Letter for all teachers interested in teaching
Asian and European language lessons and native cooking lessons

Thanks for your interested reply to our invitation to perhaps teach for us at Culture Cafe and Passport School. I will try to answer your questions here but if you can read English or Japanese well, then please look around the website to see more details about how we work.

ABOUT US

The school was set up in 1998 and our main aim was travelling lessons at offices and homes, thus we are flexible and are not a school located in any 1 place. Currently we are over 10 staff working in over 30 locations. Increasingly we are finding students to study in cafes near subway stops. We expect to find most cafe classes to be in Tenjin or Nishijin, Ohashi, Kashi. Also we may find students who want to study at their or your home e.g. cooking classes. If you think your house is tidy enough and close enough for students to come to, let me know if that is possible. Most students are OL`s and housewives and lessons are usually 1-1. Please note that if you are cooking or teaching more than 1 student, the fee will go up and transport fee might be added too.

ABOUT YOU

Please tell us your visa type and when you plan to stay in Japan till or when your visa expires. Don`t worry- it is confidential, but obviously you must have permission to work in Japan first. If you have any experience of teaching your native language or any kind of teaching instruction, please tell us the details now. If you like, you can also send a resume by fax or email if you wish to, but more importantly we want to know about your teaching experience and when you expect you are available to work until. Please mention how good your spoken and reading Japanese skills are too and if you have a car or moped too (as this is useful for travelling lessons).

WHAT TO DO NEXT?

Once we have your details and a very brief self introduction, you can receive vacancies in your inbox of any new jobs which arise each month. Please be patient- at the time of writing, this is all a new plan and we can`t predict how much success if any we will have with non English language lessons. However, if you are willing to send us a head and shoulders jpeg. photo of yourself (via your computer or ktai phone), it will greatly increase your chance of finding work since you will will then appear on our website (About teachers page) with your self introduction plus perhaps on our new flyers.

RESPONDING TO VACANCIES

If you think you can do a vacancy, then please reply as soon as possible and write the following words in english in the email subject box `REPLY TO JOB VACANCY`. If you write this, your mail will get faster response because we get a lot of mail every day and only promise to answer mail twice a week unless you write the above message. Also if you can read and write English, then please tell us if you can read English because you may sometimes be writing to an english speaker.

ABOUT WORKING FOR US

If we offer you a job, usually it will be on a regular schedule, but some classes are flexible system and the lesson day and time may change. Salary is paid only at the post office (so you need to open a post account) on the 15th of each following month (1st to 31st paid on 15th of next month). Contracts are signed initially for 3 or 6 months trial period, notice both sides is 2 weeks-1 month. The lesson fee starts at 2500 yen for cafe lessons but may be higher for home lessons. Questions about curriculum we can answer later, but basically I think our cafe lesson students are looking for an international friend and conversation style lesson, other lessons by the course.

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Since we may never have met, a suggestion to get to know you better is to come to our monthly social and cultural events e.g. International Dining Club. This club is a mix of foreign and japanese speakers and meets informally to make friends and sample food in different restaurants. In fact we often do a theme e.g. Chinese New year party at a Chinese restaurant. Anyone who wants to celebrate your native festival day with the Dine Club and can suggest a place and a party to us, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you! We emphasis events as a way to use your skills! Another way you can help us is if you are willing to contribute to our school newsletter . We usually interview by email a foreigner with some questions related to learning languages and culture- so perhaps we can interview you next?! Ciao! Any questions about events, please send to school@passportschool.info

REGISTRATION TO RECEIVE VACANCIES BY EMAIL

If you`d like to register to teach Asian or European languages plus optional cooking and cultural courses, then please send me your brief self introduction profile. Also if possible, can you send a photo jpg. of yourself - which if you agree, we can use in our advertising- this will greatly improve your chance of finding a class simply because advertising without photos is not so convincing.

INSTRUCTIONS

Please write your message in japanese plus perhaps a few words only in your own language. If you can`t write in japanese, don`t worry, cos i will get it translated and proof read but if you can write, it will save us a lot of time.

Also if you are too busy to help us now, but you are still interested to register for the future, please also let me know. Plus maybe you have a friend whom you can introduce- please tell him to email us. Preferably i want to hire only those with some kind of existing teaching experience, but not necessarily languages i.e. any experince instructing as a tutor or teacher. If you have teaching experience, please detail it.

WRITING YOUR SELF PROFILE

Here is an example of a self profile you can send us to use in our advert. It is best to make yours even shorter if possible, but don`t forget to write about your interests, relevant career experience e.g. what you did before Japan or any teaching experience plus what you can do well e.g. if you can cook etc. Please write it in a chatty style in the 1st person i.e. `I am... If you study with me, you can..:

EXAMPLE PROFILE:

Hello! My name's Claire and I'm 22. I studied French and German at Oxford University, England, from which I graduated in June 2002. I have been learning French for 11 years now, and lived in France for a year 2 years ago, when I was working as an English teacher in a technical secondary school. I have experience of teaching all ages, and since returning to England have also taught French in private classes. I look forward to meeting you soon!

For details of international events and school news, check out our message board and the monthly newsletter on this site!! The newsletter is renewed at the beginning of each month. Please feel free to tell your friends about our website.