Another big issue, which is a bit more insidious, is drive for cost reduction. Language learning apps and AI aren’t great for gaining fluency, but it is cheaper, which drives down the price for language teachers and assistants. This drives down the price for “native” English teachers, which wouldn’t be so bad on its own, but that cost reduction effect is amplified for non-native English speakers - Japan takes a lot of English speakers from the Phillipines, for example, and pays them damn near NOTHING.
Speaking of gross imperialist hiring practices in Japan, I know of a few manufacturing companies which hire immigrant labor abroad. The pay is bad enough, but since this immigrant labor is usually contracted through a scouting company, a percentage of all their paychecks is going to these leeches. Not only that, but these same companies I’m aware of only hire Japanese descendants in poor countries, namely Brazil. Additionally, if these descendants are more than 3rd or 4th gen descendants, they will not be hired.
Another big issue, which is a bit more insidious, is drive for cost reduction. Language learning apps and AI aren’t great for gaining fluency, but it is cheaper, which drives down the price for language teachers and assistants. This drives down the price for “native” English teachers, which wouldn’t be so bad on its own, but that cost reduction effect is amplified for non-native English speakers - Japan takes a lot of English speakers from the Phillipines, for example, and pays them damn near NOTHING.
Speaking of gross imperialist hiring practices in Japan, I know of a few manufacturing companies which hire immigrant labor abroad. The pay is bad enough, but since this immigrant labor is usually contracted through a scouting company, a percentage of all their paychecks is going to these leeches. Not only that, but these same companies I’m aware of only hire Japanese descendants in poor countries, namely Brazil. Additionally, if these descendants are more than 3rd or 4th gen descendants, they will not be hired.