Hi everbody,
In a few weeks I am supposed to go to Tokyo where I will spend 4 months studying at Sophia University. I got a scholarship from my home university, but it’s not nearly enough for me to cover all the expenses so I wanted to find a part time job while I was there. Now, it’s quite unclear for me how work permits function for foreign exchange students, but as far as I know it’s possible to obtain one, it just takes time.
I don’t speak Japanese at all and I am not from an English speaking country, but I would say my English is quite good (I passed IELTS with 8.5 score few years ago and I spent couple of months in Australia and Hong Kong where I also took courses in English). I know there is quite a big market for English tutors in Japan and I heard stories of people giving private tutoring lessons for 1000-3000 yens. So I am wondering – is it possible for someone like me to do these kinds of lectures? I love working with people (adults and kids) and I have some experience in tutoring (not English specifically). And if it’s possible, what is the best way for me to find clients? Is it possible to this if, for some reason, I am not able to obtain a working permit?
If you have any other suggestions regarding part-time work, please let me know! I am open to working anywhere as long as I have time for my uni obligations.
Thank you!
2 comments
It doesn’t take much time at all to obtain a work permit. You fill out a form, and present it to immigration as you’re going through and they give you your resident’s card.
Your school/study abroad program might forbid you getting part-time work, so definitely ask them first.
>is it possible for someone like me to do these kinds of lectures?
As a non-native speaker, even one with very good English, the answer is “Technically yes, but realistically no.”
You’re not going to have much luck doing private lessons as a non-native speaker. Your potential customers have a sea of possible instructors, so they’re almost certainly going to go with one of the countless native speakers.
You might have some luck picking up part-time work at an eikaiwa (private language school), but there’s a lot of bias against non-native speakers there too.