Job Discussion Forums

Coolguy123 · Joined: 10 Apr 2013 Posts: 132

Hi,

I've been looking at a lot of places in Asia, and it seems like most of the market is for teaching kids. While I think it may be ok to teach kids for some people, I'm trying to eventually teach at university level, and am starting to question the usefulness of teaching kids as part of my resume. I'm 29 years old and starting to feel the need to focus on exactly what I'm trying to do, and where I want to do it.

It seems like places like Russia, China, allow for opportunities though in teaching adults. I'm not really interested in China, and have a lot more interest in Russia, but does anyone have any pointers in this regards or any other countries that might prove interesting?

I should mention that I'm currently in Asia, visiting Taiwan, after having completing the CELTA. I have a degree in English lit, and 1 year teaching in Japan (several years ago). My teaching is a little rusty, but mostly my interests lie in grammar and literature. I also have a decent amount of experience in the IT industry, so seemingly Russia and slavic countries that have high numbers of IT professionals might benefit from my knowledge as well as knowledge of industry language.

Anyway, just an idea. I was looking at jobs in belarus, but the pay seems low at the schools there for some reason, and the country is a dictatorship, and supposedly relations with the US aren't that great, and the US embassy there has "limited staff with emergency services only", haha...

Anyway, anyone has any other ideas of places with good markets for teaching adults, teaching literature, or business/IT/academic English, please let me know, as I'm currently trying to narrow down my areas of interest, options, and countries where I can achieve my goals.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:47 pm Post subject:

Come to Russia.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Blingcosa · Joined: 17 May 2008 Posts: 146 Location: Guangdong

China certainly has the highest demand. May I ask why you aren't interested? Try it. It isn't as bad as it looks on the outside, and if your goals are to teach elsewhere, it would be a good place to start.

Good luck

aummua · Joined: 02 Jun 2009 Posts: 77 Location: Arizona

Since you already have a CELTA, why not go for a DELTA?

Coolguy123 · Joined: 10 Apr 2013 Posts: 132

My goal would be to eventually teach at a university or at least at a higher level at a private language school. Originally I had planned to get an M.A. in English or Philosophy, but scrapped those plans because there were so few jobs available at universities in the U.S., and ended up just working and saving money for travel.

I thought about getting a DELTA but I just did the CELTA and only have 1 year teaching experience...So I'm not sure what the usefulness of having a DELTA would be at this point, considering the significant costs.

China does seem to have significant opportunities, and I keep considering it, but some people I talk to seem pretty sqeamish of it and there seem to be a lot of scams, so it doesn't make me really confident, but it may be worth it if I can get some good experience there.

I think one main thing is I need to find a good place that will allow for professional development with students I'm interested in teaching.

I could get an M.A. but the costs are pretty high as well, and there is a significant investment in time, and I can't be 100% sure of the payoff if I go into it, but I think that studying abroad somewhere could be interesting and rewarding, maybe applied linguistics or English lit (or french language, as I'm interested in currently), but again I can't be sure of the payoff in those areas.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Coolguy123 · Joined: 10 Apr 2013 Posts: 132

I think I see what you're saying. Can you be more specific though? Say you have an MA TESOL - doesn't this involve a lot of theory? How would these give you desireable skills if it doesn't involve a lot of practical teaching training?

Or say I get an MA in English Literature - the skills this teaches you mostly involve writing persuasive, academic-style essays, knowledge of literature, textual analysis, etc. While I like this stuff, I can't say that having an English degree has helped me find a job, including as an English teacher, where literary english is mostly irrelevant to most people and to most employers I've worked with.

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Not all TEFL-related MA degrees are theory heavy in content---my MA in Teaching (MAT) certainly wasn't. Moreover, it entailed a semester-long, supervised ESOL practicum.

In terms of teaching English Lit at the university level, neither a BA or an MA will cut it; you'd have to pursue a PhD in Eng Lit if you expect a return on your investment. Anyway, I suggest you take a look at "What do you look for in a BA or MA degree program?" (http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=95138). It gives some insight into how and why others chose their particular degree program.

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Belarus - great students, lousy employers.
Russia - adult work is there, but most schools will expect work with other ages too, although you might be able to restrict it to adults and teens.

rtm · Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: US

Coolguy123 · Joined: 10 Apr 2013 Posts: 132

Thanks for the helpful info. I'm still trying to decide whether or not to accept a job teaching kids, as I'm not sure whether teaching kids is useful experience or not in what I want to do - teach adults.

The pay seems a little better as well, at least to start, and the jobs seem readily available and maybe more accessible. I can start working fairly quickly. It does seem like any classroom experience is helpful as well.

However it does seem like a complete waste of the CELTA I just got. Most schools(teaching kids) seem not to care about it or even know what it is. I'm also not sure how portable the experience is teaching kids (I'm talking quite young, like kindergarten or elementary) to classes teaching with older kids or adults.

Any pointers?

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

There is some portability [edit: re teaching young children, but it is limited]. The knowledge of how people learn, and more specifically, how to teach languages carries over. The bit that is different, in my opinion, is the content. There needs to be varied content throughout the lesson, with things which entertain, so there is a new learning curve.

However, moving from adults to adolescents is not particularly difficult, you just need your sense of humour to entertain the troops (not that that is a bad thing for adults too).

rtm · Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 1003 Location: US

Coolguy123 · Joined: 10 Apr 2013 Posts: 132

That's a good point, knowledge of teaching and learning and processes, etc. is shared. Decided just to focus on adult jobs though, I think it will be better in the long run to get the type of experience now that I'm looking for.

I have taught kids before (elementary school, junior high school) for a short time and didn't really enjoy it. Much preferred high school (able to communicate with the students, more interesting content), and I think my personality is much more suited to teaching at least high school.