Job Discussion Forums

[Minnesota]

Hello everyone! Thanks in advance for the advice. It's very appreciated.

I will be graduating from Bethel University, St. Paul MN this Spring. It's my fifth year, and I will have accumulated 4 degrees. History, Social Studies 5-12, TEFL, and TESOL K-12. And also a lot of DEBT.

My question is this: With my qualifications, where should I be shooting for? Although I have no experience, except for being a TA for many years, and my student teaching in TESOL and Social Studies (which i know is not technically considered "experience"), I feel I have an edge on someone who merely has an unrelated bachelors, etc. If you are wondering, "I didn't know they have a bachelors in TESOL?"...well they do, TESOL programs have been working hard in the Twin Cities as of late to work with the immigrant population.

Can I do better than a Hagwan? Should I try for Japan? I have read so many discussions everywhere and I would greatly appreciate any advice I could get with my situation. I have a lot of student loans so I'm looking to SAVE! Don't drink, smoke, not a fan of lavishing money on the ladies. Just want to live the dream abroad.

One last thing: any thoughts on accents or dialects in English? The misconception is that everyone from Minnesota is from Fargo and speaks accordingly. Do schools overseas value Standard English that is inherent in the Midwest?

[naturegirl321]

Wow, 4 separate degrees in 5 years? that-s great. Or do you have 4 different majors? How did you DO that?

It looks like you are a certified teacher, right? than shoot for international schools. Most want you to have 2 years of experience, but you never know.

If you-re shooting for Korea, try public schools, but there-s aKorean forum, so they-d probably know more there. For more, it-s Japan, Korea, Taiwan, or the Middle East.

Accents are that big, as long and you speak clearly and students understand. midwest english is fine.

[Minnesota]

Yes, 4 majors. I'll have two teaching licenses (TESOL K-12 & Social Studies 5-12). It just so happened that many of the requirements overlapped, took a summer class, took some heavy credit loads, and here I am. But more specifically, I started out as history and social studies, studied abroad in Italy, realized I loved being abroad, came back and picked up TESOL/TEFL.

So, it seems like I could have a shot with an international school. Those four countries you mentioned, do they have the best international schools?

[naturegirl321]

The countries I mention pay the most for institutes, For international schools, they pretty much pay the same. Check out the links I told you about