Job Discussion Forums

[User N. Ame]

There's been lots of information and discussion about teaching conditions and salaries in Japan, but I'd like to hear from those of you who went from working in Japan to teaching private ESL back in your home country.

If you had experience teaching (ALT and/or privates) in Japan, did you find this greatly improved your ESL job prospects after returning home? By the way, my home nation is Canada, specifically the Vancouver area, which is a hotbed for ESL schools catering to Asian students.

What sort of pay scale can I expect in Vancouver, or other North American locations, if I decide to pick up some ESL teaching work at one of the many private schools?

I taught in Japan for a few years, and haven't been plugged into the Vancouver ESL scene, but I recall before I left for Japan about 5 years ago, the pay was not great, and ESL teaching was not thought of as a highly sought after job. Wondering if conditions have changed in the past 5 years.

If you are doing ESL work in Canada (or USA, especially West Coast USA), feel free to share your views and experiences.

Thanks.

[Gordon]

I highly doubt anything will change in 5 years. I too have been out of the Vancouver ESL scene for some time but I'd say the salary ranges at the language schools will be: $15-25/hr. You WILL need a TEFL certificate; experience and a BA are not enough. The better jobs are at community colleges, but competition is fierce, most will have a masters.

[ripslyme]

Somewhat related, teaching ESL at the junior college/community college level salaries in the USA start around $40-50k annually, some tenure-track positions as well.

[Yawarakaijin]

I taught at one of the larger language schools in Vancouver and we were paid between 20/25$ per hour. I'm not sure about other schools but at mine we only taught 2 classes a day, each broken into two parts. The typical working day would start at 9 and with a 1 hour lunch and two fifteen minute breaks would end at 3:30. There were usually elective classes for the students which offered an extra hour of work for teachers who wanted to make a little extra.

The good: Only having 2 classes really allowed you to get to know the students. I have to say I had much more job satisfaction back in Vancouver than I do here. The days were short! Over before you knew it. There are no shortage of esl students in Vancouver so supplementing your income after school should never be a problem.
There are also quite a few newly arrived immigrant families willing to pay top dollar for tutoring. I personally enjoyed going home and being at the beach by 4:00 but I knew of 3 or 4 teachers at my school tutoring Korean kids at 40-50 dollars per hour. Most ESL schools in Vancouver seem to be running their own in house TEFL programs as well. If you were to get in as a TEFL instructor I do believe the pay is better.

The bad: Obviously it's the salary. Even at 25$ per hour your are only pulling in about 100$ per day. If I recall my monthly income after taxes was only about 1,800$ Not a lot if you are living in Vancouver.

[TokyoLiz]

I've been away from Terminal City since 2003. But I stay connected through BCTEAL - http://www.bcteal.org/

[johanne]

I worked at a Vancouver ESL school 5 years ago. I was paid roughly $23 an hour for a 6 hour day (a 3-hour class in the morning and another 3 hour class in the afternoon.) The problem, at first at least, was that I was laid off from Nov-Feb the first year I worked there. That is the hard thing about breaking into the ESL scene in Vancouver. Student numbers signifcantly drop off in the winter and the newest hires get laid-off. Usually by your 2nd or 3rd year you are beyond that, but it's tough at first. Also, as was mentioned you only get paid for the hours you are actually teaching, not for prep. My net monthly salary was about $2,000 and that isn't much for Vancouver, especially if you are living downtown or in Kits as I was. Most of the schools are downtown so you can walk to work if you live there and save on a car, but really it's tough to make a career out of it as salary stays stagnant no matter how long you keep at it unless you get a community collage job, but that requires at least an MA and experience beyond what you get here in Japan.

I wasn't that interested in teaching adults in the first place - too hard to motivate in my opinion and much harder and less fun to teach than kids, so I went and got a teaching degree to teach elementary school instead and although the hours are longer and the workload much higher, I find it more gratifying and I have to admit I love the 2 month summer holiday. However, when I did ESL there were several people there in their 40s and 50s who had made a career out of it. Good luck whatever you do.

[womblingfree]

[TokyoLiz]

Joanne reminded me of all the tough parts of teaching ESL in Vancouver, or anywhere in Canada, for that matter. Come November and December, the numbers of students returning home for holidays and entrance exams reduce class sizes and result in layoffs. If you're a lucky survivor on the teacher roster, classes are low energy because the students who remain are less motivated and may be homesick since they're away from family over the holidays. Tough all around.

The hourly wage is okay, but you max out at 6 hours a day. I worked at an international ESL school during the days, part time at a non-profit on Saturday morning, and biked to work. It was a busy schedule with a lot of job satisfaction but not a great monetary return.

[craven]

A TESL/TEFL degree is necessary? I'm thinking of moving to Vancouver either this year or the year after, and I'm wondering if I'll be able to find part time work after school teaching eika