Job Discussion Forums

Tiger Beer · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 778 Location: Hong Kong

So what's the better deal? Pay and vacation time, etc.

I have a MA and teaching at a uni in Korea. I get paid around $2,800/month plus 5 months of paid vacation. (Others get less pay but free housing). I teach 12 hours a week during the schoolyear.

How does UAE or anywhere in the Middle East compare?

globalnomad2 · Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 562

Search function! Seek and ye shall find. Experienced EFL people in the UAE with an MA typically start out at about $2800 tax-free plus free housing and other benefits. They get 7 or 8 weeks of summer vacation plus about 4 weeks of other assorted time off. They teach 18-20 hours, normally.

abudhabi · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 34

Well. if you have enough experience with an MA you could start on about $3600 tax-free. Then add on free housing, educational benefits for your kids worth up to $21,000 a year, plane tickets home every vacation for the family.

Of course there are lots of other factors to consider apart from the monetary - but that is what this thread is about.

holbrook · Joined: 14 Jun 2003 Posts: 60

I used to teach in Korea and now i'm in the UAE. As far as your pay question goes......

In Korea you can do tons of privates and turn that 2800 into 4000 no sweat. Also you can enjoy lots of free time, long vacations, frequent down time for exams etc, interesting people and lots of culture.

In the UAE you have little option to top up on your salary. And that salary comes along with a 40-45 hour work week (at the HCT the reality is more like 50. Shorter summer vacations (7-8 weeks) and limited winter breaks (2 weeks/3 at UAEU). All in all you work twice as hard for a little bit more money. However, you do have the added bonus of living in a more westernized place where it is easy to find good bread, a nice pint of decent beer, a membership in a five star resort, nice Thai food or any other food: Indian, Lebanese, French, Vietnamese, Argentinian, German, you name it they got it. (Dubai even has a Hofbrauhouse!)

In the end I made more money and had more free time in Korea. I also had a lot more fun. You can really meet and get to know the locals, the culture and the language. Here, most people I know have never become close with any local, never learn any Arabic and can not even name a traditional Emirati food let alone ever having tasted one.

The main reason to leave Korea for the UAE would be school aged kids. Foreign schools in Korea, like here, are expensive. Here your college will pay the fees. In Korea most schools would not pay extra to house your family. Here they would. Other reasons for coming here.... Dune bashing, desert camping, lounging on the beach and proximity to new vacations spots. If your tired of Asian trips and want to give Africa and the Subcontinent a try than the UAE is a good base.