There seems to be a myth going around that if you are a
foreigner who wants to work in Japan as an English teacher that you must be a
native English speaker (English is the your first language). Although that
may be true in a country such as South Korea, it couldn’t be more wrong in
Japan.
I spent several years working in South Korea in the
education sector and in order to get a valid working visa to be a teacher you
had to be either from Canada, America, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand
or South Africa. You had to have received your university degree from an
accredited English university as well. I have met some Canadians who were not
able to get a job teaching in Korea because they went to a French language
university.
In Japan, the rules aren’t as demanding. I’m not really sure
why this is the case. Maybe Japan has been open to foreigners working as
teachers for a longer period of time. Maybe officials realize that non-native
speakers can teach English just as well if not better than many native English speakers. I really don’t know.
Over the years, people from various
countries around the world have been emailing me and asking me if it is
possible for them to teach in Japan even though English is not their first
language. The answer I give them is “YES.” In my years in Japan I have worked
with a large number of teachers from a wide variety of countries. Many of them
have not been native English speakers. I have had coworkers who taught English from
India, Pakistan, Sweden, Philippines, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Spain,
France, Malaysia, Singapore, China and Brazil. Many of them were fine teachers.
Many people around the world have a profound interest in
Japan. Some love Japan for the food and language. Others are more interested in
the pop culture; things such as manga and anime. Some are attracted to the
fashion and cool and fast-paced life in a city like Tokyo. Many are interested
and want to come to Japan to work and live. Some of those people see the route
of becoming an English teacher as an effective path in getting here.
In order to teach English in Japan and qualify for either an
Instructor’s Visa (needed to teach in public schools, colleges and
universities) or a Specialist in Humanities and International Relations Visa
(needed to teach in private language schools and kindergartens), you need a
completed university degree (one or two year diplomas/Associates Degrees don’t
count) and a very strong grasp of spoken and written English. If you have those
qualifications, there’s nothing stopping your from trying to get a job as a
teacher in Japan.
Long story short, if you are not from a native English
speaking country, don’t let that stop you from trying to come to Japan if you
are really interested.
You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev
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