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Theriel
Joined: 22 Apr 2003
Posts: 26
Location: Helsinki, Finland
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 Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:51 am Post subject: For the academics out there? |
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Hey all!
I'm getting my Finnish citizenship next year (6 years flies by quick!), and after that will be taking off to.. well, somewhere. No idea yet.
Was wondering what kind of options there are out there for the academics? Any thoughts?
I've got an MA in Phonetics from the University of Helsinki, BA in Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh, and preferably would like to stay in academia. I'll go on for my PHD at some point, focusing on language documentation and linguistic typology, but for now I'll stick with climbing out of my huge debt. No real ties anywhere, will have dual American-Finnish citizenship, 8 years teaching business English and community-collegeesque English, as well as 2 years of teaching at the Uni.
Some countries are pretty strict on not letting non-PHD's teach, others are fine with an MA. I want to be compensated fairly for my background, but I am otherwise openminded. The main thing I honestly want to take care of is my $75k that's been staring at me while I've been in school. I've lived cheaply all my life so not splurging isn't an issue, but finding the best places to save is a bit trickier. Apparently Korea & Japan don't really care whether you are an academic or not, and Hong Kong focuses mainly on grade-school teacher qualification. I don't have that, nor am I honestly particularly interested in teaching younger children. Not sure about SE Asia.
The Middle East might be an option, but the most interesting countries personally seem to pay the lowest (Lebanon, Jordan, etc).
It's quite difficult to get an academic job in the US without the PHD, and I suspect Canada as well (perhaps not though?). The UK or Australia are complete unknowns to me.
My academic foreign language abilities aren't otherwise sufficient to teach at another Uni within Europe unless it'd be in English, something I've gotten away with here in Finland because Finns are quite good in English, but I'm not sure how that'd fly in a place like Spain or France 
Thoughts? Intuition tells me some place like UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc. would be the best places to earn some bang if you're qualified, perhaps somewhere else in Europe as well (maybe Netherlands, Norway, etc). Open to hear other opinions though!
Don |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:17 am Post subject: Re: For the academics out there? |
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| Theriel wrote: |
I've got an MA in Phonetics from the University of Helsinki, BA in Linguistics from the University of Pittsburgh, and preferably would like to stay in academia. I'll go on for my PHD at some point, (snip)
Apparently Korea & Japan don't really care whether you are an academic or not, (snip)
Thoughts? |
Sorry to tell you, but you're going to have to start out on the bottom rung or in business English schools in Japan, so the lack of needing any qualifications still works against you. Still interested? You could probably pay off US$500-1000 per month if you are frugal.
| Quote: |
| I want to be compensated fairly for my background, but I am otherwise openminded. |
What do you figure you're worth? |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:22 am Post subject: |
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I've got an MA in Phonetics from the University of Helsinki |
Not to mention that his M.A. may not be recognized in some countries in regards to getting a position has a university instructor.
I am not expert on this but maybe someone can clarify that. |
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Theriel
Joined: 22 Apr 2003
Posts: 26
Location: Helsinki, Finland
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:52 am Post subject: |
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| JZer wrote: |
| Quote: |
I've got an MA in Phonetics from the University of Helsinki |
Not to mention that his M.A. may not be recognized in some countries in regards to getting a position has a university instructor.
I am not expert on this but maybe someone can clarify that. |
Individual countries may prefer local degrees, but nordic Europe has some of the highest education standards in the world. Take a look here:
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-7-2004-62629.asp
It's 5 years old at this point; I think we've dropped to 2nd or 3rd, but Finland is almost always pretty up there in the running.
Glenski: doesn't sound like Japan is my best bet in the long term. I've heard way too many people say that all you're there to do is entertain kids, not actually teach, and they don't really care if you're a monkey with an IQ of 5 and the worst social skills in the world, as long as you have some degree and were born in an English-speaking country (particularly in the JET programme). Not the best prospect for competitive salaries.
If I went to Japan, I'd probably go in under a business visa (I have my own company) and approach individual businessmen and women looking to improve their pronunciation. I'd have to learn enough Japanese to negotiate, and my Japanese is rusty as hell, but I think I could manage. It's a bit of a risky area because of how careful you have to be with saving face (studying pronunciation is initially somewhat frustrating), but I think Japanese people have better English than they're given credit for. Pronunciation appears to be an area that is not gone over almost at all in grade school/high school, and since Japanese and English are so different there are a lot of challenges. It's easy to demand fair money in that sort of situation in private lessons, particularly since I've had quite a few years experience already.
I may do a 3 month Westgate gig this summer though, so if I do I'll let you know what I think of life in Japan  It's a bit of a different style than the business-English pronunciation approach, but could still be interesting. I asked them if I could teach any pronunciation courses there too, so they're gonna get back to me on that one.
