English tutoring in Japan while studying abroad. Anyone have any advice/experience?

Question:

I'm going to go to Japan next year to study abroad. I would like to teach English or just do some independent tutoring. Have any of you done this? Any advice? (Where to get teaching curriculum, what qualifications would be helpful, how to advertise/find students, etc). How much Japanese should you know? Can you tell me about your experience? Thanks :)

Answer:

"Depends" is the best answer to give.

It really depends on the students needs. Some might prefer someone who can speak Japanese to explain things, others do not. Curriculum will vary from student to student from general conversation to TEFL instruction. Some students just want to talk, others want you to explain grammar points and help pass an entrance examination. It varies.

Instruction of English sounds easier then it actually is. Merely speaking English people think it's easy to teach, not really. But like I said, it depends on what the student is looking for. I've met plenty of folks who come over thinking it is a walk in the park only to realize that they themselves cannot remember the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs.

Any case, you're better off trying to work part-time at a company, many companies hire part-time instructors who are on student visas. At least with the company you don't have to worry about getting a curriculum (one is provided to you), they usually provide you some sort of training (varies from company to company) and you get students assigned to you to teach inside your own class or room at the office/school. Much much better then the dirtbags I see charging 1500yen at Starbucks.