Job Discussion Forums

[jaylondre]

Hi All,
this is my first time posting on this forum (or any internet forum for that matter) so I'll ask for your collective patience and forgiveness in advance in case I make any faux pas here.

I'm coming to the end of my university degree and am considering pursuing a job teaching ESL abroad after graduating. Ideally, I would like to go to the Middle East, but have been reading some of the discussions on that forum and understand that in the post-peak oil economy this may not really be possible as I don't have any teaching experience, only have a Bachelor's Degree, am a male and don't have a northern hemisphere English accent. Given this would it be better for me to focus on teaching in Asia/Latin America (an if so, where is best) first to gain experience and then to look to the Middle East after that?

Also, even though I don't have a teaching/English language orientated degree, would it help that I am completing a law degree and another degree in which I studied Arabic as my major?

Finally, as I am intending to complete a CELTA later this year I was wondering if any of you experienced contributors out there had any advice on how to get the most out of this qualification? Specifically, I am looking for tips on how best to balance this certificate with the rigours of everyday life (as I am intending to do the course whilst also completing my final semester of law school) ad if there is anything you wish someone had told you before you did your CELTA?

Thank you in advance for your help and apologies for the length of this post. Also, I understand that it's poor form not to reply to any answers given on these forums, so I will endeavour to reply to any advice given, however, between law and CELTA my time may be quite restricted so my responses may be quite late coming.

[nomad soul]

It's unclear if you plan to teach short term or postpone a career in law.

Anyway, check out current TEFL ads for the Mid East (mainly Saudi Arabia) for requirements; unrelated degrees and Arabic language skills won't substitute for a lack of teaching experience and a newly-minted CELTA. So yes, set your sights on Asia or Latin America to gain your first few years of experience. (Head to those forums for more info.) Whether you would subsequently qualify for a job in KSA depends on what the requirements are at that time.

FYI: The CELTA is an intensive, 4-week course that will require your full attention and time. I suggest you finish your degree and then take the course or the equivalent, preferably in whatever Asian or Latin Am. country you plan to teach in.

[Kowloon]

My gut instinct says stay in your home country and do a Master (relevant to TESOL) right away. You will need one to teach in the ME anyway and it needs to be completed entirely on campus. MA TESOL (or Applied Linguistics) + Two BAs (one in Arabic) + a CELTA would set you up very nicely for a long career in that region. Add a couple of years experience on top and you're good to go.

*This advice is based on the assumption that you are anxious to be in the Middle East over anything else considering you took a BA in the language.

** I have zero experience in the Middle East so what I've posted could be complete rubbish.

[nomad soul]

[jaylondre]

Thanks for the quick replies Nomad Soul and Kowloon. I should clarify, in my country, you can do law as an undergraduate and in a double degree, so I'll have a BA and an LLB (not that this probably makes a difference regardless to my Middle Eat jobs prospects). Would something like this though improve my chances in Asia or Latin America?

Also, regarding the CELTA, I will be taking it part-time over the course of 3 months, as such would this change your initial advice regarding managing this workload in conjunction with a law degree?

[jaylondre]

Oh and to add to your post Nomad Soul about English being widely spoken in the Gulf, my experience travelling in that region is that given how thick my accent is it's sometimes easier on everyone if we just revert to Arabic (though of course, I would be teaching in my best Queen's English in a classroom environment). However, in saying that I have never actually been to the KSA so the level of English there is probably a lot better than in the places where I have visited.

[dragonpiwo]

Are you out of your noodle? Be a lawyer. You'll get stuck in TEFL and it's a long road of misery, pot luck and being treated shabbily (in general). I left a really well-paid banking job 20 years ago tot travel. Still teaching. I've been in the Middle East and North Africa for almost 20 years.

Be a lawyer.

[nomad soul]

[Hod]