|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
AdamH
Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Location: Bachman Turner Overdrive...Let's Rock!
|
 Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 4:04 am Post subject: Where to go after Korea? |
 |
|
I'm considering one of two things to do after my contract is up in October:
1) Go to Japan and do the JET program(me)
2) Head to Spain and do the CELTA, then look for an ESL job there
I'm a Brit, and have heard that it's cheaper to go to Spain for the CELTA than to stay in England and do it there. If I did work there, I would want to be in the Mediterranean area rather than in a landlocked city.
Which leads me on to another point:
Does anyone in Incheon speak Spanish, and would you be willing to recommend some good learning materials or teach me some basic conversational stuff? PM me if so.
Cheers. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
ajuma
Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Location: Anywere but Seoul!!
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 9:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I've heard that Spain is a good place to do CELTA. Did mine in Prague...cheaper! Prague is a good place to teach if you've got extra cash, but the pits if you don't. Don't know how entry into the EU has affected teachers...but you're a Brit, so no worries! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zark
Joined: 12 May 2003
Location: Phuket, Thailand: Look into my eyes . . .
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 11:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
For a CELTA or TELF cert I would recommend Thailand. You won't find nicer people - or better food - anywhere. And the prices are quite competitive. Overall costs are probably less.
And, btw, Brit English is the prefered English there.
I have a page on TEFL certs at http://phuketdelight.com/TEFL.htm
After Korea (the first time) I went to Taiwan (2 years) Saudi (5 years) and Thailand (2 years)and now back to Koreja (2.5 years and counting. . .). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ajuma wrote: |
| I've heard that Spain is a good place to do CELTA. Did mine in Prague...cheaper! Prague is a good place to teach if you've got extra cash, but the pits if you don't. |
Interesting. And curious. "Extra cash" for what? Getting settled, or simply living there?
Based on what you found, do teachers looking to live and work in Prague need to budget for higher start-up costs (getting a place, getting settled, etc.), whereas, teachers in Korea, for instance, can often hit the ground running, with employer-provided accommodations already in their contract? And if they can just manage the steep "admission fee", Prague is a good place to teach?
Or, are the up-front costs not the problem, but rather average teaching salaries are too low vis-a-vis the cost of living in Prague?
Or thirdly, are salaries across the board for nearly everyone in Prague just too low to afford a comfortable living in that city? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ajarn Miguk
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Location: TDY As Assigned
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 5:07 pm Post subject: Really? |
|
|
Zark wrote:
"And, btw, Brit English is the prefered English there."
Really?
Do you have any statistics or other evidence to substantiate this claim, or is it just a "gut feeling" on your part?
I'm asking, as my experience in LOS would cause me to question your assertion. Much as I am doing now.
Over to you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zark
Joined: 12 May 2003
Location: Phuket, Thailand: Look into my eyes . . .
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 5:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Re: Brit vs. Am English in Thailand
Two years of living and teaching in Thailand gives me that notion.
Even if you use no other basis, notice the large number of international schools based on the British curriculum and the comparatively small number of international schools based on the American curriculum.
Of course, I have not gathered data or conducted extensive research to substantiate the claim. Just my opinion.
So, no problem, you may question it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ajarn Miguk
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Location: TDY As Assigned
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 6:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Zark wrote: |
Re: Brit vs. Am English in Thailand
Two years of living and teaching in Thailand gives me that notion.
Even if you use no other basis, notice the large number of international schools based on the British curriculum and the comparatively small number of international schools based on the American curriculum.
Of course, I have not gathered data or conducted extensive research to substantiate the claim. Just my opinion.
So, no problem, you may question it. |
Okay, I'll put my four plus years against your two and still say your claim is tenuous.
For the record, most Thai students do not attend "international schools" and to use such a basis in support of your assertion is arguably disingenuous.
Yes, there are many UK curriculum based schools in Thailand. On the other hand, most of the Thai students who I have run into in Thailand speak English with an American accent.
There is also the question of who is doing the "preferring?" UK curriculum schools�� Students? Thai Teachers? Foreigner Teachers? Parents?
While in the past what you wrote may have been the case in Thailand, it is surely no longer the case. To give the impression to someone that British English is the "preferred English" in Thailand these days is just plain wrong. It may be in certain instances, but the reality is one more often than not encounters Thais speaking English with an American accent.
In the end, does it really matter as long as they are able to communicate effectively? I would hope not. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zark
Joined: 12 May 2003
Location: Phuket, Thailand: Look into my eyes . . .
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 7:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Sorry, my opinion stands.
And I don�t intend to get into a long diatribe to debate it. Nor do I intend to disparage your opinion by using terminology like �disingenuous,� �just plain wrong� or �tenuous.�
Our experiences, and thus opinions, obviously differ. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I did my CELTA in Budapest in 1997.. it was US$800.. as opposed to London or San Francisco at that time which was around US$2,500.
It was also really cheap to live there during my CELTA. I played with the idea of staying.. but probably much like Prague, it just wasn't financially any good.
If I were to do it again.. I'd choose Thailand.. close to Korea and also cheap.
