Job Discussion Forums

oldie · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 7 Location: South Australia

Hi everyone,

Thank you in advance for your advice - please be realistic.

I was born and educated in the U.S. - B.A. in English, M.Ed. in Developmental Reading. My last 30 years of teaching has been in South Australian State Primary Schools (students aged 9 - 13). I have no TEFL qualifications. I have recently retired from classroom teaching (with excellent references). Technically, I have dual U.S. and Australian citizenship, but consider myself an Aussie.

My wife is Australian, an accountant with a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) Degree, with varied experience in her field.

I would love to work in S.E. Asia teaching formal or conversational English, working with no more than 6 - 8 students at once, in perhaps 4 classes per day. My wife would consider part-time work as well. Unfortunately, neither of us speak or write other than English, but we are quick learners!

Given all of the above, what are the chances of us having a comfortable couple of years in S.E. Asia? Remoteness is not a big problem, but we wouldn't want to live primitively.

1. How essential are TEFL qualifications and how much difference would they make to income?

2. What bureaucratical obstacles can we expect to face?

3. Would we be able to live comfortably on my teaching income?

4. What difficulties will our ages present, given we are easy-going, adaptable and reasonably active?

Thanks again for any guidance you good people can provide,
Oldie.

tedkarma · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 5:19 am Post subject:

I would think you would do fine in Thailand. In theory there is an age 60 retirement rule - but if a school wants/likes you it can be gotten around.

You would be a great find for a university- though wages are poor in the universities - except some of the private ones where it can be decent. You could eck out a decent living - you wouldn't save much or anything though. You won't go hungry though. And, a little work on the side would earn you some nice pocket change for dinner out and a few Changs.

You might explore the Thailand board here - and you'd get much better guidance than from the likes of me!

Look for Kent K. there (Kent F. Kruhoeffer) and send him a PM - he'd never steer you wrong. See you there!

PS: With your qualifications - you won't really need a TEFL Certification - but it never hurts.

JDYoung · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 157 Location: Dongbei

Don't know about SE Asia but for the climate, I suppose parts of China would qualify although I'm in the NE. Age is generally not a barrier here. My university has had foreign teachers as young as 23 and as old as 70. Bureaucracy requires paperwork everywhere but with your qualifications it would be quite simple. A degree may not be required by an employer but it often is by government.

You wouldn't need it but a TEFL or CELTA course may be useful to get an understanding of the difference between teaching language and teaching content.

University jobs are generally lower paying but also require fewer hours. I prefer the on-campus lifestyle too.

Go for it. I started at 55.

oldie · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 7 Location: South Australia

Ted and JD...

Thank you very much for your input. It's great to see I'm not only reaching people out there, but two of you have taken the time to write back!

Just another 2 questions:

Would you be working with young (primary aged) students at University - or only older students/adults?

Do most TEFL teachers work in ordinary schools or in specialist "Language Schools"?

Thanks again,
Oldie.

tedkarma · Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:11 pm Post subject:

Usually adults. Fortunately I haven't had to teach kids since 1992! Make sure if you apply that it is a REAL university job - not a job at the university's language school - which may be no different than any other language school.

University jobs are great, as Oldie mentions, for fewer hours, more vacation time, and an easier lifestyle - just what some of us oldsters want.

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

oldie,
With real teaching credentials (I assume that means a license), you could also consider international schools. They usually require the license from your home country, so I don't know if they'll be concerned if you are retired or not. Worth a check.

Otherwise, I hate to break this to you, but in Japan you may not find much more than conversation school work until you have had a year of experience IN JAPAN. Teaching credentials are usually not needed, only a bachelor's degree is required (any subject).

Bureaucratic obstacles, other than what I just mentioned, will include getting sponsorship for your work visa(s). If either one of you gets the work visa, the other doesn't have to, unless he/she wants FT work. You see, if one of you has a work visa, the other can qualify for a dependent visa, which only permits PT work.

Another obstacle is whether your wife wants to work in her field. I see no possibility of her doing so here without knowing a lot of Japanese and perhaps also getting licensed here.

Living comfortably on your teaching income... Well, in Japan, I would say that since conversation school salaries are only 250,000 yen/month, you would be very hard-pressed to just get by, let alone live "comfortably". Don't even try it. Both of you will have to work. And, if you don't mind my asking, could you describe your vision of "living comfortably"? People (foreigners and locals alike) here have learned to live with less than in their home countries, and that includes tiny apartments with small furnishings and appliances, washing machines without dryers (in many cases), poor insulation, etc.

JDYoung · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Posts: 157 Location: Dongbei

At a university you would likely be teaching university age students. Most of mine are 20-22 years old. With your qualifications you may be teaching teachers who, in China, could be up to age 55 for women and 60 for men, although it would probably be the younger ones who want to improve their English and possibly even their teaching skills.

I don't know about the proportions of K-12/Uni versus private language schools. I can ask one of my VIP students who is a government official here and seems to have access to a never-ending supply of statistics but it would be only for China and perhaps only for Liaoning province. I'll ask him anyway. Sounds like an interesting question at least for me as I collect miscellaneous information.

oldie · Joined: 29 Aug 2005 Posts: 7 Location: South Australia

Thanks once again to everyone who has read my thread and responded.

I'm comfortable working with children and this would be my preference.

For those of you in the know:

How realistic is it for me to think about working with very small classes (say, up to 6 students), having 4 - 5 classes per day?

Is this the way things are organised some times? If so, where?

Where would it definately NOT happen this way?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
oldie.

Chris_Crossley · Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 4:24 am Post subject: Maximum size per class: 10

There is one private language school in Wuhan, China, where I worked during the summer. If you are interested in small class sizes, I can tell you that the maximum class size there is only 10 and the students are all over 16 - there are no kids. The reason: all the classrooms are deliberately small.

PM me if you would like the details.