ANNOUNCEMENT: Anonymous comments

こんにちは peeps

Ninja Gaijin here.

Some of you PM'd me asking if they could post comments anonymously (since you need a google ID).

SO TA DAAAAAAAAA!!!

Anonymous comments are now open.
Comment to your hearts content.

Experience with Gaba corporation - Part 1

こんいちは peeps,

Ninja Gaijin here and in this post, I'll be covering my experience in applying to an English Instructor position at Gaba corporation.

Before I begin, I would like to mention that there are a lot of posts online that criticize their methods/treatment of foreigners. After some extensive research, I've noticed that their claims are baseless and it's their own damn fault for not reading the contract properly. I'm not praising any party here, but sometimes, you need to use some good ol' fashioned common sense. I will write another post about the controversies if required.

One day I was just strolling around Gaijinpot.com when I came across not one but thousands of English teaching jobs. This English teaching gig is quite common for gaijins and I though, 

"Hey! It's been a while since I actually taught someone. I do have some experience in teaching people and its an easy sounding job. Maybe I should try for it. So I sacrificed a sheep on minecraft for the almighty Google God and I published the results on Teaching English in Japan.

Aaaaanyway, I decided on the Independent contractor gig as I would have more time for myself. And Gaba was the first result to pop up. Filling the application form was straight forward,

Name: NinjaGai...oops...Real name

Resume and a cover letter.

One days later, I get an email for an initial Skype interview. The Japanese are really efficient in this way. Japan being on the other side of the world meant that I had to get up super early (I'm clearly not a morning person) and I had 20 minutes to freshen up, take a quick shower and wear a shirt and tie.

He messaged me ten minutes before the scheduled time asking if I was ready and then he called me on the dot. They mention in the email what they will ask you, which is the usual boring stuff.

"Tell me something about yourself...

"Why do you want to come to Japan...

"Why do you want to teach English....

While I wanted to reply to all with
"BECAUSE I WANT THE MONEY BI@TCHES!!!!......and also come to Japan.....

I decided against it. Stating the usual, generic, monotonous answers sugar coated enough to give them diabetes.

The interviewer was a nice guy, and wasn't Japanese, which kinda bummed me out a bit. We then had a small mock lesson where he role played a typical Japanese student and I had to explain the difference between two words. He then told me he would be sending me a test to check my English and then determine if I qualify for a second interview. We said our goodbyes and ended the call. 

Overall, the entire interview took around 30-40 min (typical) and it was quite basic. Then again, its expected for someone applying to a teaching position....I guess.

.....to be continued in Part 2

As usual, leave comments and share.

Learning Japanese

Konnichiwa everyone,

Ninja Gaijin here and today lets talk learning the Japanese Language.

I'm sure there are tons of resources online and offline that you can use to learn the language. I just want to give you a word of advice.

STAY CLEAR OF SITES/COURSES THAT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE AN EXPERT in x number of days.

Let's be realistic here. No language in the world is that simple to learn.
A few words and phrases?....definitely.
basic conversation?.....maybe.
Simple conversation?......uh....ogenki-who?
Fluent?.........you know where I'm going with this.

I started learning Japanese 3 weeks ago, since I found out that I got a job. Until then my Japanese word count must have been in the 50's. Thanks to all the anime, manga and (cough) porn.... which.....I.....came.....across.....during......research.....YES!! Research! FOR SCIENCE!!!!

Chances are you probably know some basic words like Konnichiwa (hello) and Sayounara (good bye) and the other words that you might have come across during your research.

But WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE GOOD AT IT?

It all depends on what's your definition of good.
Do you want to be able to ask if they speak English?
Do you want to be able to order food in Japanese?
Do you want to have meaningful conversations with a native?
Do you want to be an editor for a newspaper?

If you answered "YES" to one or more questions. DING DING DING DING! YOU JUST SET A GOAL!!!

Next you need to decide whether you want to read and write or just speak. Studies have been done which show that 95% of communication is speaking and 5% is by reading and writing.
Personally speaking, it's always better to read and write as well. Just put 5% of your effort. That should be a good start.

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN JAPANESE?
The Japanese script consists of 3 parts

1. Hiragana - The rounded characters like はい (Hai, which means yes)
2. Katakana - Sharp characters and used to write anything that sounds foreign like アメリカ (America)
3. Kanji - All the pictograms which are supposed to make the language easier to understand like本(Japan)
4. Romaji - Japanese written in English like "sushi"

TRIVIA - Kanji has been devised from the Chinese script and many people believe that learning it will reveal the true nature of the language.

