Studying in Japan for a year

elliethecat

In October my son will be going to study at a Japanese Uni for a year as part of his degree course.

As the family income is low he qualifies for the full student loan and young person's bursary which is a great help. As the value of the pound has fallen and the yen strengthened this money will no longer go as far as we had hoped. Unfortunately several applications to educational trust funds have failed to generate further financial assistance as most seem geared towards study either in the EU or America.

We would be most grateful if anyone had any ideas as to where else he could try.

Lokolo

Could a part time job in Japan be the best thing he ever does?

Not only does it expose him to Japanse work and more language, putting it on C.V. would be amazing.

But obviously theres legislations in the way (US greencard blah).

Have you looked into that?

frostyglow

Hi there,

I worked in Japan for a year as a full time English Instructor. I wasn't studying at the time, but I did teach some private lessons on the side which earnt a good amount of money per hour.

Depending on where in Japan he is going, there is nearly always a demand for native English speakers. If you do private lessons you can choose who you teach and when you teach to work around your studies. When I went there I had no teaching experience or qualifications... I found that most students just want to improve their communication ability so talking with them and helping them by writing down sentences they don't quite get right, then getting them to spot their mistakes is a good way to go.

The only issue with this is that he would have to get a work permit (or visa) in order to be able to teach/work there. My employer sorted most of this out for me but it involves going to the Japanese Embassy in London and can take a little time to process. Unless his student visa enables him to work part time out there? Definitely something to look into.

I would imagine some people just go out to Japan to study and teach on the side without a work permit but I wouldn't recommend this as getting caught could have serious consequences.

elliethecat

Hi there. Thanks for your replies. This will certainly give him something to think about! Thanks again.

JoRowlingRocks

I'm moving abroad in a few weeks as part of my degree :j

Not what you want to hear but I don't think there are any other ways of him getting funding apart from through the SLC (good that he's getting the full amount, I'm having problems with mine!) and through the uni (bursaries, scholarships etc.).

Teaching English is definitely his best bet! If he doesn't do it through an agency make sure he only meets students in public places! If he hasn't done English Language A Level or higher I'd tell him to invest in a book about English grammar and an English dictionary because there's a big difference between knowing the language and teaching it! :P (I study teaching English as part of my degree and it's amazing how hard it is!)

Best of luck to him!

coffee_prince

There is indeed a huge demand for native english teachers in SE schools like Japan and S.Korean schools... the pay is very good as well, but this is for those who have trained and qualified etc.

There is no reason why he cannot do some private tuition or something, a lot of people do this.

Is his japanese good?

Does he ned a work permit? I thought a student permit entitles you to a certain amount of hours you can work?