Job Discussion Forums

[scot47]

How many of us have raised children on the pittance that we earn EFLing ?

[ExpatLuke]

I don't currently have children but it's definitely in the next 5 years plan.

"Pittance" can be very relative of circumstances. If you're living in SE Asia making $1000 a month, it certainly sounds like a pittance. But compare it to the fact that working class Vietnamese live off of $300 per month, and you're living like a king.

There are also many different levels of efl work. Entry level teaching, experienced teaching, lead teacher, teacher training, management, and ownershhip. All pay different levels, and if youre a "real" English teacher with degrees, you're likely not going to be earning a pittance for long, unless you have no ambition or motivation to better yourself.

In the next 5 years I'll likely be the director of at least one school branch, possibly more. It does take a certain amount of future planning, climbing, ambition to make money in EFL. Just like in any career. The problem is that most people start in EFL with no long term plan.

[suphanburi]

[MotherF]

I have three kids. My partner is not an English teacher and has an income above mine. But when we first had kids he was a graduate student. We had a few lean years but I knew there was an end and higher income coming. But even in those lean years I made more money than most people in my community. But I didn't have money to fly "home" each vacation.

[pooroldedgar]

Ahhh, can a ESLer raise a family. The age old question. Seems to me the two biggest issues of trying to make a normal career and have a family as an ESL teacher are going to schooling and saving for retirement. And as far schooling goes, it seems that you have four options:

A) Put them in the local government school.
B) Home school
C) Get a job with an education allowance.
D) Get a job at an international school they can attend.

For the first one, for many countries I think it wouldn't be an option. Both because they might not allow it and also because would you really want your child going to a public school in many areas of the world? Even the ones that have decent educations such as Korea or Japan seem brutal in other ways. So i doubt I would consider them.

Homeschooling is likely not as easy as it sounds, but I've had several colleagues do this. Not sure what happens when it's time for Junior to apply for colleges but clearly it is done.

As far as I know, getting a job with an educational allowance means getting a job in the Gulf. That was my strategy. As scot47 knows, I got a job in Dhahran. The plan was to live there and send my kid to an international school using the allowance. The money offered in KSA would have sent him to a respectable school, or, if we'd chosen we could have supplemented it be about 800 dollars a month to send him to a highfalutin one. Luckily, Gulf salaries make this feasible.

However, while KSA's ridiculous visa process pretty much shot that idea dead and now I'm going to be working in an International School in South East Asia. Well, an "international" school anyway. But just because it ain't the fanciest school in the world doesn't mean he won't get a decent education.

It's sounds weird, but the lifestyle we would have had in KSA and what we will have in SE Asia is likely highly comparable, despite the KSA salary being literally twice as much. In SE Asia if you can work your way up a little bit you can be making decent money. The only difference is that it doesn't really amount to much outside of South East Asia. So no spending every summer in the US, which KSA would have permitted.

Also, the retirement fund isn't really going to be there. I had thought that if I did 20 years in the gulf, I could retire to an island and enjoy my golden years. But now....I don't know.

Teaching english in southeast asia, the best retirement plan i can come up with it is basically to spend the next 30 years making sure my son is able to establish his own life, and that my wife has enough money for the rest of her life. Then, head to Sumatra, and wait for a nice night. And the the moon is just right, and everything is peaceful and right, I'll take some of Sumatra's wonderful magic mushrooms, down a couple glasses of arak, and go for one last swim.

An appropriate end to a life spent floating through the world...

[bograt]

[ExpatLuke]

Ruling out public schools for children seems pretty silly, especially considering many Asian countries have better rated educations than the West. I went to 1st and 2nd grade in the public schools in a foreign country, and have turned out fine. In fact my memories of that time are only good ones. I learned the local language better than my parents who were working in the country.

There are also private school options which often claim to be "international" schools, but aren't, but they do have bilingual programs in English. Many expats send their kids to these kinds of schools here in the country I'm currently working in. They're a little pricey, but they won't break your bank.

Real International Schools are largely going to only be affordable if you get a discount for enrollment by the fact that you work for said school, or your family manages to qualify for a big scholarship.

Homeschooling is not a bad option if you actually have the time for it. Homeschoolers are generally actually ahead of their peers in public schools. But it takes a huge amount of effort and time to actually do it properly. That said, it's much easier to do in today's internet age than it used to be when I was growing up. You could probably even find online homeschooling programs for your kids to attend done entirely though skype or something similar.