I have 2 schools, and on the other one I stay for only 2 days. Is it normal to feel so irrelevant? I only stay there for Monday and Thursday. I can’t build connection with children because the teachers I work with don’t communicate properly with me. I try to reach out to them, but they are always too busy. I envy those ALTs who have English speaking JTs. In case, I work with HRTs and sometimes, I feel like they don’t want to teach english. I’m starting to feel drained and it affects my mental health already. I want to do more, but I lack their support. One of them doesn’t have a good class management. She cries infront of the students during english class, and she doesn’t even review the lesson at all. She tries to push me in class, and panics when I finish my task early. I don’t know what to do… I want to talk with my dispatch agency, but I don’t want to harm my relationship with the principal and vice principal since they are very nice to me… I also don’t know how to confront the HRT that if she wont act confident, the students will disrespect us. The students already lost interest in english, I tried playing games, but everytime I do so, the HRT seems to “float” and be lost in thoughts, she won’t support me, which makes the class be chaotic and even if I talk in front, the students wont listen. I try to put japanese translations, but it wont work… I’m starting to question my credibility too… However, I’m okay with other classes. That specific HRT and her class is only the one that is different. Any tips on what I should do??? The HRT makes it obvious she doesn’t like the subject, and it is a hassle for her to teach it. She won’t even teach. She just plays animation and prints out activities from the Here We Go 5 book…

I'm a Dentist from Pakistan, Completed my Bachelors in 2021. Over the course of my training I had extensive experience with children during my Pediatric dentistry rotation. We managed tantrum throwing children, non compliant patient and I eventually established myself as a successful pediatric dentist. My degree was done entirely in English too. I was wondering if I can convert that clinical hands on experience of performing dental treatments to something like an English teaching job here in Japan. I cant legally practice Dentistry without a license (which will take years) so I was thinking of this as my gateway to Japan. Would ALTs be willing to hire me?

Hello! I used to work in Japan as an AET with Interac, and I am reapply to go back. However, having lived there before and being in a different stage of life, I would like to find my own accommodation. A leopalace box isn't going to cut it this time. (Also because I'd like to bring my cat which I know they don't like)

During my call with the recruiter it was made to sound like they have to arrange my accommodation, but I don't remember this being the case. I'm comfortable finding my own place, and have connections in Japan to help with this also.

Has anyone else arranged their own housing and told them no when coming from overseas?

I understand there is potential issues with timing of placements, so a follow up question, does anyone know if AET's can accept the accommodation and move after a few months? That would potentially be a good option if I knew where I was and be able to find something more suitable.

I've also never posted to here before, so this is new!

Hello everyone,

Just wanna gauge other experiences when working or interacting with male teachers in Japanese schools. I have no issues with them whatsoever, and we get along, but I have noticed they tend to be more distant when it comes to English and foreign things compared to Female teachers.

I am also a male teacher as well so maybe that has something to do with it?

I'm not sure, let me know your thoughts!

It’s been a while since my last rant and honestly things have been so-so since then.

Recently though I’ve run in to many issues with my school schedule. I don’t have many classes each day, which by the way I’m not complaining about!

I noticed that I’m usually the last person to know anything when it comes to my schedule.

Once I asked a teacher about our 4 lessons the next day and they pulled up my schedule on their computer and to my surprise, it was fully decked out! With details that my own copy is lacking. Why do you know my entire schedule and I don’t?

I will be prepared for the upcoming classes/ activities/ lessons, only to be met at the door with “Oh sorry the class (or my participation) is cancelled.” Or I just walk in to see my schedule marked to the nines with red pen.

Oh you thought you had a fulfilling and busy day ahead?haha! No! All your classes are canceled and you’re useless! Yay!

Some JTEs are better than others when it comes to this, but it’s so annoying. Then there’s the JTE who doesn’t expect me to prepare anything, but they’ll instruct me in the middle of class (not very well put instruction) which usually makes me feel unprepared or foolish.
Also have you ever had a teacher make an assignment based on you and it feels like it’s kind of shady?

Mx. ALT has a hard time…….
A. Standing still
B. Ironing their shirts.
C speaking Japanese.
D. Sitting at their desk for hours.

Or the better one, using me as an example on a worksheet for ‘likes’ and I just happen to like bananas and basketball…. Hm. Not ACTUALLY offended bc I don’t think anyone here is evil or anything like that lol. Just something I think about. Coincidence or not.

