"John Yamamoto-Wilson" <johndeletethis@rarebooksinjapan.com> wrote in 
message news:383i1pF5e99puU1@individual.net...
> Edward Mills wrote:
>
>> I'd say your chances are close to slim and none to get a job
>> teaching English in Japan. They put a premium on "native
>> English speakers", and any degree or certification you might
>> have in that area will only mean that you  will be refused
>> with a bit more politeness than usual.
>
> That sounds plausible, but I disagree because it conflicts with my
> experience in two respects. The first is that I met a young Slovenian 
> woman
> a few years ago whose English was OK, but not brilliant, and she was 
> working
> as a teacher. I don't know how *good* her job was, but  I met her at a 
> JALT
> (Japan Association of English Teachers) conference, and I guess she 
> probably
> wouldn't have been there at all if she'd been on the bottom rung (she'd 
> have
> been too busy working for next to nothing). She seemed quite happy with 
> what
> she was doing.

I used to know a German woman, a very attractive lady. She spoke like this: 
"My name is Annie and I am coming from Germany". Once I was requested to go 
to an "international conference" with her and another man. We were supposed 
to talk about international relations or something. It was a bit of a weird 
deal, but I was offered a lot of money to do it. The German lady turned up 
wearing this quite revealing suit with a short skirt and a low top. Did I 
mention that she was also very well-proportioned? Anyway I was shocked to 
find that the Japanese men at this so-called "international conference" 
weren't very interested in my superior native speaking ability or my 
knowledge of international relations, they preferred to find out her 
opinions about such matters.

Yes, I think it's possible for some non-native speakers to get a job 
teaching English
with minimum qualifications.

> So there *are* non-native speakers teaching English here in Japan.

There are actually a lot of them, if you dig deep enough.