Job Discussion Forums

[aylin]

My husband and I are going to move to the states from abroad? Can anybody advise on living and teaching in Virginia. I heard it is a very expensive state but lots of esl jobs. are there any nice towns that we can use as a base while looking for jobs? How are people?are they conservative? can anybody give some advice on this state?
Thanks,Aylin

[spiral78]

I lived near Charlottesville for 6 years, tho it's been some time (1991/97). My work there involved traveling the entire state, so I know VA fairly well. The state is mixed, in terms of conservatism..........Charlottesville & the greater DC area have a fair mix of people, including sizeable international populations, and tend to be more liberal (or at least open minded),albeit more expensive.
Then you've got some intensively conservative religious cities (Lynchburg, Harrisonburg), and south and east of Richmond you'll find some of the staunchest strongholds of religious fundamentalists in the entire country.
The southeast corner of the state is/was said to be, statistically speaking, a third world country, and the shared border area with Tennessee can also be kind of scary.
Mind you, I wasn't in ESL at that time, but my assumption would be that the n.VA/greater DC area would offer the most/best job market, though UVA Charlottesville could have good potential as well.

[veiledsentiments]

Hi Aylin

Spiral covered the state pretty well. I can talk about Northern Virginia. Yes, there is quite a large international population up here. There is ESL work, but contracts are pretty scarce. As long are you don't mind part-time at various locations with no benefits, you'll do fine. There is adult education with Fairfax County for a nominal hourly rate. NVCC and various universities offer a good hourly rate. The vast majority of ESL teachers end up teaching at 3 or 4 places to earn little and have no benefits. Teaching ESL to adults in the US is mostly a 'hobby' occupation for someone who has a spouse with a real job.

To actually earn a living in ESL, the only real choice is in the public school system where you need state certification. This normally requires at least a BA in Education plus whatever hoops Virginia adds to get ESL certification.

Personally when I was in the US, I used the other half of my double major and worked in business. Virginia is a lovely state and I lived there for many years, but it is expensive.

VS

[vandana]

If you are looking to teach k-12 there is plenty of oppurtunity in the northern va. region and maryland. In counties such as fairfax, loundon, princewilliam etc... These jobs will offer you pay (salary) as well as benefits if you choose. These same public school sites offer adult education and so you can also look into that. I urge to check out these websites such as www.fcps.edu etc... for more info and to contact the schools hr departments.
vandana[/quote]

[Noelle]

Hi.

Harrisonburg, VA... home of the JMU Dukes. I was born and raised in the Valley.

There are many Latino, Kurdish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants in this area. Most counties and cities have a huge demand for ESL teachers in public schools but there are private programs as well (ie: Dayton Learning Center, Skyline Literacy... etc)

The demand is high but the pay is scandalous and I believe that Virginia has some of the highest Praxis requirements ("national teacher exam") in the entire U.S. I've known licensed and experienced teachers from out of state who cannot teach in Virginia due to this.

That said, it's a beautiful place to live and work... cost of living differs depending on which area, but all in all, VA is wonderful. Of course, I'm probably a bit biased.

I have lived out of state and out of the country though... and it's always good to come back.

[Brooks]

what about outside Washington (in northern Virginia)?
Are there many Japanese living there?
I read that many Koreans live in Annandale.

[Noelle]

I think Northern VA is good. A bit more expensive but still worth it. There are more Asians in that part of the state... Chinese, Korean... don't know about Japanese but probably.
DC is crazy all the time. Good for a visit but I don't know about working there.

[Tiger Beer]

I was once lulled into the idea of living/working in Northern Virginia.

Its near to DC.. and the immigration in the area is quite high.. various zip codes with the Fairfax County area are as high as 20% in Asian population alone (let alone latinos, africans - generally ethiopians, etc.). Seemed really interesting.

Recently I had the opportunity to rent a car and drive all around Northern Virginia.. and its pretty much ALL suburbia. If you like that kind of thing, you'd absolutely love that part of Northern Virginia.

For me, it made me seriously re-think and re-plan any and all ideas/thoughts/images of trying to make a go at things in Virginia.

(As far as politics go, I've never seen so many KERRY bumperstickers anywhere in my life outside of OREGON - meaning its REALLY LIBERAL. Washington DC voted well over 90+% for Kerry in the election.. so no doubt that it was very similar in Northern Virginia as well. (Its the rest of the state of Virginia that generally votes quite conservative).

As for Asian ethnicities.. Koreans and Vietnamese are two of the larger ones. Japanese are one of the under-represented groups (they tend to live more in Seattle and Honolulu).

The biggest imigrants to the DC area would be Vietnamese, Korean, Ethiopian, El Salvadorean, Chinese, and Indian.

[canucktechie]

[globalnomad2]

Yes...but I love visiting DC. It has a European flavor about it, partly owing to the lack of skyscrapers, and otherwise attractive buildings...and I love the long avenues such as Connecticut, where you can walk for 2 or 3 miles and enjoy bistros etc. Lovely suburban residential houses just off this street...and others like it. Well worth a visit.