Anyone ever teach English in a foreign country? I just graduated and I have a lot of interest in doing this (either in South America or Southeast Asia, although I'm open to most European countries as well.) Just wanted to see if anyone else did this (especially without knowing the local language) and how they got jobs, if they had a visa, etc?
I've taught in Asia. As long as you're a citizen of an English-speaking country with a Bachelor's degree, you're fine for the vast majority of Asian countries. For finding jobs, the Internet is your friend. As far as teaching in Asia goes, it depends on what you're looking for - a serious moneymaking opportunity, or an interesting experience abroad with opportunities for adventure where teaching is just a means of financing the lifestyle. There are countries that satisfy one extreme or the other, as well as some middle-ground ones. To elaborate, picture a spectrum with 'money' at one end and 'fun' at the other. At the extreme 'money' end is South Korea. With the right qualifications and enough sniffing around, you can pull in $3-4k a month, which is enough to live like a king on by fresh-out-of-college standards. The downside is that you'll be doing in it in a highly homogeneous and xenophobic country where the typical reaction to foreigners is one of suspicion and distrust. Taiwan tends towards this end too, but is less extreme than South Korea. At the extreme 'fun' end is Thailand. You won't make a whole lot of money, but, hey, it's Thailand. China tends in this direction as well, though again, less extremely so. Japan was, for a long time, a best-of-both-worlds option, but the Japanese have started to lose interest in English and the jobs are starting to dry up as a result. They're still available, but you'd have to do a bit of digging for something really good, and when you do find it, the competition can be fierce. Vietnam's experienced a big ESL boom recently, but it's still an unknown quantity in a lot of respects.
The French ministry of culture runs a well-known program that sends Americans to France to teach English in high schools (and elementary schools, maybe. I'm not sure.). I know many people who spent a year doing this, both in Paris and in other French cities. I could dig up a link if you are at all interested. I think they prefer some knowledge of French, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary.
Minorthreat's overall point about there being a spectrum of "types" of teaching experiences you can go for is a good one. However, it's incorrect to suggest that the spectrum breaks down precisely over national boundaries, IMO. Rather, the key is the town or city where you choose to work and more importantly, the company you choose to work for. For example, he mentions South Korea as a big on the money side, low on the fun side. Now, clearly he had a weirdly negative (and atypical, IMO) experience in South Korea, but even beyond his overall attitude towards the place and people, it's silly to think that all of the literally hundreds of English teaching opportunities there are the same. I spent time on Jeju Island (think mini-Hawaii off the southern coast, popular honeymoon destination for Koreans, Japanese, and Australians). There's an American Language Institute there, and I ran into a group of the young ex-pat instructors hanging out in a bar one evening. It was a bohemian multi-ethnic mix of folks chilling on a tropical island after an easy day teaching. It wasn't downtown Seoul catering to demanding businessmen, teaching for some corporate machine. Heck, even in Seoul there are dozens of "types" of opportunities available. Same thing goes for any country you'll check out.
Never done anything more than tutor, which bore me, so I really didn't do it that much. Things I learned though: charge per month; this way, when your Tuesday afternoon session gets canceled b/c of a national holiday one week, the student picking up grandma at the train station the next week, a strike the following week, and sickness the next week, you still get paid. You'll have to charge "less" per hour, but you'll make more $$ consistently over time Calculate. Your. Commute. Time. Hell... if you can tutor in your apartment, fantastic! Charge less for the convenience. A caveat to the first tip: kids are very stable income b/c parents universally have them on more rigid schedule. A businessman does have business trips and real emergencies that they must take care of. A kid, on the other hand... if grandma is about to be sent upstate to a farm if you catch my drift... the parents shield them from that reality and keep going as if nothing were happening. Meanwhile, your tutoring session proceeds as scheduled and you get paid. I didn't like teaching the kiddies, so I didn't do this for more than a few months. I tutored for supplemental income (i.e.: bar $$) on top of my financial aid packages, but these are things I learned from ppl who were doing this for a living.
Btw, depending on what type of experience you're looking for, you might want to check out the Peace Corps. They do a lot of teaching English these days in all kinds of areas, from basic Spoken English for touristry workers up to literature classes at universities. If your primary purpose is to experience another culture, the PC would be a much better choice than most private English language companies.
Just FYI to the original poster, regarding Peace Corps (I leave for Mozambique late next month, FWIW): - Right now it'd probably be very easy to get a gig in Asia with PC. I was originally assigned to Madagascar, but after the coup there I was given two options for reassignment. I ended up choosing Mozambique, but from the pitch they gave, it sounded as though the Asian desk was very desperate for volunteers. Now, when they say "Asia" they mean a pretty diverse list of countries. Your chances of going to China are slim to none (they require a Masters or higher degree in most cases), but you have just as likely a chance of going to Thailand or Cambodia as to the Philippines or Mongolia. - If you have experience with the Spanish language, you have set up pretty good odds that you'll end up in a Central or South American country. I'm fairly sure that nearly all the volunteers in those two regions have had previous Spanish-language experience. - If you sign up for the program, try to take care of all the material as quickly as possible. I had a notoriously difficult time getting in all of my medical paperwork, and that has kept me in the States now for over a year since my initial final interview. - It's an ENORMOUS commitment. There are plenty of rewards to be sure, but it's a 27 month commitment to work in your local community and if you want to leave your work site you do so on your own dime. However, all other related travel is paid for by the government, who also covers your monthly stipend, and gives you a fairly generous ($6000) sum upon completion of your term. You'll have to weigh the risks and rewards yourself. - minorthreat gives good advice here. Think about what it is you actually want to get out of this. If it's the cultural experience - then maybe PC is right for you. If it's getting some work with a decent salary or living off of that decent salary in a foreign culture, then PC is definitely not up your alley.
