Job Discussion Forums

Ki · Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 475

EJW, how easy would it be for someone to work as a teacher's aide? Obviously the pay would be a lot lower and I would have to improve my Svenska. While jobs for ESL teachers might be in short supply, jobs for regular teachers are plentiful. Is this an unrealistic route?

I don't have an education degree but I do have an MA (applied linguistics).
Any ideas people?
Ki.

Gorm · Joined: 01 Sep 2004 Posts: 87 Location: SoCal

Maybe it's small to all of you, but let's just get one thing straight -

(Thankfully) Norway is NOT part of the EU, thus it is not an EU nation and an EU passport is not required.

from a Norwegian,

G

keepthepenny · Joined: 18 Sep 2004 Posts: 8

Teacher Girl,

I don't know if the suggestion will be helpful for you as I know nothing about your age, interests, foreign language competency, or experience with children but if your primary interest is to spend some time working in Northern Europe, you may be better off looking for work as an au pair than as an ESL teacher. However, if furthering your ESL career is your main objective, this would not be much help!

Laurie

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

How about if you are a British Subject with a Canadian accent (due to having lived in Canada for almost all of your life, while still retaining British Citizenship and passport etc)?

No B.Education, but a BA (English and Music History), a one year on-campus TESL-Certificate from a(n accredited) university in Canada, passable French (pretty close to bilingual), intermediate level German, intermediate Japanese (although that won't be much use!), experience teaching EFL to kids in Japan and ESL to adults and teenagers in Canada.

I'd be in my mid-30's (34 or so) in a couple of years when I'm finished in Japan (so probably my Japanese level will be bumped up to advanced by that time).

Is there any hope?

leby26 · Joined: 30 Jan 2004 Posts: 68

Hi rogan (and anyone else),
You had posted earlier that this isn't the best of sites to look for jobs in Europe. Which sites would you suggest to frequent if I'm planning on searching for a job in the Baltics after I get certified? I've been checking out a bunch and am just curious and anxious for some more suggestions. Could you PM me, maybe? Thanks so much,

Laura

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

You'd probably have better luck in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania but you might have to search very hard to get decent money.

poro · Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 274

You can live well in the Baltics on a small wage, of say $500 a month or so. But even though that would give you a good living standard, you would never be able to save very much from that kind of money.

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

$500 a month won't do you too much in Tallinn these days. You need a dead minimum of about $800 a month net to live decently by Western standards. And most schools pay far less than that!

poro · Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 274

GF, I can quite believe that Tallinn is more expensive these days. I was just thinking back 4 years, when I was offered a job in Saarenmaa working in a state school, and what they offered translated roughly to $500 - I was assured at the time that was way above average.

I would probably avoid Tallinn anyway, but there is a different reason for that, and it has nothing to do with money.

Do you work there yourself?

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

Yes. I am working here now and love it. From what my Estonian friends tell me and from my own experience, living on a state teacher's salary is difficult at best. Teachers either still live with their parents or are married to working spouses. By the way, why wouldn't you want to work in Tallinn? It's a great little city.

poro · Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 274

If you live in Tallinn you will know all about it, GT - on any given day there are thousands of my countrymen over on a daytrip, getting plastered on cheap booze, and they give us all a bad name, unfortunately Sad

poro · Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 274

Oddly enough, GF, there was an article in our biggest daily some days ago, saying that the Brits had discovered Tallinn and were visiting it in droves, on so-called "stag parties".

Some of us are secretly hoping - and we know this is very bad, but that's life for you! - that the Brits will cause so much commotion in Tallinn, that Finns will appear very mild by comparison, and Estonians will start to like us again! Cool

Hehehehe!

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

I don't blame you for your wish and I can tell you that part of it is already coming true. My Estonian friends and students joke a lot about these stag parties (they can't understand the odd behavior, but then again, neither can I). However, my girls from the gymnasium and my adult business ladies have little good to say about the Finns who come over looking for cheap booze and sex. The difference I have seen in bars and clubs is that the Brits run around in small herds while the Finns do their hunting individually or in pairs. By the way, I was wondering how the average Finn views Estonians. I worked in Moscow for 4 1/2 years before moving to Tallinn and the average Russian view of Estonia and Estonians was totally out of touch with reality.

poro · Joined: 04 Oct 2004 Posts: 274

GF · Joined: 08 Jun 2003 Posts: 238 Location: Tallinn

I admire Estonians as well as their country. In fact, I admire their country more than many of my students do. I have already had to give several pep talks about what a great little place they have here. When I tell my students that I plan to live here for the foreseeable future they are pleased but can't seem to understand why.