Damn! Is there anything in the world that's not MADE IN CHINA?? (I mean that in a good way)

Hiragana and Katakana have 71 characters each and kanji has (you might have to sit down for this) 81000 characters. 

If you're still conscious, you better drink a glass of water (or coffee/tea/Vodka)

If you're like "F#@% THIS SHIT". I'd rather learn Chinese. Well, you're not alone. 

It takes balls of steel and a dedication only rivaled by Rocky to get through this. You need to also check the payoff. Find out which one are you

If you're 

• Just coming to Japan to visit - Simple sentences are good enough.
• Work in Japan for a while and then go back home - Maybe get a little proficient.
• Live here for the rest of your life - Better get fluent.

I'm not going to sugar coat it, but if you've decided to stay for a long time, you better get very VERY good at it.

Next time, I will write about my (patent pending) method of learning.

Adios amigos
Ninja Gaijin

Leave your comments down below and I will answer then as soon as I can.
And as usual, share this with your friends.

Teaching English in Japan

こんいちは (Konnichiwa) everyone,

Ninja Gaijin here and today I'll let you know about teaching English in Japan.

There are three types of English teaching positions available for Gaijins.

1. Independent contractor.
2. Assistant Language Teacher
3. Private Teacher

Independent contractors are what companies like NOVA, GABA and other 4 letter words call their "employees". What this means is that although you are a contractor (of sorts), you do not get to enjoy ANY benefits - this includes transportation costs, medical insurance, flight charges, paid holidays etc etc. Up-side is that you can schedule as many classes as you wish. May it be 10 or 200, it's totally in your control. You will be paid a FLAT RATE for each class that you teach (there are several terms here such as a booked class, an open class and you will be paid IF AND ONLY IF you TEACH someone). Thus, your monthly income will fluctuate depending on how much time you put into your work.

Assistant Language Teachers or ALTs unlike the previous category has a fixed rate of income per month. You have to take a fixed number of classes (like 25-30 hours a week) and the rest of the time is spent grading papers and other administrative work. You just stand around while a Japanese teacher teaches the students. You have to give an example or two when asked and have no other say whatsoever. Remember the guy with the monkey that does tricks on the sidewalk? Yep, you're the monkey. Plus side is you get paid around 250,000 yen/month($2100) and other benefits.

Private Teachers have the most lucrative jobs. Teach when,where and to whom you want and get paid handsomely (which comes to around 3k - 4.5k yen ($25-35) per hour. Downside is to find students. Do exercise caution, as there are a lot of stalkers and creepers who can/will/may do some serious stuff (there was a report in which a teacher was murdered by one such guy). Then again, it's just one bad apple in the bunch.

Leave a comment if you have any questions or experiences.

The next time I will write about my experience in applying to one of these positions.

Until then.
さようなら
(Sayounara)

JAPAAAAN!!!

こんにちは(Konnichiwa) everyone and welcome to this blog.

I've been in the blogging circle for quite some time. Some of you might notice my writing style and many of you might have been loyal fans of my other works (before I stopped writing them).

Aaaaaany-hu, JAPAAAAAAN.

The land of the rising sun, Mt. Fuji, Sakura season, teenage girls in school uniforms, anime, otakus, sushi, miso soup, teenage girls in school uniforms....Did I mention that? O well, there can't be too much girls in school uniforms....right?

Sooo, where was I? Right! School uniforms....errr... I mean Japan. Japan was what I meant....right? Right?

Having recently finished my (second) Masters (I'm so modest), the job market in the UK....well....sucks. Recession? Government? Well, that's not something I'd like to get into in this blog (and I ask you not to start a flame war in the comment section).

But all reasons aside, after staying at my parents place for a few months, applying to God knows how many companies, the roles seemed too menial for very little pay. So I decided to check out opportunities elsewhere. Which brings me to.....

JAPAANNNNNNN!!
(By this time you might have realized I might have some feelings for Japan)

After googling a lot of sites (apparently dedicated to Japan), I failed to find something rich in
first-hand knowledge (although there were some that were quite good). And therefore I decided to publish my own experience(s) in applying, travelling, working and living in Japan, while also giving some insight in learning Japanese (which you'll see shortly).

So, sit back, relax and enjoy my stories...

It was a not-so-dark and not-so-stormy night.....