Job Discussion Forums

[schminken]

If you are 30 years old or younger, US citizenship, and have a Bachelor's degree in anything and you want to get some teaching experience in Austria, I encourage you to check this out.

To be a teaching assistant in Austria you MUST:

1. Have a Bachelor's degree, It doesn't matter in what.
2. Know some German. You don't have to know that much. Just make sure you stress you are interested in the German language and Austria culture.

http://www.fulbright.at/us_citizens/teaching_intro.php


What you get:
1. About 1000 Euros a month

What you have to do yourself:
1. Find somewhere to live (But someone will help you)
2. Fill out the forms for a residancy permit. Fulbright will process the forms. You get the visa when you arrive in Austria

You only work 12 hours a week. You don't have to grade anything and you don't have to teach alone unless the class teacher trusts you. You can do it for 2 years and you can even choose where you would like to go in Austria. Contracts are from October to the end of May and there's an orientation at the end of September.

I did this for 2 years in Graz and Vorarlberg and it was great. Not high pressure and I got some classroom experience before I went and did my MA.


I just wanted to inform! Lots of people aren't aware of this program.

[DainaJ]

Hi Schminken,

I was a Fulbright teaching assistant in Austria as well! This was in 1994-95 and we were in St. Veit an der Glan (Carinthia) - my fiance (now husband) and I wanted to be placed together, so we requested the less popular location of Klagenfurt and got St. Veit. We ended up having no problem living together in this small town. It was a very pleasant year. In retrospect, we should have stayed for another year, as he had an offer and I could have gotten one.

I recommend the cities outside Vienna. People placed in Vienna told me it was pretty difficult to meet people. We had no problem with making friends with our fellow teachers. (The French assistant hung out with the high schoolers, but we felt more comfortable with the other teachers and their families.) You get to name your top three choices of location as I recall.

As for teaching alone - I had to do this a bit, because they essentially used me as a sub. I wasn't thrilled with that, but it was OK. I got to participate in developing a new program of classes taught in English - one of these was gym! I'm non-athletic, so it was a fun exercise teaching the rules of basketball and such in English.

One thing about the language - I wouldn't stress too much about not knowing a lot of German. I was basically fluent in German, but had a lot of trouble at first understanding the Carinthian dialect (notorious, even in Austria). If you're in Vorarlberg you'll basically be speaking something akin to Swiss German anyway! Watch TV and listen to the radio. If you want to learn German being outside the large cities is great.

I really recommend the program and am available for questions, although my experience was a while ago now. This program enabled me to learn German well enough to get accepted into a translation program and propelled me into my current career. I really look back on it fondly for that reason and for the friends we made there.

PS Definitely go on a wine tour (I went on one with my school's hospitality students!) and visit a Buschenschank (country restaurant).

[JZer]

[schminken]

Dainia, I know St. Veit well because I've lived in Villach for the past 4 years:) Carinthian is fun and we are right in the middle of the VIllacher Kirchtag now. I also agree about the language. I did a year in Vorarlberg and in a year Switzerland and even though I was ok in Swiss German, I found my Hochdeutsch was practically of no use sometimes . People would just ignore me and speak in English or look at me as if I had just come down from Mars. I don't have this problem so much in Carinthia because I found most people speak a nice mixture of Hochdeutsch mixed together with Carinthian slang which you get used to after a while.Lei Lei! jo freilich! alles ist org!

JZ, I think as long as you meet the age and degree requirement, it will be fine. Just stress your interest in Austrian culture. I would also request places that are not Salzburg or Vienna. Graz is lovely if you need a bigger city. I can also recommend Wels, Krems, St. Poelten, Bad Gastein area

[JZer]

It sounds good. Unless I get attached in South Korea, I think I will apply before I turn 30. I am 26 now and plan on staying ing Korea for another year. So maybe I will apply when I am 28.

[DainaJ]

JZer,

Besides looking into different towns, if you can, look into Austrian vocational schools in something you're interested in - maybe you can request placement in a school like that. Mine was a restaurant/hotel management/tourism school, so I got to teach English for those purposes. They also have winemaking schools, technical schools, etc. My husband was in "gymasium" schools for students on the college track.

Schminken,

My favorite thing about Carinthian dialect was the lack of distinction between der, die, das - everything sounded like "da"! Subsequently, one of my professors in grad. school was absolutely appalled at the accent I'd picked up!