Job Discussion Forums

[terracottage]

Hi There;
We are a family of four looking to teach english abroad. Dad is 47 with a BS in bio physics. Mom is 43 with a BA in theater. We have two girls, ages 16 & 10. We homeschool. Mom and Dad are planning on getting CELTA certificates somewhere here in the US and we definitely want to have our working plans arranged before we leave for any country. Our research so far has us leaning toward the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, and maybe Asia. We are thinking that we want to be close to Western Europe so that we can easily travel to France, Italy, Spain and to be able to drive up to Sweden.
Dad is a professional ceramicist and wants to network with other artists living abroad. Girl #1 is into glass lampwork and girl #2 is into regional cooking.
Questions:
1: Any other families out there that want to share some experiences and advice about being a family unit abroad?
2: Does our plan sound reasonable? Are we out of our minds?
3:Any advice on CELTA programs here in the US. We travel a lot and we are open to staying somewhere for a month to get certified.
4: If you were a parent with children where would you want to work and why?
5: Is it difficult for married couples to find work together?

Thanks in advance to all who respond!
Blessings....terracottage

[spiral78]

Central Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) won't really pay enough for you to live decently. At least, that's the short answer. You might luck into some special situation. The main issues are housing costs. Commonly, teachers with your qualifications + CELTA or TEFL certification are able to support themselves in a basic way, with enough left over for some regional travel and some cultural experiences (eating out, theater, etc). But you'll be facing supporting another entire person each.....this would be quite tough.
Finding a post together would probably not be so difficult.
You might consider trying to get a position offering housing. These would tend to be outside of major metro areas. Smaller towns often offer more in terms of support for teachers. However, remember that 'housing' in Central Europe will be a very different scenario from North America. One bath and two bedrooms would likely be the best you'd find for a family of four. This is typically what the locals would have. Will your children be content with this? The standard of living is quite different from what they are likely used to. If they will see it as an experience, and enjoy the cultural differences, then you're probably ok.

[Glenski]

In case your thoughts of teaching in Asia include Japan, I can offer some thoughts.

Homeschooling is fairly rare here, but it is done. Not knowing much about homeschooling in general, I have to ask, do the kids attend all day much like a mainstream school? If so, that means at least one parent must sacrifice the time (and income). So, if that parent also wants to earn money, he/she must work nights. Plenty of conversation schools (eikaiwas) here for that. It's their typical schedule anyway, but hours usually start at noon, so that parent would have to subsist on PT work only and/or pick up some private lessons.

If only one parent works, you will definitely not be able to support the 4 of you. Despite having bachelor's degrees, both parents are really eligible only for eikaiwa work, which amounts to only 250,000 to 280,000 yen/month. Even getting a CELTA won't really improve your chances at better pay, but I still recommend such a certification if you have never taught English before.

Yes, it is difficult for married couples to find work together. Not impossible, but not easy.

[Roger]

I am confused as to where this family is headed for - Wstern Europe or Eastern europe? The former communist bloc is Eastern Europe. In what way would that be more culturally diverse than, say, Western Europe - France or Germany, Italy, Greece or Spain? I guess this family has yet to learn Europe's geography!

Besides that, I feel they are underqualified to teach in Europe, particularly in WESTERN Europe. Maybe the former East bloc countries are more open, but then again, they won't enable the parents of the two girls to raise enough funds.
If you don't speak 2 or 3 languages your chances of getting hired as teachers of a language are pretty low. These countries are not developing nations, particularly in the field of teaching languages.

[terracottage]

[Afra]

I agree with the other posters. Good jobs in central Europe require well qualified, experienced teachers and there is a lot of local competition. Greece is part of the EU so you probably wouldn't be able to work there unless you have EU passports. Home schooling is illegal in some European countries - I don't know about central/eastern Europe but we had problems homeschooling in Spain some years ago and had to leave.

[terracottage]

Well it seems that the general concensus so far is that we are under qualified to teach in Europe. If each of us (Mom and Dad) has a Bachelors Degree, a TEFL cerfificate (most likely CELTA), and each of us has some teaching experience (art and drama) where is the best place for us to look for teaching jobs?

[Gordon]

I am supporting a wife and 2 kids here in Japan, but I have a good salary. You should be able to make ends meet if you find the right supportive employer. Will both of you be able to work f/t?
I agree with the others that you are underqualified for decent jobs in Europe. Look into Japan, Korea, Taiwan and perhaps China. The cost of living is low in China and the hours are seemingly few. You may both be able to work in a Chinese university. Post this on the China forum.

Try to narrow down the country first and then you can ask more specific questions.

[spiral78]

To be specific, you're not underqualified to teach in Europe - you could find jobs in private language schools in some countries. The issue is that those jobs won't pay enough for you to support your children. You need to search for where the pay will be substantial enough to support all of you...

[Celeste]

There is also the issue of work visas in EU countries. As Americans you may have a hard time finding an employer to sponsor your work visa as they have to give preference to qualified EU country citizens first. I think that you might be able to work in Asia (Japan or Korea, probably) but that the workload plus homeschooling your kids would leave you little time to pursue your artistic interests.

[Volodiya]

I've sat down twice before to try to write something informative, in your situation. It's the kids that throw me off.

The parents can get their certificates and both get teaching jobs, of some sort, in many countries around the world. Problem is, you'd both have to work to support the family and pay for the kids' educations. (I know, you said you'd home school- but this will be difficult with both parents working.)

You've probably spent too much time researching where you'd like to live, and not enough time taking a serious look at where you should consider working. Start looking more at the "job" factors, and I think the situation will become clearer. Search this forum for salaries, conditions, requirements, etc. With your qualifications, Turkey may represent the best place for somewhere near Europe: in the far east, Korea and Taiwan, perhaps.

Good luck.

[dmb]

Turkey seems to fit your ctiteria. You can get a good salary. In order to be legal you need degree plus Cetla(or equivalent)Also you don't need to be an EU national, just a native speaker. The thing that usually puts families coming here is the cost of schooling.Of course the children could go to a local school but there would be a language barrier initially. The English medium schools are expensive.But as you home school that wouldn't be a barrier.
I don't know about other cities but there is a very vibrant art scene in Istanbul. A few of my friends are artists(ceramics incidentally).
Anyway Good luck whatever you decide.

[daily chai]

I agree with what Spiral has to say, but you will need an EU passport to work in the EU. It's very unlikely you will get a work permit (for non-EU people).

Both of you could work together at the same school in Taiwan. There is good money to be made here. The same goes for Korea, but in my experience it was a less pleasant place to live (although I love the food--I just had homemade kimchi for lunch). Korean and PRC employers usually provide housing (which to me is bad--the employer has too much control over your life); but they might not have facilities for a family with children wishing to live alone. Generally single people live together in a 3BR apartment. Where would your girls be then? Where would you homeschool if you had to share a living room?

I hesitate to speak for other countries because I'm not there. Turkey sounds like a good option too, but again I'm not there. You should look into whether you can homeschool prior to departure. That would involve enquiries at the local consul/embassy. If you had to pay for tuition at an overseas American school your family could be in quite a jam.

It's not impossible; but you need more of a solid plan with more research before going. Ask at embassies, and keep your eyes open for countries that are hiring a lot with positive reports on the forum and journal.

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