Job Discussion Forums

Mike S. · Joined: 27 Apr 2006 Posts: 91 Location: New York City

Hello ESL teachers in Asia,

I�ve been teaching in Mexico on and off for the past 15 months. I�m fed up with the lack of respect and/or low wages that I�ve experienced. I�m ready to make the big leap over to Asia. I've never been there and only speak English and rather poor Spanish. However, I have a BA and a TEFL
certificate. Does anyone on this forum, like their job, living situation, etc. in Asia? Thanks in advance for your responses!

Serious_Fun · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 1171 Location: terra incognita

GeminiTiger

4indianwoman · Joined: 24 Sep 2007 Posts: 5

Yes! Aia is not the place where you will be able to get so much money.
If You are thinking abou wages , don't come to china and india

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

I like my job in Asia. But some guys...whew!

You have to watch out when some guys are speaking....Asian.

I'd go to Europe, but I don't speak European, so I guess I should avoid it.

The Lemon · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 42

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

surrealia · Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 241 Location: Taiwan

I've had good experiences teaching in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I think you will certainly make more money in Asia (especially Korea, Japan, or Taiwan) than in Mexico.

Read over some of the articles here:

http://www.geocities.com/eflinasia

and that should help you make a decision.

Girl Scout · Joined: 13 Jan 2005 Posts: 525 Location: Inbetween worlds

Not every country will fit the personality of the teacher. I recently moved to Thailand. It was the worst experience. I finally quit my job and came running back the pits of Henan.

Teejay · Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 59

Teaching in Vietnam is great!

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

Kent F. Kruhoeffer · Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 2129 Location: 中国

^ Very funny, Sigmoid.

Good humor ... even in the face of despair.

You are hereby awarded the coveted

award for 2008.

friendoken · Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 41

I taught in Korea for a year and didn't like it much at all, even though I had a great job and a fantastic apartment a two minute walk away.

I then went to Laos where I taught for a year and loved it. So much in fact that I will stay for the rest of my life. I got married to a Laotian and built a house on the Mekong river. Laos is heaven, it has all the glory of Thailand without all the hustle and bustle. Having said that, if party time and nightlife is your aim, Thailand would be a better choice.

roset · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:45 am Post subject:

Work in Hong Kong! Because even if the school is bad (and mine so, so was) you wont care because you're living in a great city. Ok, so I was working and living on the island so everything was really close, and although working in the new territories is fine, for a first timer it was so much easier for me to be close to everything. Still, the school was shocking, but then I was in Causeway Bay, a mecca for shopping, so I didn't really care about the long hours (esp. when you have late night shopping - great for an after work browse). I did love teaching the kids though, and they were fantastically well behaved. Hong Kong is the best place to work in Asia, fact.

Extraordinary Rendition · Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:35 am Post subject:

I lived and worked in Thailand for five years (Pattaya four, Bangkok one year). The salaries are low, but so is the cost of living. A little income from abroad (that's one word, "abroad", not two), a decent teaching gig, and the party is on! With a BA, TEFL cert, and experience, you'll get a decent job quite easily. If you don't mind teaching (yechhh!) children (shudder) they'll be lining up to hire you. Ajarn.com can give you a feel for the job market. 50k baht/month is a living income, 60k baht/month would allow for a pretty good time. Bangkok's a little more expensive to live in, but not dramatically. There's other work, too, from time to time, check the Bangkok Post classifieds, a version is available online.

I liked Vientiane, too, on my two visa trips there, but it's not the party that is Pattaya (and tiny parts of Bangkok), and a brief search there, and online, revealed very little work (there was teaching children, again Crying or Very sad

) .

I guess you realize Asian languages are difficult for westerners to learn. One big advantage of Pattaya is that it's very much a western enclave, and thus daily life is extremely easy without knowing a word of Thai. In Bangkok, it's slightly more restricting to not speak Thai, but only slightly.