Job Discussion Forums

[mercury1978]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the boards. I hope this is the right place to introduce myself? If not I apologize in advance.

Well a little background on my situation. I have no teaching experience, but do have a Associates of Arts in Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science/History. 32 year old single male who is looking to change directions in life. Currently I live in Williamsburg Virginia.

I am totally new to this whole teaching English as second language thing and have been reading up as much as I can about it. I am novice.

Some questions I have:

From what I have been reading some places do not require formal certification and only bachelors degree. Is this correct? Like I said I have no formal certification saying I can teach English as second language. Do you suggest I get one? If you think I should, do you have suggestions on good schools? Right now my economic situation is not the greatest, and I do not want to spend money if I do not have to on further schooling if it is not required.

Also, I am interested in teaching in either the Caribbean,Spain, or Latin America as I know some Spanish. I would like to teach in place that is safe, easy going, affordable, and hopefully people are accepting of foreigners, different cultures and lifestyles. However, I would be open to other areas of the world. So feel free to enlighten me on other places I might want to look into teaching.

Any suggestions, advice, and opinions will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance for your help. :)

[spiral78]

Assuming that your citizenship is US and that you don't have any additional one from a European country, you won't be eligible for legal work permits for Spain.

You could check the Spain forum for detailed information about this.

[stillnosheep]

A CELTA or equivalent (eg CTESOL) 1 month full time including at least 6 hours of observed teaching practice and costing around $2-3000 US is generally considered the most useful entry level qualification. Much of Caribean is English speaking so no real market for EFL. Many Latin American countries may well recruit graduates without any EFL qualification. Check Latin America and individual country forums for advice. Justin Trullinger is can be a useful source of information there.

[naturegirl321]

If you are intersted in Peru, let me know.

[mercury1978]

Thanks everyone for information I appreciate it. :)

[poser wannabe]

Lots of jobs in Costa Rica, that dont need certification, although it does help to have it. There are TEFL schools here where you can get a certificate at the beach. Its a good way to meet other newbies, and most have contacts with ESL schools to get you a job. I hear good things about the tefl school in Samara beach

[mercury1978]

Poser thanks for the info. :)

[astonrecruiter]

I work as a recruiter for a big school in China where I have taught for the last 4 years. China is a very safe place, kind of awesome place to be just now. As far as qualifications go, we look for someone who has a degree(although not always needed) and a TEFL is really just a bonus.

I think you should research China a little as there are a lot of English jobs here just now

Good luck, feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding teaching in China.

[JZer]

mercury1978, you can try China but if I did not have a student loan to pay, I doubt I would have winded up in Asia. I probably would have ended up in Brazil or Chile.

The only thing about China is you could learn Chinese and seek out other employment opportunities.

[parrothead]

You might want to post your inquiry on the Latin America forum if you have specific interest there. I frequently see job adverts on eslcafe for positions in Chile and Mexico. As you are an American you might be disheartened by your job prospects in Europe, specifically EU member countries.