Job Discussion Forums

[Jones]

Hi out there.

American, 42 years, 10 years teaching in Japan with another 4 years doing my own business teaching privates and elementary schools (one man show). A.A. degree

Interested in moving to H.K.
Any prospects with this short resume?
thanks for you words.....

[vivalgos]

Hardly over the hill.. more in the `prime`..
What is an `A.A` degree?

[Jones]

thanks for your reply.....

A.A. is a 2 year degree.....associates in arts.
I should have been certified with tesl or cert or something like that, but got too comfy here in Japan....
want to move on someplace else, in asia, japan has squeezed enough out of me.

[growler]

AA is a substitute for people who can't get on a bachelor degree course.

[Jones]

Wrong and very crude and egotistical.

we are all very proud that mommy and daddy paid for your B.A or B.S. and we are all very proud to see how you have taken what you have learned we your very appropriate reply.

we all have our own personal reasons and our paths in life.
the question is......who are you to come up with something insulting like that?
what do YOU know of my life or any other persons personal life or paths?

an A.A or A.S. degree is just as honourable and is in fact cheaper, taking your credits and then transferring them to a 4 year university. whats wrong with that? why should you belittle that?

btw....some of those professors teaching at 2 year collages worked in the univiersity crap and just got tired of it.....so in fact, you are being taught be proffesionals who were smart enough to get out of the university nonsense.

[vivalgos]

I quite agree... so uneccessary and rude...

you`ll see that quite a bit in this forum...

Maybe some people just need to become a little more adult in their postings.

[Placebo]

As insulting as he sounds, I need to agree with growler. An AA degree is not as honorable as a Bachelors of Arts as Jones states wrongly.

[Jones]

you are correct to a certain extant.....A.A. may not be as honourable as your B.A., but none the less, it is not to be taken as a mere nothing.

as to my spelling, I am not here for your proof reading. my mistakes have nothing to do with spelling, but more with typing and just letting it flow.

again, being insulted for what purpose? to show us your level of education has paid off?

you mean i need a university degree to spell?
again another person making lame remarks about someone you know nothing about. i should not go to H.K.? who are you to say that?

[prplfairy]

Come on children. An AA degree is not as good as a BA. One takes two years the other four. Just like a BA is not as good as a PhD. There is a clear hierarchy and AA is at the bottom of the post secondary hierarchy. However, that is no reason to get nasty with someone who didn't spell check their postings and say that they are not qualified and not a good teacher and so forth. He's got a degree that is not as good as a BA. So what? I know teachers with PhDs that suck big time and I know teachers who have no degree and only a TEFL diploma with a few years experience who are absolutely inspiringly great teachers. Let's not get into the Hong Kong mind set of saying that whoever has the longest list of degree and training on their CV is the best teacher.

[Jones]

i agree with prplfairy, could not have said it better.
i would prefer to end this thread now.....

mr growler was nice enough to send me a personal email with all kinds of nice british english vocabulary like......arsewipe....
now that reallly hurt my feelings.

so to those who put in some positive replies i thank ye bery bery muchi
for those who got nasty....well you know what to do, be sure and don`t leaf out ye ego`s whoops!! oh my i do need spell chck

[Placebo]

Yes, you are right. There is no point in discussing the traits that distinguish good teachers from bad teachers. Qualifications do not neccessarily imply that the holders are better teachers.

I didn't mean to insult anybody, but the comments Jones made about university degrees are insulting to any one who has obtained a Bachelor degree.

My point is that you should receive proper teacher training before you go into the classroom. I find that the only acceptable qualification is at least a teaching credential/PGCE or a degree in Applied Lingustics/ TESOL. Practical experience is only half as valuable if you don't have at least a tiny grasp of the theory that underlies all teaching techniques.

My neighbor is pretty good at fixing cars but he never has received any formal quailification in auto mechanics. Would I trust him to repair my car...? No, I prefer to get my car repaired by a professional.

[Jones]

a degree has its proper place of course and i was not insulting anyone for having a B.S. degree.

i was being insulted for having an A.A. degree plus 12 years experience teaching.

i would think my experience would have covered anything and everything a B.S. degree could give me by this time for this profession.
i have done the English factory jobs, now i am my own boss.
being your own boss gives you more exp that yu do not get with any degree or certification like human relations, customs of that particular country, accounting, gathering students....so forth

but it is highly recommended to have at the least a certification in teaching ESL before you begin.....or yu can be caught with yur pants down as I was 12 years ago

this profession is NOT to be taken lightly...it is not just for paying off the student loan....it is a profession and a fun one at that.....and lots of room to grow.....cannot have all the methods and ways from the start.
recommended to stay up to date, hit the teaching conferences and meetings.....book fairs, teaching fairs......
and take your job seriously....give your students 120%

[ryuro]

Hey Jones,

I've worked and recruited for English teaching giggs (conversation schools to university level) in most every Asian market for nearly eight years and to be quite honest, without an actual teaching degree (eg. whatever certificate beyond a university/college degree that would qualify you to teach in your home country) you're going to find the pickings very slim if not impossible in HK. Work Visa requirements are A LOT tougher here than Japan and this is a former British Territory afterall so there really isn't a shortage of native English speakers.

It's really nothing like Japan. Although there are conversation schools/private language institutes, they often still want something like a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA and even then the money you'd be making would never compare to what you can pull down in Japan. And I don't mean to be brutal, but there's NO WAY you'd be qualified for the NET scheme (roughly the HK version of the JET plan) and colleges/universities wouldn't give you a second (if first) glance.

The only real option would be the aforementioned conversation school/private language institutes but unlike many other countires, they usually won't hire anyone outside HK. Plus your money won't go nearly as far as it does in Japan- I lived right in the heart of Shinjuku for a while and found my yen went heaps farther than the HKD.

I'm sure there are exceptions to my generalizations- these are just my opinions and observations. Whenever I have friends working in Japan with a similar background to yours who are thinking of making the move I ask them this...

"Which is more important... having a compfortable lifestyle or trying something new and are you willing to live on survival wages just for the experience?"

If they really want to give it a go, I certainly wouldn't tell anyone not to come, but I would definitely want them to be forewarned.

Good luck in whatever you end up doing!

Cheers,
ryuro

[Jones]

great reply....thanks for your opinion, not to be taken lightly......

[subwoofer]

Teachers.


When I was doing my MA (which incidentally is as necessary to me as a firepoker made of chocolate) we had a lecturer who 'only had' a BA.

He was by far the best teacher there.

All the others (MA's, Phd's, Professors) paled in comparison.


Teaching English....

It's not rocket science, is it................