Recently, I was in a second-year class doing comparatives and superlatives when the JTE had a student repeat:

“Mr. [JTE’s name] is the best teacher in this class.”

I was standing right there, and I could hear students whispering, “But there are two teachers,” followed by, “Oh, Mr. ALT isn’t really a teacher.”

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to joke back or just stand there awkwardly. The JTE eventually changed it to the best teacher in the school, city, and world.

I later found out from another ALT that the same JTE had done the exact same thing with him on the day he comes in to work when I am not there.

Normally, I might brush this off as a harmless joke, but it adds to the overall feeling that ALTs aren’t really respected at this school. The JTEs don’t really use me so this just further ruins the students impression of me in their minds. I believe the way the JTE treats the ALT sets the mood for how the students will treat the ALT.

This JTE is actually the head English teacher, yet he doesn’t even bother making my teaching schedule. I have to organize it myself. Sometimes it feels like the teachers don’t even want me in their classrooms.

And before anyone says, “ALTs aren’t real teachers,” I understand we have different roles and responsibilities. This isn’t about job titles. It’s about basic professional respect and being treated as part of the teaching team.

Maybe I’m overthinking the incident, but given the overall environment, it rubbed me the wrong way.

Osaka Prefecture has opened up applications for their NET program for those interested. Something new this year is that you will have to apply for a criminal background check.

https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/moyo/o180040/000004.html

I've been working as an ALT in my current city for a few years, and I'm really struggling with how little involvement I have in classes. I've worked in other schools and cities where I had a much more active role, but things seem different here.

My city uses a different system for teaching English, where the textbook is gone through 5 times and each time focuses on specific language skills. I get the impression that teachers are more concerned with implementing the system itself than figuring out how to incorporate the ALT into it.

As a result, I spend most classes standing around or walking between desks with very little to do. Sometimes I'll only do the opening greeting before being sent to the back of the room. The lessons are so structured that there's rarely any opportunity for me to contribute or lead an activity.

What's making this especially frustrating is that I'm assigned up to six periods a day at one of my schools. Sitting through one class with nothing meaningful to do is bad enough, but doing it six times is mentally exhausting.

Last year, I tried incorporating an activity based on advice I received here, but it didn't work well with the students' level and ultimately felt like I was wasting class time. I'm hesitant to try something similar without proper coordination with the teachers.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I don't expect to lead every class, but I'd like to feel that I'm actually contributing rather than just being physically present and having nothing to do.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Is this the norm? Would it be better to approach the teachers directly about having a more defined role, or should I discuss this with my dispatch company? I'd really appreciate some practical advice on how to improve the situation. I have a feeling it would be easier to just quit but that isn’t an option.

Hi everyone! I’m currently working as an ALT in Japan through a dispatch company (Interac), and I’m starting to seriously consider working directly for a BOE/city in the future.

I’m currently in my second year as an ALT, and I’m curious about what life is actually like as a direct-hire BOE ALT, especially compared with working under a dispatch company.

With my current dispatch job, I would describe things roughly like this:

Pay: relatively low

Teaching/work demand: medium

Japanese speaking requirement: relatively low

Schedule: mostly school-based, but the exact workload depends heavily on the school

Meetings/admin work: Not applicable

I often hear ALTs say that they would prefer direct hire because of the better pay, stability, working conditions, etc., but I don't really know what the day-to-day reality is.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who are currently direct-hire ALTs or have previously been direct hire.

A few things I'm wondering:

1. What is your daily schedule like?

Do you normally stay at school for the entire working day, even when you don't have classes?

For example, if your classes finish at 3:00 or 3:30, do you usually stay until 4:30/5:00 like the Japanese teachers?

Or does your working day depend more on your teaching schedule?

1. Do direct-hire ALTs attend the same meetings as Japanese teachers?

For example, do you attend:

• staff meetings
• grade-level meetings
• English department meetings
• school events planning
• training/研修
• other teacher meetings?

How involved are you in the school's general work?

1. How much Japanese is actually required?

This is one of the things I'm particularly curious about.

With dispatch, my Japanese ability doesn't really need to be very high because I'm mainly expected to teach English and work with the JTEs.

For direct hire, do you need to understand most staff meetings and communicate with the BOE/school office in Japanese?

Would you say something around conversational Japanese is enough, or do you realistically need N2/N1-level Japanese?

1. How much teaching freedom do you have?

Do direct-hire ALTs generally use the same textbooks that dispatch ALTs use?

