Job Discussion Forums

[cj100]

Hello all!
A lightning-quick query: What are my chances of teaching ESL legally in Vancouver?

I would LOVE to leave the U.S. forever and get Canadian citizenship...my Dad was Canadian, but (drat!) became an American citizen a few years ago. Does that matter? Can I get dual citizehship now? There aren't any close relatives left in Canada, so that would be no help.

I'm an American citizen. I have an MA in TESOL, a BA in Eng Lit, and have close to ten years of exp in the field, teaching all sorts of ESL and doing teacher training (CTESOL) in Illinois, California, Mexico, and Hong Kong. I wrote one Teacher's Manual for a grammar book. I don't expect to find FT work--I've been doing this awhile now!

Also, there's a husband and baby...what is a reasonable Vancouver salary for a family like ours? I'm not quite sure what we would need to live on or just how pricey Vancouver is. BTW, the husband works in graphic design.

I would greatly appreciate any help on this issue! Thank you.

[TokyoLiz]

CJ100,

You'd do well to research a bit on the American and Canadian immigration websites. Your father may have become an American, but unless he renounced his Canadian citizenship, he may still be a Canadian. Sometimes families can bring foreign national children into Canada.

About salaries - I worked at two ESL full-time day schools that cater to foreign students, and part time with the Language Instruction for New Comers (LINC) program. I was working full-time days, one night a week and Saturday mornings, and the wage was enough to support a single person and a single person's habits. To give you an idea, in 2003, the starting wage at one of the ESL schools was $21 an hour, 35 hours a week, and a gritty east side one bedroom apartment was $550 a month.

Maybe another poster can give you perspective about family.