| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Hed_Kandi
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 45
|
 Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 5:50 pm Post subject: Thailand vs Indonesia vs Vietnam - Best Place To Teach ??? |
 |
|
I'm leaving here (Canada) in August and I'm torn between these three countries on which one to teach English ? 
Which one of the three countries is easier to get a job in ? (I only have a TESOL certificate, no degree).
Which one of these three countries pays pays more and has a lower cost of living? (The biggest gap in between your salary and actual costs). I don't want to be "just getting by". I'd like to be able to be comfortable and be able to travel after teaching for a year.
And finally, which one of these countries is the most laid back, or most different in terms of "the rushed" lifestyle of North America? (Think listening to Bob Marley, lazing on the beach to wee hours in the morning laid back). 
I'd really appreciate feedback and recommendations from those who really know. This is a huge decision for me to be doing this, I'm quitting my job and and not going back to school next year, so this is important !  |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
JosephP
Joined: 13 May 2003
Posts: 445
|
| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hi,
I hate to be a wet blanket but my advice is don't quit school. That degree is really helpful, especially for working papers. I speak from experience. If attending school is really getting you down you might want to consider doing an alternative route to a bachelor's degree. Try www.excelsior.edu (formerly Regents College). They are an outfit in Albany New York that have a programme that allows you to earn an accredited degree and their costs are reasonable.
Best of luck. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hed_Kandi
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 45
|
| Posted: Sun May 01, 2005 8:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm not quitting school forever, but at this point in my life I want to travel and see the world and experience life.
I need advice on these countries, can someone help ? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JosephP
Joined: 13 May 2003
Posts: 445
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 3:54 am Post subject: Re: Thailand vs Indonesia vs Vietnam - Best Place To Teach ? |
|
|
| Hed_Kandi wrote: |
I'm leaving here (Canada) in August and I'm torn between these three countries on which one to teach English ? :cry:
Which one of the three countries is easier to get a job in ? (I only have a TESOL certificate, no degree). |
Indonesia perhaps.
[quote]Which one of these three countries pays pays more and has a lower cost of living? (The biggest gap in between your salary and actual costs). I don't want to be "just getting by". I'd like to be able to be comfortable and be able to travel after teaching for a year.[/b] You can rule out Thailand.
| Quote: |
| And finally, which one of these countries is the most laid back, or most different in terms of "the rushed" lifestyle of North America? (Think listening to Bob Marley, lazing on the beach to wee hours in the morning laid back). 8) |
So basically you want a lot of dosh and spend most of your time pissing around? Well, don't we all! :) However, the reality is a bit different. Perhaps you'd best buy lotto tickets or hit a few trifectas at the track before heading out to Southeast Asia.
| Quote: |
| I'd really appreciate feedback and recommendations from those who really know. This is a huge decision for me to be doing this, I'm quitting my job and and not going back to school next year, so this is important ! :D |
I don't think you want information so much as a pat on the head and someone to give you encouragement. Pardon me, but to be blunt, I think you need to make some more rational and mature decisions. Or at least be more realistic in your expectations. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 9:02 am Post subject: Re: Thailand vs Indonesia vs Vietnam - Best Place To Teach ? |
|
|
| Hed_Kandi wrote: |
| I'm leaving here (Canada) in August and I'm torn between these three countries on which one to teach English ? |
What the the deal with all the underqualified Canadians teaching English? Anyway...
| Quote: |
| Which one of the three countries is easier to get a job in ? (I only have a TESOL certificate, no degree). |
Indonesia is by far the easiest. In Thailand and Vietnam your lack of a degree will be a serious inhibitor. Possible to get by without a degree, but "get by" is the exact right phrase for it.
| Quote: |
| Which one of these three countries pays pays more and has a lower cost of living? (The biggest gap in between your salary and actual costs). I don't want to be "just getting by". I'd like to be able to be comfortable and be able to travel after teaching for a year. |
It's not that simple. You'll be comfortable in all three, but in all three your savings, if you make any, won't allow you to travel outside of the region (eg: you won't be able to afford an airplane ticket), and most of the jobs you're looking at with no degree won't give you any paid holiday time. Vietnam is the only country you mentioned where people seem to save any kind of money at all, but it's probably only enough to buy a ticket back home each year -- something 90% of the teachers in Thailand and Indonesia write off as being impossible without using their savings. But it's also the most competitive market of the three, and with no degree or experience to offer you'll likely not make the cut there.
