http://www.heart-school.jp/en/index.html

I have a phone interview with the above people and was wondering if anyone has any experences with them? All I could find on the next was a bad forum post from 2006 about a bad experience in 2002, and a brief comment on one in 2011 saying they were ok. The internet being what it is I can not rely on old or solitary posts for reliable information!

They seemed fairly honest so far I was told:-

The wage is low but I wont starve ( although in currency teams it is almost double what I am on now in England)
Company accomdation is small but bigger than tokyo
I will likey be in an area where there is little no english language and no living/lifestyle suppourt and thus will have to fend for myself for the most part.

Though I would like a better picture before accepting any possible offer, thought anyone?

I do not have a TEFL and CELTA is too expensive for me but I have thought about using these guys (http://www.teflonline.net/courses/) Anyone used them? Heart does not require a TEFL but I thought it may be benificial in helping provide better quality teaching to the children.

eggcluck Wrote:I do not have a TEFL and CELTA is too expensive for me but I have thought about using these guys (http://www.teflonline.net/courses/) Anyone used them? Heart does not require a TEFL but I thought it may be benificial in helping provide better quality teaching to the children.

If you only want to learn about teaching and don't require a certification, you can learn everything from CELTA by reading a book like Teaching English As a Foreign Language. What you really get out of the courses is real teaching experience, with lots of valuable feedback from your tutor and group. The 'how to teach' series is also pretty good for grammar, pronunciation etc. They introduce approachable linguistic theory and how it's applied in the classroom.

All of that is in the context of teaching adults though, and Cambridge actually has a separate course for teaching English to children. I'm sure there are plenty of books on teaching kids as well.

Oh dear! Run for the hills, my friend.

Take what I say with a grain of salt.
They are as low as you can go down the chain with only two exceptions. They mass hire and then when the Board of Education tells them they have no contract tell you to find another boat. Check around the usual places and you'll see they are everywhere - that's not a good sign.

Second to this, you will be dead in the hard countryside. I mean that you will be in the middle of Japan around and above Ibaraki - Fukushima is just up the road. You add to this that you will probably get charged over and above the going rate for your accommodation and they'll rip you one in fees on the way out and you're in a bad spot.

Finally, the pay rate is worse than you think. Check the way they pay. It's out there: You get paid by the number of days per year you work not as a monthly salary - do the math, if you get paid 12 days of the month, you are in deep poo. If you're getting under 12,000 for an 8 hour day then stay home - trust me, after 8 hours of kids, especially if you're in a bad school, you'll be fried chicken ^Hello KFC. Oh, don't forget you don't get paid for all of August.

Start applying for something good, my friend. AEON, Interac, GEOS/NOVA will eat you alive with extra (unpaid) days of work if you don't sleep and live between lessons, but Heart will steal your soul.

Notes:
# I have never worked for them.
# I have been processed by them.
# I was lucky not to work for them.
# There is much better out there.
# They will place you outside of a major city.
# The above could be a good thing.
# Don't expect to walk away with any money from Japan.

Note: I am extreme in my views of CELTA/DELTA/MA TESOL/Trinity Certificate/etc.

Don't get one, you'll regret it. Remember you are talking about ALT work. I mean some of these companies will employ you based on the fact you have a heartbeat (right time, right place, right native language). A CELTA would be overkill and you would have wasted A LOT of cash. Basically, an ALT in a junior high school would do the following:

Opening:
"Hi, teacher."
"Hi, Eggcluck."
"Hi, class."

Review something they have learned:
- Maybe a classic game like 'row race' where the students have to ask a question such as "Do you like [food]?" and answer "I like [ham, eggs, ～～]" <--- for example. The row to finish gets 1st place and so on.

Present the new stuff:
- Write up on the board today's question and answer. The teacher and you then elicit the meaning in Japanese. You then do some drilling (students copy you speaking).

You play some game:
- Maybe they are learning "Would you [verb] (someone) [something]" - example: "Would you buy me this car?" You can then hand out some small cards. You've taught buy, get, find and all the cards have items on them. The students mingle and get signatures. Set up a scoreboard on the board with categories (A+, A, B+, B, etc.) and if they get more than a certain number of signatures they can fit in to a certain catagory. Clap. Job done.

Rinse and repeat if you have time or review something else or play another game with the language.

------

You can get that off the internet, if you want to.

Now, what I'm trying to say is that the job is so easy that you don't need to waste money on certificates that will teach you stuff that isn't going to mean much when you are facing 30+ kids on your first day. To be honest, nothing will prepare you for that. You just need to man up and get the experience - qualifications aren't that useful.

Now, one reason to get it is to get a better job. Japan LOVES certificates. Get one if you want a better job - or not, as you'll find with 1-2 years you can pretty much talk anyone in to giving you whatever you want (I did just that). By the way, Heart is not a better job.

