Hungry Nova teachers teach for food

[aargon]

As per the Japan Times.....

A labor union representing former teachers at failed Nova Corp. launched a program Saturday that enables students to pay for language lessons by buying them meals instead of paying tuition fees.

Nova has closed its schools nationwide, depriving nearly 300,000 students of classes and keeping the teachers out of work and pinched for money.

At a Tokyo park Saturday afternoon, teacher Kristen Moon, 23, gave a lesson lasting about an hour based on topics in an English-language magazine to 32-year-old Yasuhiro Kawatani. They then went to a nearby restaurant afterward.


Hahahaha.... next it will be horny nova students pay for sex...... Kristen Moon, she sounds hot......:liar:
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[Kyletherealninja]

Why haven't the ex-Nova teachers gone back to their home countries yet?

[rl*united]

Why haven't the ex-Nova teachers gone back to their home countries yet?

Because heck they might have liked living in Japan and don`t want to throw away all that hard work and such... Mayhap they`ve nothing better at home or are just determined to stay for whatever reason.

[Eddie Echoplex]

Why haven't the ex-Nova teachers gone back to their home countries yet?

Maybe because they've done much more there than in their own countries (green tea and onsens?).

[Danistar]

Why haven't the ex-Nova teachers gone back to their home countries yet?
Maybe because they went to Japan because they wanted to be there?

[PopCulturePooka]

Why haven't the ex-Nova teachers gone back to their home countries yet?
Because relocating home can be expensive. They might not have saved enough to be able to afford to relocacte yet. And then they are suddenly fired with no severance pay.

[Digital Masta]

Pretty asshole of a comment, eh?

[mawande]

I'm with PopCulturePooka for most of those teachers. On the other hand, several teachers I know had more brains. At least two people I know saw which way the wind was blowing, quit a couple of months before the company collapsed and took themselves different jobs.

These teachers all have work visas for teaching. Though there is a glut of jobless teachers now in cities, there is NOT such a glut in more rural areas. If they want jobs, they should start making the rounds. Heck, WWOOF would be a good opportunity for several of them to make their faces and their teaching skills known. Granted, they'd have to do some physical labor.

And when I go to Tokyo, I see vegetable stalls and places you can actually buy food that is not noodles and rice for very low prices! I think some of these people need to learn to identify food.

[erbiumfiber]

I thought someone had bought out Nova and was planning to rehire all the teachers? Saw something along those lines on NHK...guess it's not quite a reality yet.

And the students who already had contracts with Nova could continue their lessons for an extra fee, but not as much as the fee for a new contract.

I think I also saw an Australian airline that was offering reduced airfare to Aussies who had gotten laid off and wanted to return to Australia. That was pretty decent of them. Didn't hear of any American airlines offering the same deal.

I wonder what those who are in Nova housing are doing? Are they being evicted? I also saw a poor Nova teacher who had married a Japanese woman and had a small baby go to the labor department and look for a job. Guy knew NO Japanese, no kanji, nothing, so he had no possible jobs outside English teaching. I know my own Japanese level is not enough to work at a Japanese company, in Japanese. If he tried to return to his home country, he'd probably be separated from his wife and baby while they waited for a visa. Sucks.

[Akelexre]

Why haven't I died in a fire yet?

Good question. I guess the Universe isn't always fair and just...

[Urameshi YuSooKey]

Pretty asshole of a comment, eh?

Not really. Sounded pretty honest to me. Just a little ill-informed. No need to throw him under the bus because he didn't understand something. And to think, they(just one really) call me elitist around here. lol

[Kyletherealninja]

Because relocating home can be expensive. They might not have saved enough to be able to afford to relocate yet. And then they are suddenly fired with no severance pay.

I (erroneously) assumed that it'd be pretty easy to pack up and go home. Guess I was wrong. I figured that since the English teaching market is pretty scarce right now, most of them would just go home after not being able to get another job fairly quickly, rather than try to wing it out with no cash when going home seemed like the easiest option. I wasn't trying to make an asshole-ish comment, I suppose I should've clarified things further.

[RoxFontaine]

Someone should tell them about OP9. Weren't some of you just giving money away to someone that has a job few days ago?

