Job Discussion Forums

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

Pretty easy for guys to get hyped about folks coming in and trying their hand with no degrees or no certs. Of course, the more of this that happens, the more it will tend to depress wages generally. We could also consider the folks who are not native speakers of English coming over as well, or the folks coming from countries that are only nominal speakers of English. Pretty natural for us to wish it were not so, but it is. Amazing to me to see places hiring folks who are actually Italians, Spaniards and a few others because they LOOK like English speakers. Such is the nature of the industry.

Anyway, without really passing judgment on all that, I would just say to the OP that if she is avoiding the TESOL certification based on financial considerations, then sounds like a double or triple whammy to me. If a person does not have a degree, h/she needs the TESOL more than others, it only takes a month, and if you have NEITHER the degree nor the TESOL, you are really discounting yourself DESPITE whatever skill you have. Maybe even quadruple whammy as OP is not a native speaker of English. Anyway, WHATEVER your qualifications are, anyone coming over here should never come in a position of financial weakness. You want to be begging other teachers for money to go back to wherever you are from? I've seen it happen, it is a pretty sad position to be in. If you cannot afford the certificate, in my opinion, you do not have nearly enough financial wherewithal to be moving over here in the first place. It can be a nice place to live, IF you have money. It is pretty dismal for folks who are just scraping by. Maybe if you are used to living in poverty it would not be so scary, but for guys who grew up in the west, moving down to living like the natives here is a pretty sad situation to be in.

OOOPS, edit. I see you ARE a VNEZ, or some kind of hybrid. If you are living here and have parents backing you up, then it is not so scary, you are already here and just risk not doing well, you do not have the risk of being stuck all by your lonesome over here. Still, the VN I see trying to teach as if they were native teachers usually are doing well to reach 8 bucks an hour, and at your age, I would guess you would be doing very well to get that. I still think the more certifications you get the better, you know how these folks love those red stamps and all, and with their native people they want a degree even more than they want it from the westerners.

BenE · Joined: 11 Oct 2008 Posts: 321

I'd recommend the OP at least does an IELTS test to show to ppl to demonstrate that you are a proper native speaker. That might clear the air as getting a 8 or 9 in IELTS is near impossible for most English learners here.

Not so sure about the decline in hours. At my school we're still going well and I still get people offering me extra hours on a regular basis. Then again I have a CELTA and 3 years experience and I'm an examiner.

inhanoi · Joined: 22 Oct 2011 Posts: 165

Expay Luke: "Just because you are not qualified or capable of teaching early childhood, does not mean everyone else also isn't."

You know nothing of my qualifications. I'm simply stating that this young woman JUST GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL and has NO QUALIFICATIONS. She is obviously working as a TA at some third-rate kindergarten.

It's unconscionable, the poor advice she's getting here.