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Teaching Languages

Guest1
edited December 2008 in General
I'm thinking about becoming an English teacher overseas for a couple of years, probably in Japan, after getting my Bachelor's. Then I may come back to SFU to do my graduate, perhapes becoming a Japanese professor...

The thing is, I have no idea how to do this. Who is the advisor I should see about this?

Has anyone ever done an overseas English teaching program like JET? What is it like?

Also, do you guys think the TESL is worth getting? I know that all you need is a Bachelor's to teach English overseas, but will having a TESL give me an advantage?

Is being a Japanese professor like being other professors? I know for professors of science and such, you need to publish research papers every couple of odd years... but since Japanese is already an established language what kind of papers could a Japanese professor write, really

For the record I'm planning to major in Humanities and doing an extended minor in Asia-Canada studies. I may be pursuing a Liberal Arts Certificate and a Religious Studies Certificate as well....

Comments

  • iVamp
    edited December 2008
    You dont need a bachelors degree to teach english over seas.

    I dont know the requirements myself but I know of several people who have gone, a few of which do not have post secondary.
  • Guest1
    edited December 2008
    ^Yeah, I've heard of some programs where people who finished high school can go... but I think some more reputable programs you need a post-secondary degree and some even requre TESL
    Do you know what those programs are called? Are those people doing it for a couple of years or as a career?
  • xxk1nky
    edited December 2008
    You don't necessarily need a degree to teach English overseas.

    My sister did the JET programme and really only did it to live in Japan and enjoy the culture of Japan. Teaching really isn't her thing and she found herself bored with the actual job. She said the JET programme was really good though! I can give you her email if you want.

    My sister's ex-boyfriend and my old coworker also teach English in Korea. So if you're interested in that too, I can give you their emails as well.
  • Guest1
    edited December 2008
    Did she go to the JET program through SFU? I heard mixed reviews about the JET program, like they don't prefer Asians and the interviews are crazy, lol.

    I'd love to go to Korea but they don't teach Korea at SFU and I don't plan on going to UBC or Langara to take the Korean classes there... I know I don't need to know the language to teach overseas but I'd like to =T
  • xxk1nky
    edited December 2008
    summerheaven;41980 said:
    Did she go to the JET program through SFU? I heard mixed reviews about the JET program, like they don't prefer Asians and the interviews are crazy, lol.

    I'd love to go to Korea but they don't teach Korea at SFU and I don't plan on going to UBC or Langara to take the Korean classes there... I know I don't need to know the language to teach overseas but I'd like to =T
    She did it right after she graduated from SFU. Prior to that, she did take Intro to Japanese at SFU and she was fine. And she was Asian! And if I recall correctly, there were three interviews into getting hired?
  • Guest1
    edited December 2008
    I read some stuff online about the JET program and I was a little iffy about it, but maybe it's because the experiences were from people in the US.

    Did she do any other preparation beforehand? Did she get the TESL or do the JET Career Development Program?
  • Myname
    edited December 2008
    What you do is learn Japanese for a year.

    Watch some RAW anime and Japanese dramas.

    The Japanese kids will be amazed by your superb English and hopefully you can get by with your subpar Japanese.

    BTW, getting a degree in English is useless. If you want to teach Japanese kids grade 1 English, there's no point in your super awesome essay writing and oral skills. And I don't even know what you're supposed to do with a PhD in English.
  • iVamp
    edited December 2008
    Do you even need to speak the foreign language of the country you're going to, to teach the language?

    I know of people who speak little to none of the foreign languages they taught english to.
  • xxk1nky
    edited December 2008
    summerheaven;41990 said:
    I read some stuff online about the JET program and I was a little iffy about it, but maybe it's because the experiences were from people in the US.

    Did she do any other preparation beforehand? Did she get the TESL or do the JET Career Development Program?
    Nope, she didn't do TESL. She just took some basic intro courses during her last year at SFU. And no, she didn't do the JET Career Development Program either. My sister said that JET actually teaches you Japanese while you're in Japan.
  • Guest1
    edited December 2008
    iVamp;42112 said:
    Do you even need to speak the foreign language of the country you're going to, to teach the language?

    I know of people who speak little to none of the foreign languages they taught english to.
    No, you don't, but I'd like to know the language there... especially if I don't have much support (as in, people), then I'll be wandering around the city attempting to find my way or buy things.
    Myname;42110 said:

    BTW, getting a degree in English is useless. If you want to teach Japanese kids grade 1 English, there's no point in your super awesome essay writing and oral skills. And I don't even know what you're supposed to do with a PhD in English.
    I never said I was getting a degree in English, haha. I actually don't plan on taking any English courses at all =]
    xxk1nky;42113 said:
    Nope, she didn't do TESL. She just took some basic intro courses during her last year at SFU. And no, she didn't do the JET Career Development Program either. My sister said that JET actually teaches you Japanese while you're in Japan.
    That's good, I'm not going to do TESL, hahaha.
  • jer3
    edited December 2008
    i'm actually doing the same thing as you mentioned. in about 2 years, i should be done my bachlors and i'll be heading overseas to teach english for a year in japan. not sure which agency i'm going with yet but i have lots of time to research. one thing i would recommend from what others have told me is to try to get a placement in a major city like tokyo, osaka, nagoya, fukuoka. if you go to the more rural areas, its going to be more difficult overall since many of the locals won't know much english.
  • Guest1
    edited December 2008
    Those major cities are first choice for people though, it'll be hard to get them through popular programs... if you find out anything, let me know! I have 4 years to go but I'm already started to research a bit...
  • argento
    edited December 2008
    Hi summerheaven.

    First of all, SFU doesn't offer Korean lessons for academic credit. But a friend of mine takes Korean in SFU's Continuing Studies program. Check it out here:
    http://www.sfu.ca/korean/

    And as for TESL/TESOL, the same friend is working toward getting her TESL/TESOL degree at SFU, but from what she tells me, SFU's TESL/TESOL certificate is not accredited by the TESL/TESOL organization or something. I don't have the details, but she says it's best to get it from Vancouver Community College (VCC) because they have the best program.

    Hope that helps.
  • jer3
    edited December 2008
    summerheaven;42170 said:
    Those major cities are first choice for people though, it'll be hard to get them through popular programs... if you find out anything, let me know! I have 4 years to go but I'm already started to research a bit...
    true. you can also try to find prefectures closer to city centres. chiba, kanagawa, saitama if you want to be closer to tokyo. another thing is, kansai region (osaka and surrounding areas) speak with a thick dialect so you might want to avoid that area if you want to learn standard japanese.
  • Guest1
    edited December 2008
    argento;42337 said:
    Hi summerheaven.

    First of all, SFU doesn't offer Korean lessons for academic credit. But a friend of mine takes Korean in SFU's Continuing Studies program. Check it out here:
    http://www.sfu.ca/korean/

    And as for TESL/TESOL, the same friend is working toward getting her TESL/TESOL degree at SFU, but from what she tells me, SFU's TESL/TESOL certificate is not accredited by the TESL/TESOL organization or something. I don't have the details, but she says it's best to get it from Vancouver Community College (VCC) because they have the best program.

    Hope that helps.
    Aw, darn... they don't give you credits?! That sucks... I might as well take Japanese. But it's impossible to get in =(

    Yeah, I don't think i'm going to get the TESL at all, hahaha. Thanks for the information!

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