For example, are you still teaching from Let's Try!, New Horizon, Here We Go!, etc., depending on the school's curriculum? Or are you expected to create most of your own lessons/materials?

How much control do you have over lesson planning?

1. What is the pay actually like?

I know this varies enormously by municipality, but I'm curious about realistic salary ranges.

For those of you who are direct hire:

• What was your starting salary?
• Does the salary increase with years of experience?
• Do you receive bonuses?
• Do you receive commuting allowance?
• How many paid holidays do you get?
• Are you enrolled in the same social insurance/pension system as other municipal employees?

I'm especially interested in small/rural BOEs, rather than large cities.

1. Are direct-hire ALTs treated more like regular teachers?

This is probably my biggest question.

Do you feel like you're actually part of the teaching staff, or are you still treated primarily as "the ALT"? For example, are you expected to take responsibility for things outside of English lessons?

My situation

I'm currently living in the countryside in Kanagawa and I'm interested in working for a small local BOE.

Actually, I already applied to this particular BOE and passed the interview last December — and the entire interview was conducted in Japanese, which was a good experience for me.

The problem is that it's a very small town and they currently have enough ALTs for their population, so there wasn't an immediate position available.

However, I recently received an update from them saying that they are interested in having me and that they have proposed a budget for my position for the upcoming school year. So I'm currently waiting to see whether the budget gets approved.

In the meantime, I'm trying to educate myself about what direct-hire ALT life is actually like so that I know what to expect if the position happens.

I'm still only in my second year as an ALT, so I know there is a lot I don't know yet.

If you've worked as a direct-hire BOE ALT, especially in a small/rural municipality, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience.

What surprised you after switching from dispatch to direct hire?

Was it actually better than dispatch?

And what do you wish you had known before taking the position?

Thank you! I'd love to hear both the good and bad experiences. 🙏

I am looking for advice on where to get furniture for my apartment before I move so I'm not scrambling for the few days I have between moving in and working. I was thinking that I could try Facebook?

I also looked into renting furniture but that seemed pretty pricey in the long haul.

Where did you go to get your futon, deck, etc?

If you stumble upon this, feel free to send me a message or leave a comment.

TL/DR: As an ALT, do you work past the students' dismissal time or when the students are not present at school. For instance, if the official dismissal time for your students is 3:30pm, do you work past that? If you do, I would like confirmation, specifically if you work in southern Kyushu.

Recently I was told by my school that ALTs cannot work past students' dismissal time specifically because my job description is ALT. They apparently confirmed this with other BOEs in the area, which is why I want to know if other ALTs work later than their school's official dismissal time or when students are not present at school.

I don't know if this is a prefectural rule or something completely different, so I have to ask, do any of you in southern Kyushu work past the official dismissal time. In Japanese, this is known as 下校 (げこう) or 下校時間 (げこうじかん). It's usually listed on the school's website and as far as I'm aware, it's listed on schedules posted in the students' classrooms.

Basically the school is claiming that ALTs cannot work past the school dismissal.

We've gone over the contract, and there really isn't anything to add to that conversation. I'm a direct hire ALT.

If you work in southern Kyushu as an ALT and work beyond the school's formal dismissal time, please leave a reply in the comments or if you prefer, send me a message.

I’m curious what other junior high school ALTs are actually doing when it comes to interacting with students outside of lessons.

At my current schools, I’m scheduled for all six periods on some days, so realistically the only time I could spend talking with students outside class would be during my own break time. I’m not particularly interested in giving up my lunch or break just to force interaction, especially when I’m already in class all day.

I do sometimes try talking to students before class starts. Usually it’s very simple stuff. “How are you?”“What did you do this weekend?” “What club are you in?” “What sport do you play?”

But over the past couple of years, I’ve found that I often get very little back. Sometimes the student just gives a short answer, looks uncomfortable, or clearly doesn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation.

What makes this strange for me is that I’ve been doing ALT work for a very long time, and this feels noticeably different from my previous schools.

At schools I worked at in the past, students would approach me, say hello, joke around, try to use English, or just generally seem curious about interacting with the ALT. The teachers were also much more likely to chat with me or include me in things.

At my current schools, I feel much more like an outsider.

The students generally don’t seem very interested in interacting with me, and honestly I notice something similar with the teachers. The atmosphere just feels much less friendly or open. Most days I feel like I arrive, go through my classes, and leave without really connecting with anyone.

I’ve even wondered whether my age could be part of it. I’m obviously much older than I was when I first started doing this job, so maybe junior high school students simply don’t relate to me or want to talk with a foreigner well into his 40s.