| Quote: |
| And finally, which one of these countries is the most laid back, or most different in terms of "the rushed" lifestyle of North America? (Think listening to Bob Marley, lazing on the beach to wee hours in the morning laid back). |
Thailand. But that's only if you're travelling. If you're working you'll be in a suit/dress, punching a clock, filling in forms, etc etc. You won't have any kind of a job that'll have you on the beach most of your time.
| Quote: |
| I'd really appreciate feedback and recommendations from those who really know. This is a huge decision for me to be doing this, I'm quitting my job and and not going back to school next year, so this is important ! |
Stay in school. You're basically telling us that a) you want a salary that will give you an affluent lifesyle b) you don't have any qualifications and c) you don't want to work hard. Once you get your degree you can choose one of those three items, but with no degree you can forget about all of them. Especially in the just-getting-by world that is the reality of teaching English in most of South East Asia. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
|
| Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 2:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Vietnam is the only country you mentioned where people seem to save any kind of money at all, but it's probably only enough to buy a ticket back home each year -- something 90% of the teachers in Thailand and Indonesia write off as being impossible without using their savings. But it's also the most competitive market of the three, and with no degree or experience to offer you'll likely not make the cut there.
|
Sheeps-Goat's got a point here, but actually I was going to suggest Viet Nam. While I working there last year I met several people w/o degrees, both native speakers and non-native speakers, teaching there. IMO more people want to be in Thailand and thus stick it out, whereas in Viet Nam there is more turnover. It's a lot less comfortable so a lot of people [myself for example] bail out after 6 months or a year.
You're a woman [or am I wrong?] which can help a lot and you do have TESOL certificate [not necessarily underqualified] so get some more info on http://www.mekongesl.com
Last edited by sigmoid on Tue May 03, 2005 5:40 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Rice Paddy Daddy
Joined: 11 Jul 2004
Posts: 425
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 5:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
Canadians working illegally in Taiwan are all over the place.
I'm no longer surprised at how many I meet in the pubs and through friends who have come over to teach in Taipei with no degree.
I just read an article on the internet about how the low quality of foreign teachers are a problem that needs to be addressed in Indonesia.
China? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kenkannif
Joined: 07 Apr 2004
Posts: 550
|
| Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 10:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I know many, many, many, many teachers here without a degree earning well over 40K (and 50K) a month. It's not really that hard to make money here if you want to. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hed_Kandi
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 45
|
| Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 2:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kenkannif wrote: |
| I know many, many, many, many teachers here without a degree earning well over 40K (and 50K) a month. It's not really that hard to make money here if you want to. |
What currency are you talking about? And where are these jobs? PM me. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JosephP
Joined: 13 May 2003
Posts: 445
|
| Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 7:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Hed_Kandi wrote: |
| kenkannif wrote: |
| I know many, many, many, many teachers here without a degree earning well over 40K (and 50K) a month. It's not really that hard to make money here if you want to. |
What currency are you talking about? And where are these jobs? |
Hed Kandi, are you for real? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Volodiya
Joined: 03 May 2004
Posts: 1025
Location: Somewhere, out there
|
| Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 4:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
Apparently, he/she's not.
On the China Jobs Related forum, the OP claims to have been in China since 2001- more recently, as a member of a "Triad" (Chinese mafia family, to speak loosely). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tom selleck
Joined: 05 Mar 2003
Posts: 979
Location: Urumqi...for the 3rd time.
|
| Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 2:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
I recognized him as well. The question "What are all these underqualified Canadians" doing, looking for work?.....should really be... "What are all these internet trolls doing on Dave's."
The king of Trolls on the China board had just been virtually kicked off the board, and now promises to pester all of you on the Thailand board with meaningless questions. His internet name was Kia, Shamen and Simon19812005. That's right. He had 3 of 'em.
He promised to come to your boards with the internet name "Shoeman".
He had everyone running around, providing info and generally wasting everyone's time.
I believe both of these two to be nothing more than bored teenagers, wasting time. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cujobytes
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 1031
Location: Zhuhai, (Sunny South) China.
|
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 5:17 am Post subject: > |
|
|
| Looks like the Xiamen job fell through eh. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
|
| Posted: Mon May 09, 2005 1:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kenkannif wrote: |
| I know many, many, many, many teachers here without a degree earning well over 40K (and 50K) a month. It's not really that hard to make money here if you want to. |
Okay. Your experience, then, is quite different from mine.
Unless, of course, you're talking about making 40K or 50K by doing something other than teaching (import/export). I know plenty of folks doing okay in that circus, too. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
