so i got my TESOL back in May 2021, and applied for the first job I saw on ESLcafe. i was accepted to a school in China, and i remember feeling excited to do a year here before moving on.
i started in september 2021, so it’s been nine months. one of the main problems from the get go was the way the school is set up – there’s the chinese school itself, then there’s us, a kind of international offshoot. the kids do their normal chinese curriculum from week to week and we see each class four times a week.
now, due to this situation, we find ourselves at the mercy of what goes on at the school at large all the time. if kids need band practice, our lessons get cancelled. if kids have oral exams coming up in their chinese english classes, we have to use our lesson time to help prepare them. most difficult for me is the feeling that the teachers at the chinese school actually resent our department a little, and feel they could do it better themselves. these chinese teachers act as co-teachers in our class, and tend to make suggestions and suggest changes to my lessons while i’m in the middle of doing them, which is just stressful. in the past they’ve marked papers in the back of class instead of helping with translation, or stood up for kids while i’ve tried to discipline them. all this gives me the feeling that my job isn’t taken seriously at times.
what’s more, ours is a programme where, if the parents have the money, the kid gets in, leading to huge ability gaps in classes, and weak, demotivated students (some of which have learning disabilities) disrupting the stronger students.
in the first semester, i started getting more and more disillusioned, and was drinking a lot as a result. coming to class hungover, teaching shitty lessons. my boss made it clear i needed to change if i was to keep teaching here. i took a month off the booze and semester 2 started off well. what’s more, i met an amazing girl while travelling in cambodia, who told me she was moving to my area in august to study. with this, i started convincing myself that staying could be possible.
but things started wearing me down again. as well as our primary classes, the international department teaches 12 to 13 year olds on friday evenings, when both they and us have already had a full day of classes. this situation is an organisational clusterfuck – teachers spend the first ten minutes of most lessons chasing after kids who are skipping class. the kids who are there do NOT want to be there, and we’ve basically been told to not take it personally if students use our lessons to catch up on their chinese homework. again, their parents have the money to spend, so the kids go to the classes. the problems with the co teachers in primary escalated, and i had a big FUCK IT moment last week, where i decided i wouldn’t stay, and that it was time to try somewhere new. this has meant breaking up with the cambodian girl, as we can’t do long distance forever. its also costing me money every maintain this relationship
do you think the problems i’ve outlined here are common in japan, also? or with a little time and research am i more likely to find a job with more freedom and better organisation/management in japan? (oh yeah, i didnt mention the teaching partner system at our school, where me and another foreign teacher take it in turns to plan entire units. his style is totally different and i find myself bored out of my mind when teaching his units. also, compulsory office hours are a bummer)
i’m also much more interested in japanese culture/food, which is a plus. but this just feels like a huge crossroads. im losing a girlfriend and burning bridges with a good friend here and im not sure if its cause im just throwing a tantrum and quitting when the going gets tough. what do you think? maybe people who teach in japan could give the pros/cons of their situation to help me out
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Teaching in Japan isn’t really teaching. You’re essentially a human tape recorder that regurgitates whatever the lead teachers says but in a native accent. In a sense, yes it’s more chill than what you are going through right now but you will be quite literally giving up the “teaching” part. Unless you land like a private or international school gig which is hard and you would need more credentials than just a TESOL. Also the pay for English teaching in jp is much lower than china with a higher cost of living. Just something to keep in mind.
Couldn’t tell you how to deal with things with China, although I must admit I only had to read as far as ‘I started in September 2021’ to know that the rest was going to be a shitshow.
One thing that you have to understand is that you won’t be a teacher in Japan. ALT is a bit of a misnomer, as the operative term is *assistant*. Though there’s plenty of stories of JTEs leaving everything to the ALT, in a practical and legal sense your sole responsibility is to act as an assistant in the classroom. So if the lack of control right now bothers you, be prepared for *even less* in Japan.
Also, the pay is shit and getting shitter. No surprise, it’s supply and demand, with the borders opening up slowly, the artificial bottleneck has been removed and what was already a buyers market has been made worse.
Personally speaking, if we’re talking long term actions; Japan isn’t it. Despite what people here will tell you, ALT is a short-term stint job, not a career. As for China, I couldn’t tell you. Part of their expansionist preparations involves a instillation of xenophobia, so I expect things are going to get worse over there before they get better. CCP is going to be a thorn in your side. But if you want to stick it out, it’s certainly not impossible. Plus I hear foreign English teachers are paid obscene salaries, though I don’t know how true that is now.
There is the third way, of course, which is to get out of dodge and either head back to your home country or go to another one entirely. I hear Vietnam is on the up due to an industrialisation effort (picking up the slack as China is moving away from being the world’s sweatshop) so if you’ve got some savings and want to live in a dirt cheap but very interesting country, it’s definitely not out of the question.
Those are my two cents, hope they help.
>i’ve outlined here are common in japan, also? or with a little time and research am i more likely to find a job with more freedom and better organisation/management in japan?
I didn’t read most of the post but you’d be coming at entry level, no Japanese speaking skills and most places don’t give a fuck about your CELTA. You’d need to knuckle down for a few years before you found anything worthwhile.
I’ve been here too long to leave now but if I was a new teacher I’d probably stick it out in China a while. More chances to make money and more opportunities. Much less competition for good jobs – for example – you need an MA plus academic publications to get work in a uni here.
>so i got my TESOL back in May 2021, and applied for the first job I saw on ESLcafe.
You’re going to judge the whole of China based on this job? Trust me the first job you land here is unlikely to be amazing.
