 There have been people who go to Japan
as English conversation teachers who wanted to go into the animation field but nobody
has really made it that way yet. Reasons for this are multiple. The conversation
schools will often not be happy with a teacher doing something else which
takes so much time. (Don't tell them.)
Perhaps the major reason is economic.
Starting pay at a conversation school is usually about three times what
starting pay for an assistant animator is. Conversation teachers work only 4 - 5
hours a day whereas animators put in 10 - 14. Most people don't
want to make the change once they have had a taste of the easier life. (Quite
understandable actually.)
Many conversation teachers leave Japan with only a rudimentary
knowledge of the Japanese language. The schools usually require them to communicate with
students purely in English. (This makes sense as that is what they are
there for!) Unless they make friends outside the school, faculty and students they will
end up speaking English all the time. It is hard to learn a language
unless there is a powerful reason to - like survival.
I don't want to sound like I hate conversation
teachers or schools. I think that it is a great way to go to a foreign
country, have some contact with the populace, see the country and bring a very useful
talent. I do not think that it a good bridge to a job in animation
though. It is a great job for fans who want to see Japan for a little while and make some
money doing it.
During the writing of this page, I have spoken to
three people who are in charge of hiring for rather high quality English Conversation
schools and I learned that the ratio of job applicants to jobs is approximately 140:1!
I was rather surprised about this but was told that after many of the conversation schools
closed when the bubble economy burst, there were a lot of ex-conversation
teachers out on the streets and many of them left or ended up working in menial
part time jobs. A lot of them want to get back into a conversation school job (as
most people would considering the salaries) and although they may be in distant countries
they still try out for every job they hear about. Naturally, their
friends and their friends' friends try too so there is a real glut of
teachers right now. Conversation schools are now much stricter about applicants and will
only look at those who have some English or education (or preferably
both) experience as well as a degree (usually a Masters). Needless to
say, the schools can be extremely picky in such conditions and I doubt
that they will be willing to take on anybody who is not interested in following their way
of doing things 100%. |