Nova in Crisis and Life in Japan

There is a crisis for foreign teachers who came out to Japan with Nova and I hope everyone effected by this gets back the salaries (especially) and refunds they are owed. Also, I hope Japan stays a place where people can still safely come for a cultural experience they might not otherwise have, sharing good times with friendly Japanese students and people from all over the world.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Japan
• Nova
• english
• teaching

[jas03000]

I 've seen other vids and the english teachers

don't know japanese very well. How can you

teach a langauge and don't know how to speak it well. Are the qualifications very low to teach there?

[Starfires]

Usually Japanese isn't used in the classroom as it cuts down on time for students to concentrate on English- some Eikaiwas even ban it altogether. For sure, knowledge of it can help with understanding student mistakes, though. Overall, the most important 'authentic' qualifications for teaching are patience and a sense of humour. These are the qualities that the most successful teachers I've met here have in abundance.

[thewhitekimby]

Don't count on it. The air quality, working conditions, and pay are worse in China and Korea. China has nine out of ten of the world's most polluted cities.

[Blissi18]

lol, don't take this wrong way but you remind me of the main character in the movie Atlantis. (don't remember his name) but cute. ><

[kindlewood]

I worked for NOVA for 2 years in the mid-90s. At first it was a bit tough and stressful, but their method of teaching is very easy to learn and can be quite effective, if you have the right mind set, patience, and a good sense of humor. It wasn't perfect, but over all, it was a great experience. I met my wife while there and travel back quite often.

NOVA is now back up and running. Not sure if they've changed at all, but I'd work for them again.

[Pelagius69]

@yellowhusk

-Humility's also very much a Buddhist trait.. ;)

[Pelagius69]

@Starfires

A working knowledge of Japanese is very useful, to be sure. It can be used to help beginning adults with vocab, help understand where the student's errors come from, and also to let kids know you understand them when they might try to make fun of you. ;)

However, patience is an absolute, a sense of humor is a bonus, knowledge of English grammar and parts of speech VERY useful, and, of course, a genuine care. These things are much more important than knowledge of Japanese, IMO.

[goku123531241]

きめぇ、ホモみてぇな喋り方してんな豚が

[yellowhusk]

Very nicely done. I appreciate your natural humility. Are you a Christian?

[snarf66]

I guess I should add that as it is a monthly salary, the payment is not based on the number of hours worked. This is the same for pretty much any company that pays its workers a monthly salary. I know of a lot of people who work a lot of overtime and do not get paid for it (Japanese company workers). However, part of the contract at geos guarantees overtime pay, so it is better than many other Japanese companies in that way.

[snarf66]

At geos, you get a monthly salary, up to 29.5 hours work. This includes lesson prep time, actually. Anything over the 29.5 hours is paid in overtime.

[jinglerdodat]

Hi, I worked 7 months for aeon, 4 for nova before the collapse. Aeon was good, but there were some drawbacks. Some of the drawbacks, you don't get paid to prepare lessons, this you do in your 'free' time, I believe geos is the same way, so at first you may be actually working 10 hours a so or more extra for nothing, also you have to sell a lot of extra materials, other than those things, it was good. You will teach classroom style and you can choose adults which I would recommend.

[Skyheights99]

I worked for Nova for 3 years and look back on it as a really enjoyable time. Met some great people, travelled a bit, earned good money and hopefully helped a lot of students to improve their English speaking skills. Sorry that lots of other people wont get that chance now.