Job Discussion Forums

[mcdadew]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I are planning to take a sabbatical in about 2 years with our 2 children. We are hoping to take 2-3 years to teach English as a foreign language. I am a native US Citizen and my wife is from Trinidad and Tobago with US Citizenship. We are 39 and 37 respectively. Our kids will be 11 and 9 (dual Citizens) when we want to start our travels. Also, both children are in an immersion school and are fluent in Spanish. The plan is for my wife and me to teach English while the kids continue their schooling abroad. A secondary goal is for my wife and me to turn our many years of class time in Spanish into fluency.

We are beginning the process of structuring our lives (home, finances, etc.) to be able to leave the country. As I continue to do research I am becoming more aware of the need for a CELTA certificate to be competitive. My wife is a trainer by trade and has a lot of experience, but it is all in leadership and organizational design. I have no real training/teaching experience, but I am very comfortable in front of groups. My wife has a BA in International Studies and I have a BA in Philosophy and a MS in Computer Information Systems. We both work at the executive level in our fields.

I have a few questions for this group after lurking for the past few weeks.

1. Do schools usually take �pairs� of teachers? It would be perfect if we could work together at the same location.
2. Are local schools usually open to TEFL teacher�s kids? We would like them to have as much of a local experience as possible.
3. Although, we could supplement our income with savings, the hope is to live on what we earn while abroad. Is this realistic? I have read some postings that single parents should not expect to be able to raise a child on the wages they can expect to earn, can 2 parents with 2 kids?
4. It seems that the Asian market is more open to first time teachers. Although my focus is Spanish speaking countries do you think it may make sense to do a first round in Korea or Thailand and then look for opportunities in Central/South America?
5. I have ordered and am reading a number of books on taking your family abroad, but most of these are geared towards a year or 2 of travel. Any resources more geared to what we are trying to do?


Thanks in advance for any advice.

Bill

[naturegirl321]

First off, I think it's great that you want to do that and expose your kids to a new culture, but honestly, it's going to be tough. It's easier for those who can get into intl schools. Teaching in institutes doesn't pay that well. For example, here in Latin America, you'll probbaly get about 700 usd a month and schooling here isn't free, well, public school is, but I don't think that you want to send your kids there.

Peru, for example, you get 700 usd working afternoons and nights, a good school is probably 500 usd.

You could do it, I'd head to Asia where kids are treated like royalty and schools are better, even public schools. Housing might be an issue. In Korea, I got a room. China could be good, cheap cost of living.

You'll probaly have to use some of your savings. Another idea would be to get a job in your field and get transfered overseas, better pay and perks. You're both executives, so I'm sure that you could find good jobs overseas, why teach? To answer your quetsions.

1. Do schools usually take �pairs� of teachers? It would be perfect if we could work together at the same location. