar.
Probably not that many really obvious options. I’d advise to get on Gaijinpot, submit a cv and apply for as many small Eikaiwa as you can find. They are sometimes more flexible, and you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.
If you’re really set on Japan, which I’m not sure why you are, you can always come here on a working holiday visa and try to get a job that sponsors you. It’s a risky one, because you’ll pretty much have a year to find the sponsor and if you don’t, you’re out of luck. But at least this way you’ll be in the country and know what it’s like and can decide for yourself if it’s worth trying to come here permanently.
>On a more personal level I’m not very content with my life right now
Japan will NOT fix this. It will make it much worse.
It’d be like someone hating their life in Singapore, so they decide to move to America stocking shelves at Walmart. Because it’s always been their dream to live in America.
Being an ALT MIGHT be fun and rewarding for the first year. But if you don’t have fluent Japanese you will quickly be worse off that you were at home. Especially if you’re working for a company that pays less than 200k. You won’t be able to save enough money to move even if you do get a better job.
And although it’s not what you want to hear, if you had what it takes to move up in the English industry here, you wouldn’t be as desperate to move to japan as you are now.
You be much better off progressing your career at home, saving money, and visiting japan on vacation or moving to japan with a language school or university program.