Comments on: Japan: NOVA unable to pay its employees

By: Trans-Pacific Radio » Nova Employees: Their Voices, Their Stories :: Independent Podcasts from Tokyo, Japan - Japanese News, Politics, Business and Economy

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:57:42 +0000

[...] Salzberg of Global Voices is one of the best bloggers on Japan there is. His recent post on Nova is a (very) short one, but there are a lot of comments and links to other [...]

By: Gavin

Gavin — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 03:58:27 +0000

We have put together a site to help ex NOVA teachers and ex NOVA students find each other for private lessons.

This is a completely FREE service for both teachers and students.

Teachers need to register and then complete their profile. Students can then search for you based on your name, location and ex NOVA branch.

We receive over 1,000 hits per day from students seeking teachers.

Other language teachers can also use this service to promote themselves for private lessons.

We wish you all the best in your endeavors.
Gavin.
http://www.yasashiieigo.com

By: grey hunter

grey hunter — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 16:45:06 +0000

four, five dollars in your bank accounts? does no one save money anymore. i am an ex nova teacher and I feel bad for having lost your jobs, im sure more problems are finding roots as well, but try saving money next time instead of spending it all. i hope your not looking for sympathy.

By: GComm NOVA

GComm NOVA — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:06:18 +0000

Some teachers drink too much and clown and entertain for 40 minute periods… Some actually help their students learn to speak the English language… I am one of the latter… I have seen hundreds of students improve throughout my years in the company, and look forward to seeing more of it…

I am looking forward to the new chapter with GComm NOVA and a further chance to teach the students I like so much… and some of whom like me… I hope.

By: Gene

Gene — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:58:37 +0000

It was a long time comming I knew this would happen from being there in 2001. I travel every 6 months to Japan and stay there for 2 months each time for business. I feel sorry for the people who have just arrived there. For at least 90% of the ekaiwa Nova teachers that I have met,seen around town etc etc…maybe it wasnt such a good idea to blow all of your money drinking at bars and clubs. I think that is why many have alot of financial problems now. Japan is not the most expensive places to live if you live like the locals. Many I have met have no real interest in Japan except for making a quick dollar and boozing up at the local gaijin bar and hitting on the local women. I used to offer assistance to the Nova ekaiwa type in my travels with basic translation and many have been living there for years!Dont get me wrong, I have met alot of good people there, but alot of perpetual drunks who blow all of their money every payday as well. If you did a google search 1 or 2 years back you would have seen alot of negativity and evidence of very poor management about Nova on the web. Surely afer seeing that alarm bells would have started ringing!!!! I hope you all get out of this mess and get back to normalicy. I will miss seeing the Nova ekaiwas and seeing the majority of teachers walking around totally deluded with what and who they are. I will also miss the other honest and decent people who I have met working for Nova. I hope you are all OK and I will help out where I can when I visit next time.
BTW, I still dont know how many of you could have said that you were teachers…you were entertainers! you were “meet the foriegner” at your local train station. You were not teaching and that is for sure!

By: roland

roland — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:11:50 +0000

What a bunch of whiners regarding Nova. So your employed by Nova. If you smelled a rat before starting you should have bailed.

Contact your embassyy for any help that they can provide. Most likely a cheap fare home.

Any back pay will require some kind of paperwork.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:27:05 +0000

Fellow English teachers,
I just found a great teaching opportunity.
You can teach from your home, using webcam.
It pays US$15 bucks an hour.
Payment is done once a week via Paypal.
The students can purchase as little as 30 min. session, and log on, so no long term commitment by the students.
The price for 30 min. session is same as if the students purchased 10 hours.
Check out http://www.tutorviawebcam.com for details.
Good luck,
Robert

By: Ex Nova Teacher

Ex Nova Teacher — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 17:17:35 +0000

Well I cannot say that I am surprised or disappointed at NOVAs fortune. I worked for them about three years ago and my experience was awful. There were no money issues but management treated me like I was a drone with no value. After a male student made sexist comments in one of my lessons I was very upset and told him that it was not ok to say such things since many Westerners especially females would take offense. The student complained and without listenig to my side of the story the area manager at that time transfered me right away to another school. He told the student that I had gotten fired for my behaviour. Needless to say the rest of my NOVA experience was just as bad.

By: rjohnson

rjohnson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:38:49 +0000

I am a very concerned parent of a Nova teacher. She is very lucky to have parents that can afford to help her out. What about the others that are stuck there with no money and no way home??? Nova should do right by these people that traveled half way around the world to work for them!! My daughter is coming home this week, thank god, But she put herself in huge dedt to go to Japan and has’nt recieved a dime from the company. Anyone with information on how to get some money out of this company PLEASE let us know. Thanks and god bless

By: Money

Money — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:53:29 +0000

Good lesson for today !!!

The important things to learn this time is
getting in the habit of saving some money
for your rainy day !

Good luck for your future.

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:57:22 +0000

This is just amazing. I just found out today about the bankruptcy.
I worked for Nova for 2 years (2003-2004) and I found the company to be so secretive, dishonest and uncompassionate to its foreign staff – BUT at least we got paid! The company has always had terrible transparency and corruption issues (which is indicative of Japan as a whole) but I still find this news shocking and feel sorry for the foreigners stuck in the middle of this debacle.
Nova’s expansion policy was doomed to fail from the beginning and was evident from the first day I landed their. One of the worst things I found while working for Nova was how the AT, BT, and AAM’s – once promoted to their positions – abandoned their fellow foreigners and started withholding pertinent information (such as an impending bankruptcy) from their fellow teaching staff. It was like they switched sides. There is so so much to comment on here. Sorry to all those involved in this right now. Especially to those who recently arrived. Japan is a great place, however, Nova never has been….if you have any money, catch a flight to Thailand and enjoy the cheap food and beautiful beaches.

By: Tabitha

Tabitha — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:23:21 +0000

This is the worst news I have heard. I work for a TESOL training company in Australia and have many friends and students working for NOVA in Japan.

We are currently working with another company who throughout the years referred many teachers to NOVA. We are trying to provide some options for teachers who want to stay in the country. Our small job site has TESOL positions recommended by Australian grads of our courses. We can also offer job search assistance and support. Please visit http://www.teachinternational.com and click JOB CENTRE.

If anyone wants to find out more about TESOL qualifications and teaching in Australia you can email tabitha(a)staff.teachinternational.com

By: Sussan

Sussan — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:04:05 +0000

I am also a concerned Mum from Australia. We would be interested in joining a class action. My son has been to unemployment in Japan to register so it can be noted that he is owed wages. Your person in Japan needs to do the same. I do not know what the response in NZ has been about the plight of these 4000 odd teachers in Japan can be at best described in Australia as “who cares”. There has not been much press and given that most have not been paid for at least the last 1 – 2 months, those that have parents like us are lucky. At least we care! Good luck to all of you and let us know if there is anything else that we can do for you.

By: Jenny Keightley

Jenny Keightley — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:49:27 +0000

I am a concerned NZ Mum of a teacher. We can help our daughter but I feel for the rest of you stuck over there.

Has anyone got legal advice yet on the status of your contracts and whether it is worth taking legal action against the directors of NOVA?

We would be happy to join with others in a Class action if it had some chance of success. If anyone is interested post a comment and I will check what the groundswell is.

In the meantime do what is best for you individually and use your embassy as much as you can.

I’m sure there are many other friendly and supportive Japanese out there who are offering help and support. Thank you to all of them.

By: Lincoln Taylor

Lincoln Taylor — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:09:36 +0000

As promised, some more detailed info. Please spread it around. You guys are out of work, we need teachers…

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