Job Discussion Forums

[NuestroJuan]

Dear All,


Greetings from the States. My girlfriend and I are planning on getting married and finding work for the coming autumn. I'm completing my MA in TESOL (in-person classes), and she has had the same MA for about a year now. My girlfriend has four years of English teaching experience in French public schools, and she has been tutoring L1 and L2 writing, at the university and graduate level, for about three years now. She's actually interested in pursuing a Ph.D in second language writing after she gains some more teaching experience. I taught English in Azerbaijani public school for two years with the US Peace Corps, and I taught kids, teenagers, and adults for about three years at language centers in Baku, Azerbaijan and Kazan, Russia. Here in the States, I've taught Mexican university students and adults for an exchange program, and I've been at my current job, teaching ESL and science to unaccompanied minors from Central America, for a little over two years.

So, that's our background information, and we're currently looking for work just about anywhere where we can make a decent living. We're both interested in teaching at the university level. For my girlfriend, she can go with high school at the youngest, and I can be a bit more flexible about age, depending on job prospects. We would like to make at least a couple grand a month and have some vacation time during the year.

I hope this isn't asking too much, and any insight on where we should look would be greatly appreciated. I also apologize if this is the thousandth time you all have seen a question like this. Whatever the case, I very much appreciate your time.

I'll be making similar posts in other forums. Sorry for the redundancy.

Take care.


NuestroJuan

[simon_porter00]

Depending on the time scale you're looking at, what you hope to achieve should be do-able in Poland within 3-4 years. Off the bat, it'll suck. There's no two ways about it, the first year (maybe two) will be subsistence level living, but assuming you market yourselves properly, have some entrepreneurial skills and are willing to stick it out for 3-4 years, Poland will be a comfortable place to be. But, I stress again, you'll need to be looking at a 3-4 year game plan.

[NuestroJuan]

[nomad soul]

[suphanburi]

China might work for you as might Korea although Korea would require you to have 2 years post MA experience for most university positions as a guest lecturer.

Your expectations in terms of remuneration (gross not net) are not realistic for the majority of the East Asian region simply based on your background. Anything better than entry level would require connections (it is all about who you know and who knows you).

ALL of the better positions (beyond guest lecturer) at decent universities would require you to be well on your way to PhD; ABD at least.

.

[NuestroJuan]

Thank you, nomad soul and suphanburi, for your replies. I was more or less aware of the prospects you mentioned, and it does kind of seem that, careerwise, "putting in time" in Saudi Arabia could benefit us down the road. I just worry a bit about us spending our first year or two of marriage in such a conservative place. However, to be honest, I have trouble gauging how "good" or "bad" KSA is. I don't think it's outlandish necessarily to say that people have varying experiences, positive and negative, there, and a good bit might just depend on the individual (perhaps easy for a man to say). Turkey could be cool, too, but all the riffraff going on there is kind of a turn-off. Still, I spent a few years in a country much like Turkey with a similar language.

I could also see some experience in China being good, as well, as long as, as nomad soul mentioned, we're not breathing terrible air. Anyway, I very much appreciate your input, and the two of us will continue to talk about what will work for us and see what opportunities are out there.

[MotherF]

There is a regional university system in the Mexican State of Oaxaca that you two sound perfect for. You can search posts in the Mexico sub forum for more info.

[NuestroJuan]

[MotherF]