This week some Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi students asked me why I was teaching English in Japan instead of working in Canada. Great question!
After completing my university studies in Canada I longed to travel abroad but needed to work too. I’d read about teaching English as a second language (ESL) in Japan and Japan seemed like a great place to work teaching English. Being an English teacher in Japan seemed like a great opportunity for someone like me coming out of university. I could earn a good living, experience Japanese culture and hopefully pick up the Japanese language too. In addition, by being Canadian I could get a 6-month Japan working holiday visa which could be renewed once, for a maximum 1-year working holiday in Japan. I decided to go for it and came to Japan in 1997.
I first went to the Osaka Working Holiday Center there which lead to me getting a job teaching English in Yamaguchi Prefecture. I later taught English in Tokyo. Once my working holiday ended I wanted to stay in Japan because life was good. I easily got sponsored by English schools for working visas. I eventually ended up back in the Kansai area where I’ve been teaching English since 2002 at Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. Being owner and English teacher there has given me the greatest satisfaction to date and my students of English have been a joy to teach.
Derek
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