Job Discussion Forums

[mitchm]

Here's my situation:

I've traveled in Turkey, and really like the country/culture. I'm getting pretty good at Turkish from self-study and skype lessons. I want to come over for a few months to improve my Turkish as much as possible.

I'm not independently wealthy, but I have enough money saved that I think I could get by if I could find a reasonable room to rent in a non-Istanbul city (probably too expensive), and could land a part-time teaching job. Maybe 10-15 hours a week.

Firstly, does anyone know if language schools are generally receptive to part-timers? I'm also open to any kind of part-time work really, but given that I've got an M.A. and some EFL experience abroad, teaching seems most likely.

Secondly, any city recommendations? Bursa comes to my mind first but I'm not sure about the cost of living. Cheap/not too conservative are the only real requirements. Renting a room in an apartment is really essential because I can't sign a lease...anyone know of any good resources for this? Craigslist seems to be only Istanbul listings.

[philotaster]

Hey,

I know I'm a bit late to the game here, but perhaps this topic is of interest to others, too.

The good news is that you can almost certainly find part-time work really easily in any major city in Turkey.

The bad news is that no one can legally hire you part time, so you would be at the mercy of your unscrupulous employer. There's a big problem in Turkey with payments being delayed, sometimes indefinitely. If you're working illegally you'd obviously have no legal recourse in such a situation.

I think your best bet would be to just give your own private lessons. This will take a lot of preparation on your part and involves a good deal of uncertainty, but the demand here is huge and you can make significantly more money if your students like what they're getting.

I hope this isn't too late to be useful.

[mitchm]

It is useful. Thanks! I actually started taking Turkish lessons via skype with a guy from Istanbul who offered similar advice. Gonna head over in January and give it a shot.