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| Teaching English Abroad?
Posted: 6/6/2009 12:52:36 AM | I took a course in this. The only thing I can say from my experience (I got certified.. Without doing much homework!) and the guy Miss Spelled my name on the cert. (I left a few messages with no reply) THIS school... and probly some of them are somewhat of a scam. Do the math: they "teach you " for say 20 -30 hours.. (seems we took off early several times) divide $1000. or $800 by 20 or thirty hours.. Multiply it by the students in the room and the Owner / instructor's making some pretty good bank per hour !
There was a minimum of support.. and the guy basically admitted he's most an entreprenuer... -MR. W | |
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| Teaching English Abroad?
Posted: 6/6/2009 4:16:33 AM | Hi,
Interesting topic!
I have also been thinking about this possibility and have done a bit of online reading about teaching in a foreign country. My son and I have done quite a bit of traveling together (Moscow, Barcelona, Prague) and both love it. I know that in Moscow, at least, to get a business teaching job and to supplement it with private lessons seems the way to go; however, chances of getting hired when you're not actually living there already are not great. I have talked with people who have had this experience. Then there's the pay: if you are alone and are comfortable with a low quality of life (Moscow is an extremely expensive city!) then ok.
I would like to find an opportunity in which I would be able to live comfortably with my son (who is 10) and off him some amazing life experiences. I don't know if any such thing exists though, as far as teaching abroad jobs. | |
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| Teaching English Abroad?
Posted: 6/9/2009 12:20:29 PM | | be extremely careful, been there, done that and i can tell you something, asia means one thing, broken deal, promises & contracts. return air fare? last month bonus? awww good one! they get rid of you pretending all kinds and then you are left with immigration issues and visa runs. i taugh , asia, land of respect, wow, it is nothing but corruption! and those hawgwons? a real joke! | |
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| Teaching English Abroad?
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:44:15 AM | | O.K so there are some bad . but not all are this way ."TAKE THE SWEET WITH THE SOUR" and do your homework on the place's you want to work in (goggle) dahhh, I did 6 month's in russia and found it the best and would go back again,,yes the pay sucked ,but we are talking about a place where at most and best thay made 100.00 buck's a month ,. and cold was not the word for it, ,, hot water sure if your fast,,,but what you get from the kids and the folk's around you are more then you ever put in .and I will say the night life was great. | |
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| Teaching English Abroad?
Posted: 8/1/2009 11:38:40 AM | Have taught ESL overseas for almost 10 years...for me it's all about lifestyle: being able to live anywhere in the world, experience lots of different cultures directly and through hanging out with other expats from all over the world, a more laid-back work culture (not in all places though) which allows for much more travel opportunities and personal time off.
LOL Why would anyone do it who wasn't say, a fugitive from the law? One word: adventure! Along with all the pros and cons that entails.
It's not something you do for the money, unless you work in one of the oil-rich Arab countries where they have to pay you lots in order to get you to tolerate living under police-state conditions. Japan used to be real lucrative in the 80s but no more. Korea, Taiwan, and a few other Asian countries still pay ok, if saving around $1K/a month is ok for you. In most of the rest of the world, ESL will afford you a very comfortable living by local standards, but not something that will put much of a dint into paying off your student loans. In Western Europe you'll barely scrape by (US citizens have a hell of a hard time getting in there though), in North America you'll frankly starve (unless you have an MA, in which case you'll barely scrape by), in Eastern Europe you'll be fine especially if a hedonistic slacker lifestyle suits you.
Qualifications---I'd strongly recommend getting a Cambridge certificate (CELTA), this is the most widely recognized international standard for good reason, it's a quite rigorous one month intensive course usually runs around $1500-2000 depending on where you take it, but it's totally hands on and practical, not a bunch of useless theory like most TESOL certs and graduate programs. You won't necessarily get a big financial payback for having one in 2/3 of the world (though in the Arab Gulf it's a minimum requirement), but you'll actually have a clue WTF you're doing in class, which will be a huge priceless relief for both you and your students...there are far too many random backpackers who think that "I'll just sit there and talk" = teaching English, which leaves a bad taste in everybody's mouth.
Great book to start off with is Susan Griffith's "Teaching Your Way Around the World" which may or may not still be in print, but it does a good job of giving you a big picture view and invaluable tips on avoiding the "cowboy operations" shady schools/employers.
Dave's ESL cafe is an excellent online source of info too, as is tefl.com
For a laugh, check out the "English Teacher X" weblog, by an aspiring Charles Bukowski teaching somewhere in post-industrial Russia. | |
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