Job Discussion Forums

[tommyjx]

Hi everyone -

So as the title suggests, we are an international, unmarried couple looking for work teaching adults.

I'm American, she's British. We both have CELTAs, and 7 months post-qual experience in two excellent schools in Australia, teaching adult learners. From both of these schools, we will have excellent recommendations from the directors of studies. Prior to our CELTAs, we taught for 2 years in South Korea, she in a public high school, and I in an academy (6-19 year olds).

We both have a passion for teaching English, and don't want to take a step backward by going back to the high-school/academy type gigs.

Where would the best place be for us?

[nomad soul]

Since you're American, look into Morocco and Eastern (non-EU) Europe.

[spiral78]

Some Central European countries also allow work visas for non-EU member citizens. Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia are legal options. Most newbies on this job market teach adult businesspeople in their offices (think travel across the city to reach your students), with a smaller niche market for kiddies. Jobs in the region aren't found from abroad, and pay is subsistence level to start, so very different from Korea. With 'just' a CELTA for qualifications, you wouldn't be likely to find anything at the university level in this region.

[nomad soul]

[roadwalker]

[spiral78]

[In the heat of the moment]

A few questions;

1. How is teaching in every academy / high school a 'step backward'? Sure, some might be but there are many excellent schools and academies out there. Your experience is better than those with none but not a huge amount, regardless of how good your reference from Australia is.

2. Do you want to be able to live together, without being married? Is this more important that the job?

3. Everyone in TEFL has 'a passion for teaching English', it's a well-worn cliché, did you put that in your C.V.s?

[tommyjx]

Thanks for the positive feedback.

1. I guess I should have specified a "typical" academy in Korea/China: teaching children, no real curriculum, academy-as-daycare model. The schools where we taught in Australia were very focused and well run. These are schools which take ESL very seriously.

Perhaps we don't have a lot of post-CELTA experience, but a CELTA is very different from a run-of-the-mill TEFL. Anyone who really knows the industry knows this, especially competant school directors. Go find a respectable school in an English speaking country who will even look at a CV without a CELTA. This is the fundamental difference between good schools and bad ones (along with many other differentiating factors).

Regarding our references: the schools in which we taught are international and highly respected. A competant hiring manager or director will not only know these schools, but will consider good recommendations more highly than experience at a less than reputable institution. Perhaps I haven't been in the industry that long, relatively speaking, but I do know the difference between schools serious about ESL and those which are not.

Teaching in an "typical" academy in Korea or China would be a step backward because: to progress in our careers, the DELTA is on the horizon. Prerequisites for DELTA admission include at least 1 year post-CELTA experience, specifically teaching adult learners. So teaching in a "typical" Asian academy would be useless for us from a career perspective.

2. Being together is more important to us than money, so for now we're not considering the Middle East.

3. It may be a "well worn cliche", but I assure you the phrase is patently false in most cases, particularly in Asia. In my experience, the vast majority of teachers are there simply for lack of something better to do, and consider teaching ESL an extension of college: no real responsibility, partying all the time, etc... My girlfriend and I consider this our profession, and that's a big difference.

[spiral78]