Job Description

Heart teaches in elementary, junior high, and high school mainly in the Kanto area.

Our job is to give the students a window into the world of English. Our number one goal is to help motivate the student to feel comfortable using real English communication and to get used to being in an English setting. To accomplish this goal, you will work side by side with the Japanese teacher to help with games and activities, role-playing, and assisting the teacher with giving them the help they need to try to perfect their English curriculum.

What you need to know

  • The workweek is Monday through Friday (Saturdays, Sundays & Japanese Holidays are off.
  • Working Hours: 8:00 – 4:30 (The times vary from city to city)
  • Teaching Time: 4 – 5 classes per day.
  • Summer, Winter, Spring break as well as a paid vacation to refresh yourself
  • Career Up Program for teachers who want to help other teachers develop their skills.
  • Online Curriculum Resource to help you with difficult lesson planning.
  • Good life and work balance programs

Why us?

Our company values aspiring and experienced teachers looking to learn how the Japanese style of teaching works. We provide ways to get you prepared for public schools and regular training to further develop your skills. Our dedicated bi-lingual staff will support you from the application process to your daily life at school.

Assistant Language Teacher

The role of an ALT has two main duties: Providing fun and effective English lessons and Internationalizing Japanese youth. Japanese youth are indeed exposed to many Western influences through TV, movies, music, and fashion, but the population in Japan is approximately 98.5 percent Japanese and only 1.5 percent foreigners. Therefore, Japanese youth have very few opportunities to interact with foreigners, let alone practice English communication. Having direct experience and interactions with foreign people and their culture often has a more visceral and lasting influence. Therefore ALTs need to help bridge this gap by giving students first-hand knowledge and experience of different cultures, as well as providing fun and effective English lessons. However, the nature and responsibilities of an ALT are slightly different in terms of teaching in elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools (*Positions are mostly available for elementary and junior high schools. There aren’t many positions in high schools).

ALTs in Elementary School

The ALT will usually take a more active role in the classroom, ranging from complete lesson design to a more passive, assistant role to the Home Room Teacher. The emphasis in elementary school is on speaking and listening only. Although having the children learn proper English is important, it is not the only objective; the primary purpose of English class is to get the children to have fun and for them to get interested in English. Therefore, playing fun activities and keeping a light, fun atmosphere is more crucial than producing fluency.

ALTs in Junior High School or High School

In junior high schools or high schools, the ALT has a more secondary role than in elementary schools. The Japanese English teacher has most of the responsibility and control over lessons, with the ALT providing a “native” voice to dialogues and text, as well as creating interesting activities and/or worksheets relating to the current subject. The emphasis is split between reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Conversation School and Company English Teacher

These types of classes are part-time and are often done in addition to being a full-time ALT. There are two types of lessons: (1) English Conversation Lessons at Heart English School; and (2) Company Lessons.

English Conversation Lessons

  1. These are private lessons taught to students ranging from infant (2 years old) to adult.
  2. Class times are typically 40 minutes for younger students and 50 minutes for older (though there are cases of 20-minute lessons with infants and 2 hours with special classes).
  3. These classes are taught with the goal of English-only, therefore little to no Japanese is required.
  4. These classes are often very rewarding as a teacher because you can witness the growth of students that you nurtured and taught.

Company Lessons

  1. A teacher will commute to a company and conduct a class.
  2. Sometimes these classes are taught from a textbook, but other times they are just conversation classes or seminars in giving a speech.
  3. Class size varies greatly from a small group of 3-5 students to 20-30 students.