Eh, true enough. I came off bitter because I took a summer job at a hagwon from hell and have been miserable for the last eight weeks.
Thanks for the info, good thread. My cousin and her friend are off to China next week for 10 months, both to Beijing (I believe) I forgot to ask them what program they used to apply etc, I've been thinking of applying for this as well (I'd think after I got my master's would be better then before........... just so I can get school completely done) I was thinking this program sounds good on the surface. http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/english-teaching-jobs-in-korea-with-epik.html Not really sure what to look for in these things though.
EPIK is good on the surface, but in reality it's a bit of a crap shoot. You may want to post any offer you get up here for DoctorJones and I to take a look at.
Thanks, I assumed as such, they can make these things look good, but reality is usually rather different. What about SMOE or GEPIK?
I highly recommend WorldTeach: www.worldteach.org They're associated with Harvard University. They require a BA and a demonstrated commitment to be a good teacher (rather than to just go party for a year). I volunteered through them in Ecuador and it was the best experience of my life. But be forewarned--this is definitely a volunteer program. If you're looking to make money, South Korea is the place to go as minorthreat says. Many will bristle at worldteach because some of their programs actually include a program fee. But consider this before immediately being turned off: 1. Most volunteers fundraise a portion of their fee, and WorldTeach provides resources for helping with this. 2. The program includes a month of intensive teacher training during which room and board is free. 3. Program provides health insurance and round-trip air fare. 4. WorldTeach finds a job for you, as well as a family to live with (many programs provide some teacher training but then you're kind of on your own to actually get a gig). 5. Once you start teaching, you earn a monthly stipend (it's not a lot but it's pretty decent considering you're living and eating with a host family. I got $200 bucks a month of spending money in Ecuador). At the end of my year in Ecuador, I had pretty much broken even, money wise. And I had gained a lifetime of wonderful memories and wonderful friends (okay, sounds pretty sappy, but anyone who knows me can attest to how sentimental I get when talking about my time in Ecuador). Some of Worldteach's programs, however, have a small program fee or none at all, because they are subsidized heavily by the host government. I don't work for WorldTeach--I swear! I just had a wonderful experience and I think they're a great program.
Been a few years, but I taught in Thailand and China. Was there something specific you're looking for?
erm.. do you mean teach English as a Foreign Language or getting a nice-looking woman to..... well - I'll assume you mean the former! I've been teaching English for about 7 years now. I started by getting a TEFL certificate in Mexico before moving on to the Middle East. To get the experience of living in a foreign country and be able to save a little bit while you're doing it, a bachelor's from a university (in an English speaking country) and TEFL certificate (usually takes about a month to complete) is pretty much sufficient. But if you want to make a sustainable career doing it, you really need to think about getting a Master's in TESOL or Applied Linguistics. With an MA in the field + a couple of years experience you can get a much better paying university job in certain parts of the world (ie; Middle/Far East). You can even do your MA via distance learning while working full time, as I did. Anyhoo, you probably have seen these sites but they're usually good places to look for entry-level jobs: http://www.eslcafe.com/ http://www.eslemployment.com/ http://www.englishclub.com/ Feel free to PM me if you want more information.
Hey guys. I'm actually almost halfway through completing my TEFL course here in Madrid. It's certainly intense. Tons of work to do and you can't really take a break, including on weekends. I've got my second teaching practice tomorrow so I'm currently finalizing my lesson plan. We've also observed 4 classes that our teachers conducted and they really do make it seem so easy. I feel like teaching though will be a fantastic experience. Just gotta survive the next 2.5 weeks!
Great post! Sounds good to me, its really a good idea to work in a field that offers job security and consistent growth. In spite of relative shortage of jobs in other fields of education, teachers competent enough to teaching English abroad as a foreign language are still much sought after. Many people need to sharpen their English skills to do many of the outsourced jobs. I think good teacher can facilitate that, and make a good income in this process.
It's been a while since I last came on here. After 15.5 months of living in Madrid, I made it back home to the States last week. It was a fantastic experience and something I'm glad I got to do. Teaching in itself is not really my thing. But it allowed me to survive and live in a foreign country. I respect the teachers who do this for a long time because it's something I couldn't see myself doing for much longer. One question I do have for the former teachers: how do potential employers (non-English teachers) look at this experience? It's been almost two years since I quit my marketing job and I'm wondering if they'll look at my experience as a waste of time or as something that could be valuable. I honestly wonder how I can spin this into something positive on my resume.
First thought: depends in part upon how long you were in the marketing job before you left it to go overseas. Second thought: This experience plus other skills is the key. Teaching abroad as a stand-alone experience isn't terribly helpful (doesn't hurt either), but having marketing experience plus this would be seen positively, especially if you picked up Spanish while doing so.