In most cases, one should look after a permanent position at some of the big Language Schools like Berlitz, Gaba and others.  But other than professional language teachers, there are some who are already living in Japan on a work or study visa, and teach English on the side. Well, English Teaching is “still” one of the high paying jobs in Japan, tempting many company employees and certainly students to teach private English classes to  individuals.

Well, having individual contracts is good for both the teacher and the student; where the former does not need to pay any taxes + enjoys a flexible schedule  and the latter does not pay to the schools, making it more affordable for students as well. A 3000 yen/hour rate is quite common in Tokyo and most parts of Japan, but some more experienced (and lucky) teachers could get as much as 10,000 yen/hour. There are many online places where you can register and get students such as Pittari-Sensei (personal favorite),  Altavista? and senseisagazu + many others on the Internet.

Although it pays well, I should note that this type of teaching is very unstable sometimes (you could loose your students form many different reasons) so unless you have a stable income from some other source, I would not recommend relying solely on the part-time job. But then again, all part-times are unstable…  Also, some of the Internet sites help you find online students, who want to learn English with online chat, Skype and the like. I suppose the payment is made by PayPal but have no concrete idea since I never used these services.  + one quick search gives me http://www.findyourteachers.com/ which offers internet lessons to students.  Good luck!

I have been living in Japan for slightly over 8 years now. Still a Gaijin and will always remain so! I have seen many foreigners who keep complaining about why they are not treated in the same way as a Japanese. They keep telling you how they suffer from discrimination when they have tried to rent a room or at work… This is a quite typical trend among the foreigners here.

Although I agree that many of these problems are real, I keep telling myself that its their country and nobody forced me to live here. I made a choice and I had my good reasons. So, when a weired 70 year old lady starts to talk loudly to me in train just because I am playing with my phone in the train (everybody does), I don’t even get offended. Even when she asks where I come from, or says that she has never seen such a rude “Gaijin” before in her life. Now you have seen one, I tell her, so you can die in peace! Now that’s a bad joke but the point is I don’t care what she says.

Many foreigners here teach English for a living. Before in the 90s, it was like a dream job when you could work 5 hours a day and earn plenty! I have a day job but also teach English on the side both because its good money and fun! This has been one of the joys of life here in Japan. But recently many language teachers have lost their jobs because a huge English School NOVA just went out of business. But it doesn’t affect the part-timers. I still keep earning money and enjoying life, ignoring the parts I don’t like and focusig of the big goal! The big goal? I will explain later but for now, I would say it’s a pretty common goal; becoming rich!!!