I came across an interesting blog (interesting if you study Japanese or live in Japan) written by a prospective Japanese student looking into 英会話 (English conversation [schools]). The author had a listing of some popular schools with the costs to attend each one for private lessons. I’ll translate the list here:
Nova (ノバ)
Admission fee: 50,000 Yen (~$410 USD)
Lowest application fee: 95,000 Yen (~$780 USD)
Total cost of application: 145,000 Yen (~$1200 USD)
Price per lesson: 3,800 Yen / 40 minutes (~$31 USD)AEON (イーオン)
Admission fee: 25,000 Yen (~$205 USD)
“Materials fee”: 6,000 Yen (~$50 USD)
Lowest application fee: 216,000 Yen (~$1780 USD)
Total cost of application: 247,000 Yen (~$2030 USD)
Price per lesson: 7,200 Yen / 40 minutes (~$60 USD)Berlitz (ベルリッツ)
Admission fee: 30,000 Yen (~$245 USD)
Lowest application fee: 168,000 Yen (~$1380 USD)
Total cost of application: 198,000 Yen (~$1630 USD)
Price per lesson: 8,400 Yen / 40 minutes (~$70 USD)GEOS (ジオス)
Admission fee: 25,000 Yen (~$205 USD)
Lowest application fee: 240,000 Yen (~$1975 USD)
Total cost of application: 265,000 Yen (~$2180 USD)
Price per lesson: 10,000 Yen / 50 minutes (~$82 USD)ECC (イーシーシー)
Admission fee: 20,000 Yen (~$165 USD)
Lowest application fee: 220,000 Yen (~$1810 USD)
Total cost of application: 247,000 Yen (~$2030 USD)
Price per lesson: 2,200 Yen / 40 minutes (~$18 USD)Shane (シェーン)
Admission fee: 25,000 Yen (~$205 USD)
Lowest application fee: 29,000 Yen (~$240 USD)
Total cost of application: 54,000 Yen (~$445 USD)
Price per lesson: 7,300 Yen / 60 minutes (~$60 USD)
The blog author had a few comments about these prices:
た、高い・・・（涙）。
Translation: Th…That’s steep…;_;
Hell yes that’s steep! When I teach private students, I charge $30 USD per hour.
Looking at the application costs - What the hell are they? “Admission Fee”? “Application Fee”? That’s as ridiculous as 礼金, AKA “a bribe to encourage someone to let them let you pay them.” As confusing as that sounds, that’s what it is. Why would you charge students a fee so that they can start paying you? You should be giving them gifts to get them to come to your school…It’s all backwards!!
The blog author goes on to say,
こちらもまあ当たり前ですよね。外国人の先生達に高い高いお給料を払わなければなりませんし、「学校の宣伝」にも、「学校の運営」にも、沢山の経費が発生してしまいますからね・・・。
Translation: It’s pretty obvious that this is how it should be. They have to pay foreign teachers a high, high salary, there’s also “school propaganda”, and “school management”, there are a ton of costs…
Please note the amusing bit that I’ve highlighted above. The author actually thinks that foreign teachers have a high salary. I don’t know what the average salaryman makes in Japan, but I do know that it’s enough to afford to pay for classes at an 英会話, and still be able to drive around his nice Mazda RX8 on the weekends. Pretty much every foreign teacher makes 250,000 Yen per month (~$2050 USD), which is not too shabby, but we’re not using a rice cooker made of solid gold at home.
I guess the conclusion to all of this is that I recommend just cutting out the middle-man (the 英会話) and looking for teachers/students directly. It’s cheaper for students and it results in a higher wage for the teacher. Also, the teachers aren’t locked into a (ridiculously flawed) “method” - They can teach the students in any style the student wants. You don’t need managers and “counselors” (the managers wear a little badge that says “counselor” when they are “counseling students out of money”), and you don’t need a small, poorly-lit windowless room. Go to a cafe, have a cup of coffee, and learn some English in a nice, relaxed atmosphere.
3 Comments
May 31, 2007 at 8:39 am
The average Japanese salaryman does not make a lot actually. When I attended my corporate training for becoming a 新入社員 with a bunch of other new guys from all over Kanto, we found the average monthly salary was 200,000 yen per month without overtime and before taxes. If you work the gruesome and dull overtime, you can increase that amount and many do so, and they end up with about 300,000 yen per month.
The big difference I think is that until marriage, many Japanese live with their parents. Unless one has to move to an entirely different region, it is common to commute two hours one way just to get to work. I knew severall guys commuting from the countryside of Ibaraki or Yamanashi trying to get to various parts of Tokyo, Kanagawa, or Saitama. Most of the guys I knew living at home didn’t have to pay rent to their parents, didn’t pay any utilities, and they simply used their paychecks for drinking, dating and hobbies.
Honestly I was surprised when I heard how much the average ESL teacher makes in Japan. I guess it is because they have a skill that is in demand compared to the average entry level Japanese employee. ESL teachers are definately better off in terms of salary than a young salaryman who had to move from Fukuoka to Tokyo to find a job. (Unless they’re going into finance…
Now on other issues, like health insurance and what not…that is probably a different story.
May 31, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Well, English is an imported skill, and the companies would pay less if they could get away with it, but people would be less willing to relocate to a foreign country to work on a McDonald’s wage.
I didn’t know that entry-level salaries were that low. Japan has an incredible portion of upper-middle class families, so I’d assume that the wage is much higher. One thing about working at an eikaiwa, though, is that you never really get a raise. (You get minor raises, but nothing significant)
I still think that the cost of attending an eikaiwa is highway robbery, though.
June 1, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I agree with you completely. Those admission and application fees are highway robbery. I had no idea that it cost so much. It’s probably mostly profit too, or at least it pays for the paychecks of all of the middle managers. I can’t say I am surprised though because everything has application fees and money up front in Japan. I just had no idea it was so much.
It is unfortunate that there are not more affordable programs after work. But it is just like the sports clubs and what not in Japan I suppose. After work hours everything is twice as expensive, whereas if you going during the middle of the day it is really quite affordable.
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