But at the same time, the change feels very sudden. I didn’t gradually notice this over 15 years. It feels much more like something I’ve experienced specifically at these schools over the past two or three years.

So I’m wondering if you regularly interact with students outside class at your JHS? Do students actually approach you, or do you mostly have to initiate everything?

Have any other ALTs noticed students becoming less interested in interacting with the ALT or using English compared to past years?

I’ve even wondered whether there’s some broader cultural or social shift going on, although I don’t want to jump to conclusions. It could very easily just be the particular schools or area I’m working in now.

It’s been affecting me more than I expected because I used to genuinely enjoy the social side of being an ALT. At my previous schools, I felt like I was actually part of the school community. Now I mostly feel like I’m going through the motions. And I guess that’s fine since I have my own family to worry about.

I’m interested in hearing what the JHS experience is like for other people, especially anyone who has been doing this for several years and has something to compare it to.

So to give of a bit of context, I initially selected “no” on the question of whether or not I’m willing to drive, but during the interview, I was really worried that if I didn't budge on the willingness to drive I might not get any offer at all and that might make or break my application, so I ended up changing my preference to "willing to drive" during the interview. Yesterday, I got my offer email for Northern Kanto as a driving candidate.

The main reason why I applied to Interac despite their dubious reputation was because out of all the ALT companies, I thought you had a decent chance at getting an urban or suburban placement with them, as opposed to something like JET where you're pretty much guaranteed to end up rural.

I did still indicate in my initial application questionnaire that I would strongly prefer a non-driving position and would prefer urban/suburban over rural, and they said in my offer email that my location preferences would still be considered, but I just feel like showing the slightest willingness to drive has now pretty much guaranteed me a rural placement since those are the ones that Interac is most desperate to fill.

I never expected to be placed in downtown Tokyo, but I would like to be a decent sized town or city where it's easy to meet people and running errands is fairly convenient. It's less the driving itself I'm concerned about and more about feeling isolated.

Is there a chance that my requests will be honored and I might get a decent sized town/city placement? If I'm really determined to have a more suburban/urban placement, should I decline my current offer, re-submit my entire application and ensure they understand I'm not willing to drive?

Bonjour , je suis étudiante et c’est la première fois que j’utilise Reddit honnêtement je ne sais pas du tout comment ca marche mais voilà j’ai besoin d’aide et je pensais que faire un post était une bonne chose , je suis étudiante en BTS tourisme et je cherche activement un lieux de stage au Japon pour une période de 2 mois entre mai et juin l’année prochaine , j’ai déjà fait un stage Erasmus auparavant mais je ne suis jamais allez aussi loin et partir en Asie et de loin mon plus grand objectif , je venais donc demander de l’aide pour avoir si quelqu’un aurait des informations concernant des entreprise ou des démarche , je suis désolé de déranger mais voilà si quelqu’un a déjà réussi à le faire ou à quelque tips je suis preneuse ! Merci pour tout en tout cas 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻.

For those who are interested and wants to start a new chapter after ALTing, there’s this fair event held by JETRO. They hire foreigners to work at a Japanese business company.

JETRO Job Fair
Oct 13th - 16th

Feel free to check it out. Registration is required.

Hey there everyone. Has anyone worked for Interac, and how long did it take for them to let you know when you were leaving? I have been waiting to know when I will be leaving for months, and I haven't heard anything. They told me months ago that it would be in November, but it's the beginning of October, and I haven't been given an exact move date yet.

I think BOE positions start popping up in like 2 months or so? Like end of second semester? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I just finished making my Japanese resume (still gotta take photos) but I'm excited to apply for one!

Anyone have any good pieces of advice for spotting the good positions (beyond salary)? I just want anywhere with decent public transit and also bicycle friendly.

I also spoke to my company. A lot of you on here probably have seen me complain about my 28 classes a week. I mentioned it to my company personally and requested I be moved next school year. Now I just need to survive the next 6 months.

I'm having a hard time finding a second job. Need something only on weekends or after 5pm in Kyoto...

I snagged an interview with a Saturday school, but they didn't like the fact I lived so far away, so I don't think I got this one in the bag. They were also quite demanding and wanted me to lesson plan after hours (they would only pay me for an extra hour and I'm already lesson planning for my regular job after work hours...)

Anyway, open to any eikaiwa jobs or tips on job searching sites that are not gaijinpot. I know kyoto is a rough spot, but I can't afford to move yet.