Job Discussion Forums

[tkrawczyk]

I am an 18 year old Canadian male, just graduated from high school and thinking of taking a year off university to take a TESOL course and go teach englich abroad. My first preference is Thailand, but I would like your guys' honest opinions on whether you think I would be able to get by with just a TESOL certificate.

If not, where would a guy like me be best to go - I don't plan on making a million bucks, I just wanna break near even in the end. Or would my best bet be to stay home and continue with this after I get a degree? If at all possible, I do want to go now though...

[C76]

There's a thread on this board entitled "A List...Countries to Teach With No Degree..." Go check it out.

In my experience thus far, I suppose my degree is helping me on a subconscious level. (I majored in English Lit.) But when I teach...I use much of what I've learned while studying for my certification.

I can't really answer the last question your second paragraph though. I think it depends on you. You may get your cert, start teaching, and never want to stop.

On the other hand, you may get your certificate, teach, go to uni and earn your degree. You might prefer to take this route.

Something inside of me wants to lecture about the importance of earning your bachelors...At the very least, if you want, you could get it by correspondence.

*C76 steps back for a non-newbie to offer some advice*

[aaronschwartz]

Take some time out and get some real life experience under your belt.
But FINISH that degree. If you do not finish, you will have regrets all of your life.

[tkrawczyk]

Well, it's not so much the knowledge of teaching that I'm concerned about, I feel that the TESOL certificate plus my own intellect should suffice. What I was more concerned about is whether I can even find work without the degree - but I see your points, thank you.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[double agent]

howdy cowboy

first let me break your sweet Canadian heart jus� a �litttllle baby.
You are too young. They wont hire you.

They will SEE how young and cute
you are and duck you over for your wages.
They will lie to you and postpone your salary another day another week after the weekend
and you will be broke and young with some foriegn dystentry or sumting.

Go travelling, finish your degree, get your TEFL better yet get a TEFL Diploma, the pay increases greatly in GOOD countries.

Go make a pile of money, in the middle east, japan, taiwan,
go back home, put a deposit on your FIRST house. Rent it out.
Go back travelling the world, and working while still SAVING.

You will be miles ahead of the game if you play it like this. The other
way WILL BE HARD and it will SUCK BIG TIME.

Thailand aint so great I have been there and it is dirty and it
sucks big time. Go to Morocco for dddrrrruuuuggggssss..


Where are u from in Canada_

Try the CES

[tkrawczyk]

I'm from Saskatchewan, and I actually really like your idea. I have always been a little skeptical of teaching at 18, but one of my high school teachers, a young guy, told me that when he went to Thailand there were job offers like crazy, and he basically told me that I was a fool to not check it out. He said he lived like a king, and his stuff wasn't in Korea at the time, he would have never left. I think I probly will just travel around Asia, maybe Europe and South America as well.

Quick question though.. I've heard from a lot of people that tutoring makes up a large part of teachers incomes - would I be able to make some money teaching families under the table? Of course I wouldn't plan to make much money tutoring in Thailand, but maybe Taiwan or Japan, just a little to extend my travel funding. I beleive that if I really sold myself, and came across as real outgoing and happy, the Japanese would love me. But of course, that is just my ignorant opinion, would do you guys think?[/list]

[double agent]

maybe 100 years ago when this TEACHER of yours
was in thailand getting laid by young underage thai girls
he felt like a king. SAD.


Now the market is saturated. Lots of places advertise
but few are GOOD. I mean few. Being so young they
wont hire you. Maybe if you were at least 22 ..but 18...
no way.

Maybe u will get lucky and get a tutoring job.
More than not, THEY WILL WANT SOMETHING FROM YOU!
Your money, your love, just send them 500 dollars a month
when you get back to Canada. They will LUUUVVVV u forever.

Most of Asia is out to take money outta your pocket. Being
western makes you a target.

Being young will make you a victim.

just travel for a month have fun be safe. Aids is big.
dont be silly and lose you health.

[aaronschwartz]

Too much negativity here! Try China, forget Thailand.

[MindTraveller]

One travel bug you can cure while in college is to spend a year abroad at another university. If you're at a good university, your university may have 'sister universities' around the world in which they do exchanges. (This may mean your scholarship money MIGHT apply to your year abroad. And that much of the paperwork will be done by your school. You might also have a support systm built-in to such a program.)

Study a foreign language in college. Preferably an Asian language or Arabic (Sanskirt if you're interested in Asia). Language studies provide much cultural info.

Read all the county info/job discussion info on Dave's. That is an exercise MANY people should do to get a dose of reality. Before the Net, many foreign companies got away with badly mistreating their employees because nobody knew. Don't let that happen to you.

You can also get special 'summer student work permits' in many countries.

You need to visit your college's Overseas Dept. or Foreign Language Dept. or other student travel-study abroad office.

An educated person is always much easier, IMHO, to communicate with than an uneducated person. Not all people with degrees are educated, of course, and vice-versa. In general, college usually provides students with a basic intellectual advantage lacking in most high school students' education.

(I'm trying to couch my terms to avoid FLAMES.)

Etc.
MindTraveller
On vacation in Vancouver, BC Canada

[double agent]

Dont take a year off. It will mess with your mind
and you will waste time. REALLY. Students who take
a year off, more than naught, never bother to come back, but talk about
how they are going back next year, next year, next semester, then they
are thirty...

Travel in the Summer, or the Winter duing Spring break.
I can highly highly highly recommend NEPAL.
Been there three times. Better than the rest of Asia by far. You wil
get laid, smoke, buy explore, learn and not spend much money.

[MindTraveller]

I took a year off between my junior and senior year in college. At the time, I just ran out of money.

Looking back on it, it seems like I took an "emotional year off' to be in the real world. I learned to empathize with many people when I didn't even have enough money for a TV and a six-pack of beer although I was working full-time.

I goofed up, learned about living in the real world, missed college, and when I returned the next year, I was a more attentive and better student than earlier. I found my fellow students quite naive and had trouble relating to them. I could relate better to Viet Nam vets and other non-traditional students.

The 'no one returns after a break' thing scared me. But I had first hand knowledge. My father wasn't able to get through 4 years of college because of the Depression in the 30s. That definitely ruined his life. The fear of ending up working class and being a clerk in an office as I had been that year off - those two realities pushed me back into college for my final year, despite my lack of funds. I took out loans, didn't buy things, shared textbooks with friends, etc.

I thought I had suggested in my earlier note, to try and enter a 'third year abroad' program - not 'take a year off from college'. When I tried an overseas program, my scholarships wouldn't apply...... so I just got upset and quit college. But this was 25 years ago. International education is much more sophisticated now.

For most of us, life really is long. At 18, 20 and even 25, most of us WANT TO DO IT ALL and do it NOW. Fast.

Relax. It's far, far better to do it RIGHT then to mess up and cause yourself and people you love a multitude of problems. Think out of the box, but realize you live within a culture that DEMANDS certain things as rites of passage if you're going to climb the cultural ladder of sucess and profit. A college degree, including a Masters nowadays, is one of those rites of passage. Don't do it, and you're excluded from all sorts of long-term benefits.