Job Discussion Forums

[Anomie]

Can anyone offer me a little advice in contacting companies that offer positions to teach in various places abroad. I've tried searching, but would really like to narrow my search somehow. I am from Canada and have a university degree. Perhaps there is someone from Canada that has experience in teaching abroad? I would really appreciate any help given. Thanks.

[Gordon]

What do you want to know? Be more specific.

Where would you like to work?

I am a Cdn and have been teaching English for 9 years, in Canada and abroad.

You don't need to contact recruiting companies, it is easy enough to do it on your own.

[Anomie]

Hey, thanks for replying. Well, the thing is, recruiting companies seem to take care of everything as far as transport and accomodation goes, or so i've heard. I honestly would not know where to start if I had to find to find my own contract. When you first started teaching abroad did you use a recruiting company? Also, what places would you recommend for a first timer given your experience? I am currently only looking for info and not planning on jumping into anything. I think it's wise to talk to those who have experience.

[Gordon]

I did use a recruiting company the first time and it was in Korea. The recruiter basically lied about everything and was not helpful in the least other than find me a job, which is so easy for Korea anyway.

I would say Japan is not a bad place to start teaching. Schools pay about 3,000 CDN and the big schools will pay for your flight. Taxes are low (about 5%) and most people can easily save $800-1000 Cdn. If you have loans to pay off, this can easily be done in Japan. Schools generally treat you better here (Japan) than in Korea. I would also recommend getting a TEFL certificate, not so much to help you find a job, but at least to help you teach. You owe it to your students anyway. You have to almost be more careful of finding a good TEFL course than employer because there are so many bad courses out there. Where do you live in Canada?
If money is not important, there are lots of other places to work too. Browse this forum for different countries and read and ask questions. That is what I would do if I were you.

[Anomie]

I live in halifax. I recently talked to someone about working in Taiwan. But the details were a bit hazy. Paying off my student loans is a concern. I think one of my primary motivations is both the cash and the experience. The thought of living in Japan for half a year or a year sounds amazing to me. How open is Japan, culturally speaking? What is the climate like most of the year? Supposing I did want to contact employers in Japan, where would you suggest I start my search other than the Japan discussion, which i plan on checking out. As far as certificates go, the expenditure seems to be a bit much, considering I don't plan on making this a life-project of mine. I just think it would be a good place to start on my career path; doing something other than working at a coffee shop. When you say that I reasonably could save $800-$1000, over what period of time would that be? Surely not after a year?

[denise]

It's difficult in many places (including Japan) to find six-month contracts--they are usually for a year. In Japan, start-up costs are really high, so it takes some time to start saving.

Regarding the TEFL--even if you aren't planning on making a career of this, it really is good training. An added bonus is that while you are taking the course, you can start scouting the area for jobs. I did that while I was in Prague--during the training course, I interviewed, found a job, and found housing.

d

[Glenski]

Anomie,

Read the FAQ sections for the Japan forum. It'll be a good start. If you are really interested in Japan, I also suggest that you read the FAQ for www.teachinginjapan.com and read the Teaching Guide links on the first page of www.eltnews.com .

Saving US$800 a month in Japan depends on various things. A basic teaching salary is 250,000 yen/month. You will spend half of that on the basic necessities of rent, utilities, insurance, food, and phone. Of the remainder, it is entirely up to you to save or spend, depending on what you do with life. Having 125,000 yen/month left over may seem like a lot, but consider this...

1. movies are 1800 yen each in the theaters.
2. people tend to want to go sightseeing in a foreign land. That costs. Hotels are about 7000-10,000 yen each (on average).
3. Going out for nightlife twice a week and drinking/partying moderately (emphasis on moderately) will run you about 30,000-50,000 yen/month.
4. The basic necessity of phone costs are already mentioned, but that takes care only of basic service. Local calls as well as long distance ones cost money.
5. Food costs included in basic necessities do not include snacks or trips to the ubiquitous vending machines.
6. Your major times off will be during peak holiday seasons, when travel and lodging rates double or triple.
7. EVERYTHING else in life will cost you money take out of that 125,000 yen. Film, stamps, magazines, cable TV, souvenirs, medical care not covered by insurance, parking, car payments, local taxes, gifts, batteries, dry cleaning, haircuts, etc. Once you deduct these sorts of things, you have about 70,000-90,000 yen/month left over. This converts to US$800. You have this much to spend on student loans, mortgage back home, car payments and insurance back home, etc.

[Gordon]

[Anomie]

Everyone has been a lot of help, and I appreciate that. There must be some pretty good books out there that might be able to give me a good introduction to teaching second languages. Any suggestions?

[Gordon]

There is a book by Jeremy Harmer called "How to Teach English" which would help.