But if you are thinking of living and working in Spain.. might be worth the extra money doing the CELTA there if its the same city you want to be in. You can do your networking and job searching at the same time. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
d503
Joined: 16 Oct 2004
Location: Daecheong, Seoul
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 7:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hi, some questions:
Do you speak any Spanish?
(I mean what level aid are you looking for)
Do you speak another romance language?
(This can be both an aid and a hinderance)
Spanish books I have used
Beginner level Dime Uno, Dime Dos, Paises del mundo 21
Intermediate: Gramatica Espanola (Larry King)
Advanced: Introduccion a la linguistica hispanica (I also had an intermediate level linguistics class but the name escapes me now), various text books, movies, and periodicles, I had a really good reader too but I can't remember the name of it now.
hope this helps. ALso I have heard good things about the spain Celta program. And I encourage Seville, beautiful city |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 8:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Tiger Beer wrote: |
... I played with the idea of staying.. but probably much like Prague, it just wasn't financially any good.
|
Tiger, perhaps you'd take a stab at the questions in my earlier post. (They were in response to Ajuma's post, but anyone with some insight is more than welcome to set me straight about it)
What about Prague is, in your words, not "financially any good", or as Ajuma puts it, "the pits" if you don't have "extra cash."
High start-up costs? Low teaching salaries? Low salaries for everyone relative to the cost of living there? (i.e., the "San Francisco of Central Europe") How is it that you're all seemingly arriving at the same conclusion about the city, and can you elaborate at least a little on that conclusion?
"the pits" and "financially no good" aren't the most instructive of terms. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 8:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| JongnoGuru wrote: |
| Tiger Beer wrote: |
... I played with the idea of staying.. but probably much like Prague, it just wasn't financially any good.
|
Tiger, perhaps you'd take a stab at the questions in my earlier post. (They were in response to Ajuma's post, but anyone with some insight is more than welcome to set me straight about it)
What about Prague is, in your words, not "financially any good", or as Ajuma puts it, "the pits" if you don't have "extra cash."
High start-up costs? Low teaching salaries? Low salaries for everyone relative to the cost of living there? (i.e., the "San Francisco of Central Europe") How is it that you're all seemingly arriving at the same conclusion about the city, and can you elaborate at least a little on that conclusion?
"the pits" and "financially no good" aren't the most instructive of terms. |
Its been awhile (that was 1998).. but the salary per month for teaching English full-time was something like $300-400/month. Something like that. Its been awhile. Could have been even as high as $600/month.. I just don't recall anymore.
But whatever it was.. it would be something like $4000-$7000/year salary.
So if you are making money like that for an entire year of work.. then it gets to the point where wouldn't you rather just work for a few months in Pacific Asia or North America (or wherever a person is from) and just go live in an Eastern European cities for the rest of the year without having to work at all? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 9:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Tiger Beer wrote: |
| Its been awhile (that was 1998).. but the salary per month for teaching English full-time was something like $300-400/month. Something like that. Its been awhile. Could have been even as high as $600/month.. I just don't recall anymore. |
 Wow. I'm staggered. Wonder what it is today.
| Quote: |
| But whatever it was.. it would be something like $4000-$7000/year salary. |
Why so amazingly low? What do Koreans know (about the value of English) that the Czechs don't? (Or what song & dance about the power of English do the Koreans foolishly believe?)
Purchasing parity power for the entire Czech Republic is $16,800 (2004 est.) and must be higher in Prague. I want to say "Good lord, how is that possible?!?!?", but I can't say a thing until I know what teachers are paid there today.
| Quote: |
| So if you are making money like that for an entire year of work.. then it gets to the point where wouldn't you rather just work for a few months in Pacific Asia or North America (or wherever a person is from) and just go live in an Eastern European cities for the rest of the year without having to work at all? |
Well, that's probably a do-able, short-term 'work & spend' strategy, and I bet it would be a load of fun for a few years, too. But much longer than that, and it becomes a sure-fire one-way ticket to the life of a penniless vagabond. Then you're options are marry a rich girl or win the lottery.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
d503
Joined: 16 Oct 2004
Location: Daecheong, Seoul
|
| Posted: Sat May 14, 2005 10:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Yeah I am heading to russia in January or so and teaching salary is like 625US a month...it's low but so is cost of living. Also I like russia better than korea, so I plan to just sorta fluctuate between the two, Korea make some money, Russia really enjoy life...at least until i go to grad school |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
AdamH
Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Location: Bachman Turner Overdrive...Let's Rock!
|
| Posted: Sun May 15, 2005 4:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hey thanks for the responses everyone...it all helps, and I'll bear in mind that Thailand has various versions of English...I'll teach whatever is required, and consider myself reasonably aware of the differences between US and UK English. No problems there.
To answer d503, my Spanish is limited to things like "Hola, hablas Ingles?/Entiende el Ingles?", "Uno sandwich con jamon y queso, por favor" and "la cuenta, por favor". Oh, and maybe a cuss or two. I've been to Spain and the Balearic Islands a few times over the years and it seems quite agreeable from what little I've seen, hence my interest in finding out more.
Thanks for the book recommendations. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
