Job Discussion Forums

[WormFood]

[7969]

ok that seems to be one of the good ones.

they had a huge debate on the teacher training forum a few years ago about this place. the guy who runs (ran?) teflinternational (bruce.....) and those who argued in favour of celta..... the celta people couldnt believe that another course could be as useful, as rigorous, as recognized as celta.... well, celta may well be good, but its not the only show in esltown.

for the record, i did a celta a few years ago... and found a few of the instructors oblivious to the real world of esl teaching. most of the instructors where i was had taught in oman, spain and other such places. none of them had a clue as to the realities of esl teaching in asia, particularly china. i had already worked in korea and taiwan before i had even heard of celta, and those instructors didnt want to hear about how things were "in the field." their attitude seemed to be "its our way or the highway."

quite frankly that kind of response turned me off of celta. i also had dealings with teachandtravel.con (yeah, .con, that is no typo) and if i ever see "prof." peter appleton again, i'll give him a punch to the head. typical of many in the esl business... arrogant, knows it all, cant take criticism etc etc...

oh, by the way, just because an ad appears on this website somewhere, doesnt mean its endorsed by the owner, nor does it mean its reputable. it just means that company paid money to eslcafe.com and placed an ad.

[dave_merk]

[eslstudies]

So Wormfood, as you can see, that works out at 40-50 RMB per hour: convert that to your local currency. A university would pay the same for half those hours - and there are certainly much better salaries than those around for the right people.
Good on Dave Merk for 'doing just fine' on that money, but I wouldn't be feeling the same way.

[7969]

[WormFood]

I really appreciate all the responses. Thanks for correcting my misconception about needing a degree to work for a state run school.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, but nobody answered my original questions. I still don't know if what I want to do is reasonable. I would really hate to go through all the effort, and find I screwed myself because I didn't know what to expect and plan for. Did I ask too many questions in one post, or did I ask dumb questions that are not worth answering?

[SnoopBot]

What most would do in your situation is get a fake degree, either a photocopy with the name Photoshop altered/ changed with the exact font as the original degree holder or an online diploma mill life experience degree.

I am not telling you to do this but estimates say that 30% in China have some fake degree or bogus credentials.

If push comes to shove, you produce the degree.

In China nobody checks or cares, the most important thing is your look and English-speaking accent.

Just do not go overboard and end up trying to get an Ivy League Ph.D.

I knew one person that had a Harvard PhD in Education, but was only 24 years old. (High School dropout) That was pushing it a little too much.
He was obnoxious and wanted everyone to call him "Doctor XXX,� I refused.

They still hired him teaching at a State University near me, but rumor has it he was more interested in chasing the students than teaching.

That was in 2005, so beware he is now 25-26 with a Harvard PhD and 3 years teaching experience teaching out there somewhere. Maybe at your school, he was the type that wanted to fight other FT's (claimed to be a Kung Fu expert too) after too many drinks.

Point being many can be a good teacher, with responsible actions and not have a degree, some get a fake one but do a good job.

However, the few that are the idiots as in my example listed above will anger the legit FT's that actually have a degree and put the time in, especially a degree related to education and teaching.

Therefore, if you go this route to secure the qualifications needed, you must be careful that no other teachers know your credentials are faked. You must also insure you come across as a good co-workers and teacher type.

Thus, your fellow FT's can count on you and your students learn these are the most important qualities everyone is looking for.

Often, in experience many of us had some negative experience with those not well suited or qualified as a teacher. (Often it was found out later that they had some fake credentials or resume embellishments)

That is why you are receiving mixed signals on these message boards concerning wanting to teach with no degree.

[Shan-Shan]

[tw]

What happened to the Korea forum? I wanted to post this in the Korea forum, as it is about FT's with fake degrees teaching.

Consulate confirms arrests of three Canadians in Korea

[tw]

[cj750s]

[bdawg]

[SnoopBot]

[SnoopBot]