I’d say the majority of newcomers here work either ALT or eikaiwa. ALT is human tape recorder, usually poor salary and often unpaid vacation time. Eikaiwa is often like a language mill, you teach 7-8 classes a day from afternoons through to evening and it’s as much customer service as it is teaching. You’ll also probably work on the weekends.
Likely you speak no Japanese and have neither a teaching license nor a TESOL MA (with publications, too). Most teaching positions require one, two, or all three.
That leaves low-paid eikawa employee or ALT dispatch. These are education-adjacent jobs, not teaching positions.
You probably couldn’t tolerate those jobs, either, considering your issues with the school there in China.
>maybe people who teach in japan could give the pros/cons of their situation
There are few pros to working without an MA or PhD in Japan. All the problems you describe are not unique to China – this is how the ESL industry is everywhere for people who don’t have any formal teaching qualifications.
To get a decent job in ESL in any country and make it into a viable long-term career, you need at least a MA TESOL. Otherwise you are at the bottom of the heap which means your only options are ow-paying, entry-level jobs with long hours where management treats employees like cattle.
If I were you, I’d leave China and head to a different country, because it sounds like it’s worn thin for you. You could work anywhere in the world, enjoy the culture, the food, the freedom of movement, make new friends, and get all you can out of traveling – then, when you’re tired of it and want to settle down, go home and get a different job.
Sorry, but TESOL certs don’t mean anything in the feild of education. You either commit to an MA, or just enjoy what you can get out of your TESOL cert for as long as you realistically can before going home and going into a completely different feild.
You’re on the wrong continent.
I taught in china almost 4 years. Chinese work culture is much more relaxed and jobs pay better. You’ll probably have less time off in japan, depending on the school. You will surely work more hours in Japan. There will be shitty school no matter what country you teach. Overall I enjoy life in japan more. China was far more fun and I was able to save far more money.
I like Japanese food just fine, but how can anyone enjoy it more than Chinese? Sounds like you need to get out more
Wait… are you sending money to your “long distance girlfriend in Cambodia” every month???
Everything you described is the same in Japan the only diiffrence is the pay will be way worse.
I’ll be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t hire you.
You don’t sound like someone who could put all their effort in their work if they are even slightly bothered by something.
Getting that out of the way, paper certifications means almost nothing here. Unless you have a masters (or above) and publications, you aren’t getting a professional teaching job.
The best you can do is get “assistant” teacher, eikaiwa, or tutor jobs. Since the skill ceiling is so low, the pay is also generally low too. Some eikaiwa do pay a decent wage but those are private businesses and usually look for qualified people with experience in Japan.
Your only other options are direct hire or private school. (Real International schools are out of the question unless you’re a licensed teacher). These options tend to be for people already in Japan.
I wish you luck. Personally, I would shop around in China first for a better job. But it’s up to you.
Japan isn’t a magical place that makes your problems just go away. If you come here with problems, they will only become exaggerated. Then you’ll be bitter and hate Japan because it didn’t magically make things amazing.
>im losing a girlfriend
When do you expect to get a new one? Think very carefully about what your next move is.
WTF, why are you disciplining kids? Then you come to school hungover because you don’t like the job? It’s not the kids fault you have unrealistic expectations about your school. Don’t come here ever.
Most of the issues you described are also present in Japan
>get treated as a joke by other departments
Yup
>Have no authority in class and other teachers think they do the class better
Double yup, you will be the one in the back of the class most of the time in Japan
>weak, unmotivated students pulling down strong students
Super yup
>Kids prioritize other classes more
Yup
At least your pay will be much worse and no one will ever ask you to do anything more than show up and not be drunk.
The good news there is that you would fail just as hard as you are failing now.
I’ve been in China for 7 years. If you have an easy out, take it. That’s all I can say to you. Ignore this advice at your own peril.
JCJ bait.
Don’t come to Japan. You’ll ruin the foreigner image more. People who go to work drunk should not be a teacher.
I’ll never understand the attraction of Japan, especially among the more sleazy/exhausted/depressed types.
You drink too much? Well you can’t even afford to drink in Japan.
Smoke too much? Well it’s near equivalent with America, between $5 and 6 a pack, and while you can smoke inside most places you’re also rushing lung/throat cancer— is that nice?
You’re exhausted from work? Well Japan has you don a goddamn monkey outfit every day, tie and button-up, you teach more hours than elsewhere in East Asia, and most places refuse you to have a bottle of water while on job, so what do you think is going to happen?
Japan’s a louse. The reality is that Japan is great for extreme otakus and people who can’t move on, be that they love it there, are married, or are terrified of change. Japan is by the far the worst place you can go to teach English in East Asia; even Hong Kong is better (so long as you’re a woman, anyway).
China is the best, by the way. You get paid the most, the cost of living is low, and it’s an awesome place so long as you’re in a good place (probably a major city with a high expat area as China sucks locally). But you still might hate it, fine; Korea is a great alternative in that case financially and freedom-wise. If not Korea, then Taiwan is an amazing place but you won’t make much money unless you go a bit harder for it.
Anyway, I’m not judging you. I was a depressed person when I worked in Japan, and I was near fluent for that matter too, but nothing helped. Once I moved away, everything got a lot better.
As for the girlfriend— I have no idea. I know all about meeting people in foreign nations and falling in love and never seeing them again at this point. TEFl is a lonely world; get it through your head. This isn’t a job for bachelors; it’s a job for adult couples looking to embrace something new, or apathetic bachelors in their early twentys with a thirst for body fluids. But for bachelors in their late twenties or thereabout, this is a miserable field.