Don |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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Individual countries may prefer local degrees, but nordic Europe has some of the highest education standards in the world. Take a look here: |
It is really irrelevant what the quality of a countries education is if some people in x-countries government says you need a Master's from an English speaking country to teach English in that country.
Some countries do not give work permits to be English teachers if your B.A. is from a non-English speaking country.
Others can answer better as to whether Middle Eastern countries can process work permits for people with M.A.'s from countries in which the official language is not English.
Last edited by JZer on Mon Feb 09, 2009 9:16 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Never Ceased To Be Amazed
Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 3500
Location: Shhh...don't talk to me...I'm playin' dead...
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 5:30 pm Post subject: |
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| JZer wrote: |
Others can answer better as to whether Middle Eastern countries can process work permits for people with M.A.'s from countries in which the OfficeMax language is not English. |
Here in the M.E. we go by the Kinkos/Fed Ex standard. 
NCTBA |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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I have similar qualifications to yours, and have a good job at a university in the Netherlands.
It would take me a lot of years to pay back $75 big ones, though! |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Theriel wrote: |
| Glenski: doesn't sound like Japan is my best bet in the long term. |
Depends on what you are looking for and how you approach it. Get a license and some teaching experience, and you might want to take on international schools here. No monkey business.
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| If I went to Japan, I'd probably go in under a business visa (I have my own company) |
I think it has to be established here before you can get that sort of visa. Have you checked?
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| and approach individual businessmen and women looking to improve their pronunciation. |
You are going to be in competition with business English companies/schools already in business. I really don't think you could set yourself up for this easily if at all.
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| I think Japanese people have better English than they're given credit for. |
You seem to think that they only thing they really need is pronunciation practice/advice. |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:42 am Post subject: |
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| Theriel, if I were you I'd stick with the university theme for sure and find somewhere to start working on your PhD (assuming you're not as old as me! (46 that is), while also getting some teaching to help pay the bills. The best jobs in the world, IMO, are the old fashioned university jobs - the sort that pay well, where you only have classes for about half the year (if that) and the work is enjoyable. Unfortunately these jobs are far harder to get than they used to be (I blame Thatcher) and you need to be 'relatively' young and have a PhD - and get lucky. |
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Theriel
Joined: 22 Apr 2003
Posts: 26
Location: Helsinki, Finland
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| Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:57 am Post subject: |
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Marco: you're probably right. I'm only 28, so I can probably manage the age thing. Aaargh, writing the blasted Mphil thesis was already a pain enough though. I envy some people who get away with a 1 year 10k word MA thesis (i.e. University of London). It's a 50k word pretty intense research project here for your Master's.. usually takes at least a year for the thesis alone, let alone the coursework. And you have a defense, just like a doctoral dissertation.
Spiral: likewise here :\ It's not that wages in Finland are low, but the cost of living is so high that it makes it somewhat challenging to save anything. A head of lettuce will cost you 3 euros here, or .4 kilos of Edam cheese about 6 euros. A beer is between 3-8 at a bar, so that's I guess about the same as the Netherlands. A half liter Finnish lager at a low-end bar is around 3e, a Chimay or Rochefort at a decent place is about 8 or 9e for a .33 glass. Basically anything outside of pasta, tubers, or ground pork is way too expensive here :p
JZer, the funniest thing with the BA I heard was from a guy who was actually not allowed to teach in Korea after he graduated from a Korean uni studying English. He didn't go to an English-speaking Uni. My BA at least is from the US; if they need my MPhil to be from there too then I'll find somewhere else to live.
Glenski: Not interested in teaching young kids if you're referring to something like the PGCE for the international schools, I already mentioned that. I've also taught for 8 years, that's experience enough. If Japan requires that teaching to be IN Japan then I'll find somewhere else About the pronunciation, picture Henry Higgens, so to speak. My target market is different from business schools. It's a niche market.
Anyone know what the general minimum requirement for teaching at a British or Australian uni is? Can you make do with an Master's, or do you need the PHD? |
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Marcoregano
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 9:16 am Post subject: |
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| Theriel wrote: |
| Anyone know what the general minimum requirement for teaching at a British or Australian uni is? Can you make do with an Master's, or do you need the PHD? |
You can certainly get work at British unis with a Masters only, but without a PhD you will never get to the promised land, if you know what I mean. And I have a strong suspicion the same applies in Oz. And it certainly applies here in HK.
Also worth considering: Although you should be able to find work at a UK uni it will most likely involve teaching TESOL to prospective foreign students - not a great job IMO - and the salary won't be that great either - probably ranging 22-28K tops (sterling). On the plus side, you might be able to work towards your PhD at the same time. With your quals and academic background you might be able to get a regular lectureship in a linguistics department (rather than a a university English Centre) - and that would be a better gig. |
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