P.s., If your certificate is not one of the ones above, make sure its free because employers will laugh you out the door with a hearty "you payed for that?"

# I have never worked as an ALT, but 60% of the non-locals I hang with are.

I won't tell you my story, but I'll give you something useful.

Beliefs needed to be successful in Japan as an ALT/Teacher.
# I will walk away with no money except what I came with (maybe), but that's ok.
# I am an incredibly tolerant human being and am willing to give of myself fully to others.
# I am willing to take my chances as this is important enough.
# If I fail, I will take my visa (valid for 1 year) and get something else.
# I am willing to take the luck of the draw and go anywhere.
# I have a back up plan that I will use anytime.
# There is no shame in running away, if called for.
# I will accept Japanese labor standards are different from my own and live with that fact.
# I will accept that my time in Japan may be a waste of time, except what I choose to take from it.
# I will accept others' fears of me and of my language and realize they are not my problem and, thus, do not affect me.
# I'm here for a good time, so anything that happens is all good.

On the practical side.
# Learn what's out there.
# Apply for every single company you can right now.
# You are only getting started. Trust me, once you really get looking you will start to understand the bigger picture - at least 10 interviews in you will get what its all about.
# Try Gaijinpot with practical questions. Ignore anyone who doesn't say anything useful.
# Avoid forums, if you can, as they will get you down.
# Look for native English speaking human resources. If you get someone Japanese who doesn't seem to know what they are doing then forget it. Also, make sure they are not an English teacher. Solid companies have human resource departments and coordinators who are native speakers.
# Recruitment outside of Japan is pretty horrible. They screw you over badly. Look at it as a 1 year commitment and nothing more. Move out of the company after that and find something better (if the job is only half ok).
# The school year starts in April for ALTs. If you are getting an offer that doesn't start then, then someone pulled a runner and they are filling gaps, which means they will take anything.
# Do not come over unless you have a visa that is processed and done (In the case of Heart they hand it over at the signing in Japan. This means you are unable to jump ship as they have the only thing that will let you work here - no visa, no work, bye, bye.)
# Try not to work for under 200,000 yen unless you are dead sure you don't mind spending your own money. It's not that you'll spend all that; it's just that, that is not really enough to have a real life - the one you've become accustom to, I mean: Food, shelter, new clothing, internet, etc. 225,000 is the minimum unless its part time, ok.

Thanks you the input guys as always!

I simply googled for those schools with good reputations adn got this :-

http://www.how-to-teach-english-in-japan...japan.html

While not all of them want experience and very few recruit outside of Japan I have noticed those that do still seem to want a TEFL. Though that may have to make me rethink my TEFL plans since the link before was an Online as it was not a requirement for heart it did not really matter. But for those that do require it I am under the impression they do not take seriously any online TEFL courses. Some of those places seem to offer September starts so that may be an option. JET is out of the question due to my Living in England with an Irish passport, so it is no dice without an Irish address and bank account ( Getting a UK passport while attempted has proven virtually inpossible due to my mothers lack of family history)

I never expected an easy time, in fact hours of unpaid work is already part of my life and it has been since the military ( they gave me 8 hours pay but were often on duty for 16 even when not "in the field") Now I simply throw unpaid hours because I work in hospital and like to help out.

Beofre starting the process I had some saving as I expected to "bleed" spending over my earning to date I have about £8000 which is roughly around 1M yen. While I might prefer to be a reasonable distance to tokyo, though I do not necessairly want to be in the city. I just sent some messages to people in my Lang-8 friends list asking about good places, they will probably not know but " you dont know unless you ask"!

I haven't heard anything good about them.
I've been in charge of recruiting new teachers, too, and some of them had been working for said school as well. They weren't really happy with them.
Always a good place to look around and ask for advice is the eslcafe forum:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/index.php

I wouldn't take that position if I could help it. Knowing what I know about such contracts it probably has these features:

1) Lower wage than you think you can live on.
2) Someone telling you "it's enough to live on."
3) Less than 12 months in the contract.
4) Talk of "days per month" worked rather than a real salary despite the fact that they will continue to call it a "salary."
5) Not being paid for August because you don't work in August.
6) Not being paid in April because your contract ends in Feb. while your next one doesn't begin until April. (This not being mentioned up front.)

Run for the hills my friend. It is not worth it. They are seeking to take advantage of you. I've been in your exact position, and thankfully I ended up finding a much better situation.

I have heard that their support for ALT's is not great, and that in a lot of cases you'll be left to fend for yourself. I've also heard of lots of bureaucratic hassles. If you really are qualified to teach in Japan then you will be able to get a better situation than the one you're being offered.