Eikaiwa

Eikaiwa (Japanese: 英会話) is the Japanese word for "English conversation." Some speakers of English use the term to mean English language schools in Japan, which are also commonly referred to as English conversation schools. Eikaiwas are in some ways similar to juku in that they are private businesses. The Japanese educational system includes a mandate that English be part of the curriculum; however, the focus is on English grammar. Therefore, speaking and conversation skills are largely ignored, and some students turn to eikaiwa to learn how to effectively communicate in English. Some students attend eikaiwa to supplement their school studies, others are studying a second language as a hobby or to improve their business skills or for socializing purposes or in preparation for travel. Many parents send their children to eikaiwa in the hope of improving their child's hopes of higher education, or to encourage them to be at ease with foreigners.

The most widespread of the eikaiwa are known as the "Big Four" which are generally agreed to be:
*Nova
*GEOS
*AEON
*ECC

In the past Berlitz was considered one of the Big Four, but its share of the market has declined over the years, and so ECC has taken its place on the list.

Eikaiwa teachers come from a variety of backgrounds, and are generally native English speakers. Most come from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States, and mostly due to poor working conditions, 97% (according to 2004 statistics from the Ministry of Immigration) spend less than 3 years teaching in Japan.

Many instructors do not have formal backgrounds in teaching, although most are very briefly trained by the companies that they work for and limited to one-year contracts, leading to the charge that Eikaiwa style schools are not always as effective as they could be. That said some of the Big Four are now providing the chance for teachers to gain CELTA certification while teaching, and all teachers coming to work in Japan for any of the Big Four must have a university degree of Bachelor level or better to get a Visa. In spite of poor working conditions and an employment system that seeks to get rid of experienced teachers and hire untrained ones, students may actually improve their communicative competence.

More experienced ESL instructors can find both better pay and better working conditions in smaller English conversation schools that focus more on quality of teaching. Unlike the Big 4 who survive by constant advertising and sales, smaller schools survive by quality and reducing student turn-over.

Several large eikaiwa chains with teacher unions under the National Union of General Workers offer instruction in other languages, to include Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese and Korean. These languages are taught primarily at larger city branches or through videoconferencing.

South Korea is home to similar institutions, known in English as Hagwons; in Taiwan and China as buxiban.

See also

*Language education
*Education in Japan

External links

*I am a Japanese School Teacher
*National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu
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