NOVA goes Bust

[ExtremelyHappy]

NOVA was until recently one of the biggest English schools in Japan. The All-things-Foreign Craze has died off in Japan over recent years. They realized we are not cool after all ("Fuck me I have blue eyes" is a failed meme), but what really did NOVA in was they treated their students and their teachers like crap:

As of today the President is missing. Board declares Bankruptcy $500M. Offices didn't open this morning. Teachers stranded in Japan without pay. Students who were paying for classes they couldn't get and then being denied refunds even less likely to get refunds now. Organized crime and corrupt politicians have been linked to the scandal too. The President sounds like a real asshole: he told NOVA recruiters to keep bringing in students despite them not having enough teachers, and was dumb enough to put that in writing.

I considered working at NOVA but other English teachers warned me on the slavish conditions, that classes were delivered by rote, that you had to hang around the office even if there were no classes on, and worst of all: You weren't allowed to fraternize with your students, not even for a drink and not even if you met a really cute one. English lessons were a rip off anyway. Last time I saw NOVA English teachers standing on the street hustling passers by like they were working for a strip club. Well that's what they were supposed to do. In reality they just stood there and looked really sad.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071026z1.html
http://www.letsjapan.org/?q=the-japanese-newspapers-slam-nova.html

[Lustor!]

While I feel sorry for the NOVA teachers that have to try to reclaim back pay and make ends meet, I'm really happy that NOVA will soon be no more. The "school" was total BULLSHIT and relied on the fact that Japanese people can be easily duped through excessive advertising. The "no fraternizing with the students" rule is said to have been broken time and time again by managers. Although, culturally speaking, rules are made to be broken... but only by high ranking officials.

Good riddance to a slice of "only in Japan" nonsense.

[BlueMouse]

normal socializing between students and teachers are acceptable, but not in my standards for sth that's not friendship nor student-teacher relationship anymore

[ExtremelyHappy]

normal socializing between students and teachers are acceptable, but not in my standards for sth that's not friendship nor student-teacher relationship anymore

English schools in Japan routinely ban teacher-student socializing. I was told "Japan has a very hierarchical society and teacher is a very respectful position. For a teacher to socialize with a student which is a lower position is unacceptable in Japanese culture." This is of course a complete and utter lie. The ban isn't just a boy-girl-in-love thing, but it extends to even casual get togethers. eg. celebrating someone's birthday. There were several complaints with Nova, filled through the Osaka Bar Association:

The Osaka Bar Association subsequently issued a non-binding recommendation that the company drop the clause saying that it restricted instructors' freedom of association and discriminated between foreign and Japanese staff. The company said the clause is there to 'protect both the teachers and the students from trouble, as they do not know each other's cultures and customs.'

What an absolute load of crap. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in Japan will know that's flat out ridiculous, plus Nova has on their board a Swedish Director Anders Lundqvist so I'm not going to let them plead ignorance of Gaijin on this. Anyway, the real reason is they don't want students getting any free lessons. In 2004 an Aussie teacher who was dating a student sued Nova and won (they tried to move him to another city as punishment), but they didn't change the policy.

BTW this story is big news in Japan and in America+UK+Australia (because they suddenly have a lot of stranded nationals). Egg on many faces. BTW the man on the left is the missing CEO. Papers say one of the people he used to sell additional shares for Nova (at a time the company was in a lot of trouble) was a pump and dumper for organized crime. None of the papers have said whether or not any money disappeared with him.

[Lustor!]

As of today, NOVA is GONE!

On a related note, my 2nd Japanese girlfriend (this is when I lived in NY) worked at a small Japanese newspaper. The boss would bring women to NY under the stipulation that they would not date locals. Why? Because he didn't like the thought of Japanese dating non-Japanese. Of course my Japanese friends say this is not actually prejudice like found in the out-of-control US, but an acknowledgment of the subtle differences between the two cultures and an attempt to spare the women and men the pain when the relationship ends.

Or some such hogwash!

[BlueMouse]

actually my sensei no nihongo told me that there indeed is this level of respect, where teachers usually don't talk to students and would seem weird if they do


japanese culture received much influence from chinese culture, and i believe, confuciusism. confucius dictates filial towards parents and teachers (almost same amount of respect to the point of considered as 2nd parents), and respect to the elderly.
while japanese culture is a well-known for humbleness, loyalty, and many traditional values, i think confuciusism might have been within too. bushido (chivalry), loyalty, and respect, are many traits shared by the chinese too. (well bushido in chinese would rather be responsibilities of a soldier to help the weak, serve righteousness, and defend country upon attack)

[Lustor!]

actually my sensei no nihongo told me that there indeed is this level of respect, where teachers usually don't talk to students and would seem weird if they do

And your "nihongo no sensei" fell out of a worm hole from the 17th century? So often people in Japan fall back on the convenient excuse of "tradition" to explain away something. The point here is not whether it's in accordance with some lofty ideal, but rather we are citing examples of discrimination. Besides, come to Japan and talk to anyone under 30 and they will more than likely chuckle at these old fashioned thoughts. You have to remember that Japanese have a really high opinion of themselves. I was told the other day that no one in Japan drives DWI and also that there are no gays in Japan. Japan is about image, not fact.