I think a large chunk of them thought they would try to stick it out in Japan and get some large sum of money for their "troubles" at NOVA. Now the reality sets in and they are stuck here until they can come up with money to get back to wherever they came from.

For those that had the wherewithal to get out ahead of time, I applaud them. They did the smart thing. The rest of them.....keep working for food. At least they can eat.

[japanat]

Sorry to break it up piece by piece, but these are good points that erbiumfiber has brought up:

I thought someone had bought out Nova and was planning to rehire all the teachers? Saw something along those lines on NHK...guess it's not quite a reality yet.G Education will start by re-opening 30-50 of NOVA's main branches (out of 1000+), according to NOVA's website. Some NOVA teachers are eligible for re-hire upon a successful interview, but there obviously won't be many jobs. Other teachers will have to gut it out.

And the students who already had contracts with Nova could continue their lessons for an extra fee, but not as much as the fee for a new contract.They have to pay 25% of G Education's normal rates to redeem their NOVA lessons. There will definitely be a crush that'll make the waits which prompted the original NOVA sanctions look like slight pauses.

I think I also saw an Australian airline that was offering reduced airfare to Aussies who had gotten laid off and wanted to return to Australia. That was pretty decent of them. Didn't hear of any American airlines offering the same deal.More than 50% of NOVA teachers are Australian. The US Embassy website only says that they are "watching the situation".

I wonder what those who are in Nova housing are doing? Are they being evicted?Many are, unfortunately. A lucky few may have understanding landlords, but...

[digable]

I'm somewhat torn about how I feel when it comes to whether or not Nova teachers should have known this was going to happen.

My wife and I came back from teaching at Nova more than four years ago, and obviously, things are much different now than they were then. But the one reason I stayed with Nova for 3 years was because I knew I could count on a check each month. Then there's the comfort zone.

When I first came in, there were veteran teachers who complained about Nova and threatened to quit, but never did because the possiblity of teaching somewhere else not Nova was a daunting one. And they could always count on that check from Nova.

Though, the same could be said at Aeon, Berlitz and Gaba. Bu that comfort zone is just so hard for some Nova teachers to step out of, especially when they took so long to carefully construct it.

But we all knew Nova was shady through and through. Nova apartments were three times the rent of a regular apartment, so most Nova teachers found their own apartments. Where I lived (in Chiba, about 45 mins northeast of Tokyo), we even had this system where, before we went back to our home countries, we'd pass on our cheap apartments to the Nova teachers we liked or trusted that were stuck in Nova housing.

Right before I left, Nova Japanese staff were complaining a lot about how much pressure they were under to sell tickets and make their monthly quota, and students were complaining about how much pressure they were getting to buy 3, 4 and 5 years worth of tickets. There were inklings then of Nova doing shady things with students' tickets, but most teachers paid it no mind.

A Nova Aussie friend of mine sent out an email a few months ago to all his Nova friends and ex-Nova friends about why Nova wouldn't collapse. He's been there for about 5 years now. Maybe he truly believed Nova would survive this, or maybe he just hoped his comfort zone wouldn't be destroyed. I think a lot of Nova teachers hoped for both.

[RoxFontaine]

^ Wow. I can't imagine. All I've ever heard were horror stories. Even beyond that, just looking at students that pass through there. It has nothing to do with learning it seems. It's just like carrying a brand bag around. "Hey look! I go to NOVA!"

I think you're right about the comfort zone though. I think it's easier for many to be around familiar things. Working at companies like that provides that familiarity. It gives them the opportunity to tune out whenever they want in a way. Not sure if that makes sense.

[digable]

^ Wow. I can't imagine. All I've ever heard were horror stories. Even beyond that, just looking at students that pass through there. It has nothing to do with learning it seems. It's just like carrying a brand bag around. "Hey look! I go to NOVA!"

The horror stories probably outweigh the good stories. And you're right, most students went to Nova not necessarily to learn English, but because it was Nova.

I think you're right about the comfort zone though. I think it's easier for many to be around familiar things. Working at companies like that provides that familiarity. It gives them the opportunity to tune out whenever they want in a way. Not sure if that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense. I wonder if I would be one of those teaching for food if I hadn't met my wife. It was harder to leave and too easy to stay.

[PopCulturePooka]

I did two years at NOVA from 03-05 and had no major problems.

It was a job basically.