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Work experience you can take from Asia to Europe?

 
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alexmac84



Joined: 28 Dec 2013
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 9:10 am    Post subject: Work experience you can take from Asia to Europe? Reply with quote

Hi there,

I am currently teaching ESL in China. One day I'd like to teach in Europe, but I know it's extremely competitive and that European employers aren't as impressed by your work experience in Asia. This being said, what experience DOES carry over?

I ask because I'm deciding between several jobs here in China and I'm trying to figure out which of the jobs may be more attractive to future employers down the line. One of the jobs combines ESL and acting which is something that might be able to give me a bit of an edge.

What are your thoughts on this? And what kinds of experience do you wish you had more of before coming to Europe?
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 12:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you've worked with young children, that's a bit more universal. Test prep might also be useful; familiarity with IELTS, Cambridge tests, etc.

Otherwise, demonstrating that you are aware of the differences between Asian and European learners and understanding that you will be starting at or near entry level despite your Asian experience is about all that will help.

Acting? In what way would that give an edge? Teachers in Europe are not expected to entertain in most situations (kiddies and some teen jobs - which are not the bulk of the work in most European regions- are the fairly rare exception).

The majority of learners in Central/Eastern Europe, where you can teach with your non-EU passport, are adults/businesspeople who expect real meat for their time and energy. They won't be impressed with your acting skills - they are in class to practice their own English, not to be entertained with yours.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=95456&start=0
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alexmac84



Joined: 28 Dec 2013
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi there,

I am grateful for the feedback! It seems like working with kids is a bit more universal.

With regards to acting, I mean TEACHING acting and using acting as a way to teach ESL. I'm not sure if it would give me an edge in a full-time position, but perhaps as a freelancer. Believe it or not, people in China are seeing it as a new way to teach their kids English. Of course, this is only a select group of people.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Again, there isn't much work with kids in Central/Eastern Europe. There is a small niche of private schools calling themselves 'international,' but it is never going to be huge as the schools are quite expensive. Regular kids learn English in regular school in this region, taught be qualified locals. The vast majority of the work is with adults.

Teaching acting might be a tiny niche gig somewhere - even if you knew the local language, acting/actors is a community that takes time to find and get into.

IELTS, Cambridge, etc. are more transferrable.
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alexmac84



Joined: 28 Dec 2013
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you so much. I better more IELTS experience then!
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alexmac84



Joined: 28 Dec 2013
Posts: 38

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I probably should have mentioned that one of the jobs I'm up for is at a French international school. I guess working with Europeans while in China would be a wise decision Smile
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
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Location: On a Short Leash

PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, that would help!
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NilSatis82



Joined: 03 May 2009
Posts: 110

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spiral78 wrote:
Again, there isn't much work with kids in Central/Eastern Europe.....The vast majority of the work is with adults.

This isn't entirely accurate. In Europe, it is only really true of countries such as Germany where there is a relatively large market for teaching business English. For Central/Eastern Europe, whilst it is true that there is probably more work with adults on balance, there is still plenty of work with YLs too. Most schools in this region teach a combination of adults and YLs, so it is quite likely that you'd be expected to teach both. This does vary a little from city-to-city though. In bigger cities (especially ones with a lot of international companies), language schools are more likely to have a greater focus on adults, particularly business English. In smaller towns and cities, YL courses are more likely to be the bread and butter for most language schools.

On the whole though, I would expect the YL market to become increasingly important in this region. Once a language school gets a YL through the door, the parents are much more likely to stick with that school for a while. Adults are much more unreliable and so it makes sense to go after the YL market.


spiral78 wrote:
Regular kids learn English in regular school in this region, taught be qualified locals.

Obviously this is true virtually everywhere but I assume you mean that children here learn to a high enough level so that they don't need extra lessons. Again, this can only be considered accurate if your idea of central/Eastern Europe includes Germany, Switzerland, Austria, etc. For new EU countries such as Poland, Czech Rep, Hungary, etc., then it is quite rare to meet someone with a high level of English who hasn't had to pay for extra lessons of some kind.

When it comes to exam teaching, FCE and CAE are much more popular than IELTS. Having experience of teaching them is by no means essential but a nice feather to have in your bow nonetheless. However, a lot of skills you would learn teaching the IELTS exam are transferable to teaching FCE/CAE, so in this respect, experience of teaching IELTS would be quite useful too.
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
For new EU countries such as Poland, Czech Rep, Hungary, etc., then it is quite rare to meet someone with a high level of English who hasn't had to pay for extra lessons of some kind.


Not the case with gymnasium students/graduates here. I am not sure what you are basing your ideas upon, but I've been around since 1998 and my experience doesn't jibe with yours.
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NilSatis82



Joined: 03 May 2009
Posts: 110

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My experience is mostly from teaching in Poland but also from speaking to teachers from other countries. There are lots of Poles who speak very good English but they rarely achieve a high level of English solely as a result of the lessons they've attended at state schools. The sad fact is that in most English classes in state schools in Poland, students get very little chance to speak English. Sure they learn a lot of grammar, but tend to learn to speak by attending classes at private language schools or having private tuition. Quite simply, if you have enough money, you pay for your child(ren) to have extra lessons. You'd be stupid not to.

I could be wrong but I'd be surprised if Poland were much different to many other of the (2004) EU countries. My conversations with teachers who have taught in similar countries would suggest not.

spiral78 wrote:
Not the case with gymnasium students/graduates here.

Where is 'here'?
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spiral78



Joined: 05 Apr 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Czech Republic and Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Poland, primarily. Also further West, but that's not under consideration here.
I work at one university with partners across the region. For the past 12 years or so, I've worked part of every year at one or another of the partner institutions, and I know a lot of university (and pre university) teachers across the region through meetings and etc. Almost all partner university teachers work with 1st year students (though I don't), so it's a logical place for me to form an opinion about the quality of English spoken by gymnasium grads across the region.

Quote:
Obviously this is true virtually everywhere but I assume you mean that children here learn to a high enough level so that they don't need extra lessons.


I am not entirely disagreeing, but most gymnasium grads have generally functional English, and it's more useful to wait to take specialist/higher level classes when they enter the workplace and can focus on ESP. There are also ERASMUS program requirements that play a role, but those aren't really children, either - so students preparing to enter university or in their 1st/2nd/3rd years.
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NilSatis82



Joined: 03 May 2009
Posts: 110

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In Poland it is compulsory to do a foreign language in the Matura (school leaving) exam, so waiting isn't really an option if university entry depends on how well they do in their English exams (it does depend on the subject/university though).

As I alluded to in an earlier post though, I think there is a feeling that school children have a lot more free time than adults, so it makes sense to spend more time focusing on learning English whilst they're at school. Teenagers may often stop taking additional lessons when they get to the 2nd or 3rd year of high school but it's rare for Poles to wait until after their studies before having some kind of private tuition/additional lessons.

As an example, I have a friend who took the FCE a few years ago and he was quite shocked (and very impressed) that his speaking test partner had never had any extra English classes outside of school/university yet had managed to get to a level where he was able to take the FCE. So it obviously can and does happen that students get to a high level without extra classes but my friend's reaction suggets that it's relatively rare.

There is also (rightly or wrongly) the perception in Poland that children/teenagers are better at learning English than adults and that learning English as an adult is much more (even too?) difficult. My own experience in Poland certainly suggests that teenagers are generally more successful learners than adults but I would put it down almost exclusively to the simple fact that they do indeed have extra time that they can devote to learning English. This is particularly noticeable when giving students homework. Teenagers almost always do it whereas adults often protest that they don't have time. Despite what I said earlier, I would acknowledge that the extra lessons that children receive at school that adults obviously don't have is also undoubtedly a major part of their comparative success in learning English.

Whilst I agree that waiting to focus on ESP can make sense to some extent, there are not a huge amount of courses available or teachers with the necessary skills available to teach ESP, especially outside Warsaw. There are plenty of generic business English courses around but I'm guessing you meant something more specific than that.
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