http://www.mutantfrog.com/2010/04/22/the...r-eikaiwa/

"Geos, one of Japan’s major “eikaiwa” English conversation chains, has entered the bankruptcy process (see Let’s Japan or any number of news reports for more details). Some reactions are declaring eikaiwa dead and encouraging teachers to look for employment outside Japan. It does seem like the old eikaiwa business model is not poised for a serious comeback barring a significant improvement in the Japanese economy. That said, eikaiwa as a concept and attractive learning option for Japanese people isn’t going away."

Geos only recruited teachers from outside of Japan so I don't think it will affect the job situation in the catastrophic fashion NOVA's collapse did. That would suppose there weren't many family men working at Geos (in my logic). I do think the public trust in eikaiwas is gone though. I was watching NHK two days ago when the news broke and they said enrollment at eikaiwas is down about 60% from 2006. This was before the Geos bankruptcy. It may be a golden age for private lessons though if you have a visa. I just put up an ad in the Kansai Flea Market offering my services.

I guess somebody translated All Japanese all the time into Japanese or something

Though I do teach for a living in Japan and will continue to do so until my Japanese is good enough to do something else, I would like to see the eikaiwa industry disappear into oblivion.

bodhisamaya Wrote:Though I do teach for a living in Japan and will continue to do so until my Japanese is good enough to do something else, I would like to see the eikaiwa industry disappear into oblivion.

Where are you teaching now, and why do you dislike the eikaiwa industry? I've heard some pretty bad things about the industry, from both English teachers and Japanese.

I don't know too much about English teaching in Japan, but I'm hoping to make some decent money (150,000-200,000/month?) once I get my new visa in a couple months (permanent resident visa). Do you have any recommendations to prepare for English teaching, or anything like that?

I don't have my 4 year degree yet (I want to teach until I finish my degree, one more year), no training/experience in English training, etc... I wonder what'll happen to me!

I see this as potentially a good thing for both Japan and the future makeup of the foreign community in Japan.

1. The more Japanese that realize the faults in the current English language learning system the less money will be spent supporting such systems. This means that money (all other economic conditions being equal that is) can go to BETTER learning sources/schools/conversation partners. If you are some socially awkward nerd who can't hold a decent conversation for 45 minutes, and/or are someone with no classroom teaching merit then you SHOULDN'T be supported in doing a job you suck at.

2. Low standards for employment = greater potential for "low standard" people. Are there plenty of super nice, really smart, well behaved English teachers in Japan? Of course. But does a low hiring standard make it easier for people who don't meet that description to make their way to Japan? Yes.

In short: The less schools there are to hire unqualified dumb asses looking for an easy way to Japan the less unqualified dumb asses there will be to flood the market. That means if you're someone who is a GOOD teacher/language partner there will potentially be less dumb asses to compete with in terms of jobs AND less dumb asses to interact with in daily life. Sounds like a win win to me.

I worked for NOVA while they were a sinking ship three years ago so I saw the worst of what an eikaiwa can be. Though, that is not why I dislike them. I just don't think they are a good investment of time and money.

I worked at an international school teaching children until a two weeks ago. The owner wanted me to hit those with discipline issues on the hand and I refused. I don't teach violence is the way to get one's way. One of my students was the owner's grandchild and I was given strict instructions to make sure he was the top of his class by year's end as well. He was the slowest kid in the class and my only option was to not teach the brighter kids. The education system in Japan all around is wacky.

I can't help feeling that terms like 'school', 'learning', and 'teacher' are used rather loosely in regard to eikaiwa. I might as well call the people who inaccurately "correct" my mistakes on lang-8 teachers.

Hopefully something like activeaero is saying comes to be. I just can't help feeling sorry for the Japanese students who actually want to learn. Whatever happened to the idea of language schools instead of McConversaion chains?

The way English is taught in the school system means there is a place for 英会話, i.e. vocab, grammar and listening but very little speaking. They're not as bad as they're made out to be IMO, most students go because they want to speak English for fun, as a hobby. There are of course bad teachers but I had bad teachers when I was in real school.

I'm just glad a lot of the schools got taken over as now isn't the best time to be out of a job in Japan.