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Teach Abroad
Abroad ESL Teacher for Interac Full Time
Interac is a well established private provider of assistant language teacher positions in Japan.
Abroad ESL Teacher Job Description
What’s an ALT?
Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) is a title coined by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to describe native-level English speakers working in Japanese classrooms.
Interac’s ALTs work in elementary, junior high, and high schools throughout Japan, with many teachers assigned to teach in at least two school levels. The most common situation is working as an ALT in elementary and junior high schools, with more time teaching spent at the junior high school level. You can expect to teach classes on your own, with a Japanese teacher present to help manage the classroom. With rare exception, you will work under the guidance of Interac as our employee and are not a member of the schools’ staff.
Your job as an ALT is two-fold: language instructor and cultural ambassador. These two aspects are inseparable, and you will become an expert in both after a comprehensive initial training program.
Our ALTs are a part of elementary, junior high, and high school communities all across Japan.
In your schools, you’ll work with Japanese teachers to facilitate smooth presentation of the school’s assigned English curriculum. This may include preparing worksheets, model pronunciation and reading, demonstration of target language dialogs and similar tasks. In addition, ALTs are commonly asked to review and comment on students’ homework notebooks and other written work, as well as conducting one-to-one or small group progress assessments.
Job Description
But the heart of the ALT position is so much more – aside from just being a language instructor you are also a cultural ambassador. Sharing your own background and culture becomes a canvas for using English and gives meaning to what your students are studying.
- Positions: starting year-round (Most in April)
- Working Hours: Weekdays between 8:00am and 5:00pm.
- Commuting expenses reimbursed
- Teaching Hours: Typically three to five 45-minute classes per day
- Salary: Between 2.4 – 2.7 million Yen per year
- Obon (summer), New Year’s holidays, national holidays, and paid leave
- Career Navigation Program: Professional and skills development program available to our instructors
“ALT” is a title coined by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to describe native-level speakers of English working in Japanese classrooms. As an Interac ALT, you are not a member of the schools’ staff but an employee of Interac, and therefore, you work under the guidance of Interac.
Your typical day as an ALT
As an Interac ALT, you will be scheduled to teach approximately 20 to 25 classes, 45 to 50 minutes each, per week. Assignments are usually scheduled between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Weekends and evenings are usually free, as are public holidays. Weekend activities for which you might be assigned to include occasional school sports or culture days.
Below is a sample of a schedule of an Interac ALT working in a junior high school.
Each class is identified by grade level and class number (e.g. 1-1 is Grade 1 – Class 1).
Abroad ESL Teacher Job Requirements
As well as having the mental aptitude and a desire for the challenge of living and working overseas, to be eligible to become an Interac ALT, you must:
- Be a native-level speaker of English
- Have received an education conducted in English for at least 12 years
- Have at least a bachelor’s degree in any subject from an accredited university
- Be a team-player that is professional, flexible, cheerful, and energetic
- Be under 60 years of age
While not required, it helps your chances if you:
- Hold a driver’s license
- Have teaching experience
- Have a teaching qualification, e.g., CELTA, DELTA, and TEFL
- Have studied a second language at school or university
- Can speak some basic Japanese
Abroad ESL Teacher Salary and Compensation
Salary
As an Interac ALT, you will most likely receive a gross annual salary of approximately ¥2.4 ~ ¥2.7 million per year. Interac pays salaries in equal monthly payments.
Under our Standard Compensation System, full-year contracts will usually run from April 1st to March 31st of the following year. Typically, the first and last months are not a full month of teaching, so your salary will be adjusted accordingly.
National income tax and employment insurance is automatically deducted each month from your salary. However, local residence taxes and health insurance are not deducted. Learn more about national income tax, employment insurance, residence tax, and health insurance in the respective sections below.
Your salary is deposited into your bank account on the 20th of the following month. For example, your April salary is paid on May 20th. When payday falls on a weekend or national holiday, the salary is deposited into the account on the preceding business day. Depending on the starting date, your first salary will be received approximately six to eight weeks after the start of employment.