[Dyka]

Japan may be about image, but they sure as hell have an easy time complaining that the language, especially the written portion, is hard as shit. They never take pride in that, it seems.

I didn't know much about NOVA but I remember reading a couple things several months ago that described that the company was having issues. I guess they finally caved in.

[BlueMouse]

indeed japanese grammar so fucking hard to learn. im a chinese and it's confusing enough for me already.(kanji doesnt hurt me) i wish i lived in japan, then i'd have mastered 4 languages like cake

oh my sensei is middle aged lady. although i agree that our new generations sees things more different from the older ones as they did with sino-japanese relations, however i think their hierarchy is more of a cultural thing and of respect, instead of discrimination.

discrimination is more of bashing and things.
but then i agree too, that japan counts a lot on image.

as a chinese, i can say, that between the many similarities of chinese and jpaanese culture, the vast differences also contribute to the amount of tensions between both cultures...sadly

[Dyka]

indeed japanese grammar so fucking hard to learn.

Grammar is the easiest part of learning Japanese. It may be even easier than getting the accent right. It's just not taught well in schools.

[ExtremelyHappy]

actually my sensei no nihongo told me that there indeed is this level of respect, where teachers usually don't talk to students and would seem weird if they do.

Maybe that was once true, but hard to transpose values across cultures. There is a hierarchy, but it's pretty porous. In a typical Japanese office you'll see everyone go out to a bar, and under booze the barriers of office quickly disappear. Next day everyone is back in the office like nothing happened. I went to one party where both teachers and students attended (despite the ban): There were no barriers. People are people and young people just love to mix.

Advice about Japan needs to be taken with a grain of salt, esp. from people who haven't lived there for a while. The place has changed a lot. Young Japanese in particular are really laid back. I've never met anyone who had an issue with an International Couple(TM). If anything, they think it's cool.

Another funny thing about those big English schools: A friend of mine was in his 40s and showing his years. When his old school shut down he couldn't get a job with any of the big ones They wanted young and cute with extra points for blond. A lot of it was Edutainment. At the height of the boom the ads they hung up in trains for English schools looked like they were selling cute mimbo pr0n. IMO the smaller private schools were better, but you had to find a good one.

Nova used to hold 47% of the English teaching market and was huge. The missing CEO alone had a 16% stake of the company. Pure greed bought them down in the end. The Liquidators said they intend to restart the school and get classes running again asap, but this seems real unlikely to me. They just don't have enough teachers, their name is mud and the industry as a whole may take a hit.

[BlueMouse]

oh speaking of that, i'll find u more to help me with japanese grammar lol
i fucked up my midterm

[BlueMouse]

indeed if they're gonna turn a school into entertainment business, i think it's not really healthy for the students attending neither

[ExtremelyHappy]

More fallout. Funny stories from teachers: If a student decided to stalk you that was "ok" with management:

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2891

Nice wrap up here: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nc20071024bw.html

oh speaking of that, i'll find u more to help me with japanese grammar lol i fucked up my midterm

Japanese is an easy language to start learning, then it gets real hard. Best way is to live there for a while, and avoid hanging with other Gaijin.

[Lustor!]

My favorite part of the first article is this:

"In many cases even if police authorities are involved, the mentality is “blame the victim” in many cases. It would seem there are many standards the police use to measure the seriousness of a crime or even a potential one. Self-defence is not an acceptable response to being threatened or attacked in Japan and will often result in the arrest of the foreigner regardless of the circumstances."

Not because of the end of the paragraph but because of the mention of the "blame the victim". Always in Japan if something bad happens it's somehow the fault of the victim. For example, when I lament to foreign friends about some dumb girl I got involved with, they give me sympathy and try to cheer me up. With my Japanese friends it's often a cold, "you pick your women incorrectly." Generally, non-Japanese side with people, but Japanese side with 'the powers that be'.

Of course, when it comes to WWII, that was just "an unfortunate incident!"

[ExtremelyHappy]

I'm not sure if this is for real or a publicity stunt, or both:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20071102a1.html

Good links here. Nice thing is when the infighting starts, we get to hear what really went on:

http://www.nambufwc.org/

In any country, confronted with a foreigner and a local, the foreigner is always guilty. Unfortunately some Japanese still seem to have little contact with foreigners and panic accordingly. I once got in a lift with an Obasan and she hovered her finger over the EMERGENCY button, apparently expecting to be raped, murdered and robbed (not necessarily in that order). I was pretty pissed off, but what can you do? I hope my doing nothing made her pause to think. Or maybe not.

Re: Empathy. One theory is they grow up in a largely homogeneous country with few racial and class divisions, so may have problems understanding the point of view of a minority. Mostly though (at least with the ones I hang with) I find them warm and sentimental people.

Of course, when it comes to WWII, that was just "an unfortunate incident!"

I can see both sides of that, and wrongs and rights on both sides too. BTW despite what you read in some of the history books, it isn't necessarily what is taught in schools. Teachers are largely pacifist, and despite what you hear in the American media, many (though not every) Japanese do get to hear what really went on: Rape of Nanking and all. It was the Teachers Union that fought and won the LDP's order that they raise the (Emperor's) flag and play the (Emperor's) anthem at school parades.

[shinchan92078]

I am an ex-NOVA teacher. I left in 1999.

I am applying to return to Japan as a Coordinator of International Relations thru JET next year