Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

Part II of my interview on My TEFL Journey.

Where do you see the English teaching industry in Japan heading?

I think it will continue to contract largely because the aftershock of Nova’s collapse still resonates with consumers. A lot of schools still don’t seem to have learned from the lessons of Nova and continue to abuse and rip-off their customers. Students, on the other hand, are voting with their feet and seeking out other venues such as Skype-based lessons, which are incredibly cheap.

There’s also Japan’s rapidly graying population to consider. The market for students is shrinking. All of this is putting downward pressure on the job itself. Salaries may remain depressed, but eikaiwa will trundle on with a steady supply of instructors willing to work for low pay thanks to the popularity of cosplay, manga, and anime abroad. That said, it would not surprise me if one of the large eikiwas failed in the near future.

Part 1 of a two-part interview with yours truly on My TEFL Journey.

Although you once taught at an Eikaiwa, you don’t anymore. Why did you choose to leave?

A mixture of disillusionment and boredom with the job. The disillusionment came from the realization that being a salesman was more important than the teaching itself. During the hiring process in Vancouver, GEOS played up how I was beginning a career while casually throwing in, “You’re OK with approaching students and asking them to renew their contracts, right?” I wanted the job so of course I said yes.

But once in Japan, teachers and managers came and went every few months or so. There was even a stretch of at least 3 months where my school didn’t even have a manager. The weekly meetings consisted of the manager (when I had one) telling us how much we needed to make that month in terms of new student signups and contract renewals. During renewal campaigns, head office would send faxes excoriating under-performing schools, demanding that they do better. This wasn’t anything like the picture painted for me in Vancouver.

02/09 Correction: In the first interview, I wrote: Nova’s rivals, such as GEOS and AEON, quietly switched over their fee schedules to monthly schemes to avoid the wrath of their customers and avoid any potential lawsuits over lesson refunds. A reader pointed out that this was incorrect for AEON (and I believe GEOS, too). Both AEON and GEOS still charge everything up front.

I stand corrected. Don’t know where I got the notion from. Probably got it confused with children’s lessons, which are charged on a monthly basis. Thanks for the clarification.

It's a slow news day at ELT News:

Language school owner condemns websites that allow anonymous posting

March 01, 2009

Kevin Burns, who runs the greenlist of schools in Japan, a list of English schools that come up to certain standards and are considered good to work for, has condemned forums and websites that allow anonymous postings. Kevin says, 'I think if people are going to publish negative reports about schools, they should be willing to stand by what they say. They should have the guts to publish their real name.'

He went on to say that, 'If they (hide behind a pseudonym), then it is just slander and websites that allow that slander are not worth your time. In fact, they really should be sued,' and added, 'I think it is time for many websites to mature and have some integrity about what they will allow...I suppose this will occur after some school goes after and sues a website.'

Kevin has been fighting to present language schools in Japan in a more positive light for some years, arguing that most are family-run businesses with conscientious owners.

You can see the full text of Kevin Burns' statement on his greenlist blog.

Not this shit again. We've been down this road before.

What forums and websites is Kevin condemning? What websites is he calling on to mature and why? Kevin might gain some credibility if he had the "guts" to give his readers some actual information instead of randomly poopooing some people out there...somewhere...who have websites that he doesn't like.

If you're looking to catch up on what's happened in the Nova ripoff scam, Liberal Japan has a good collection of links to various news and blog articles.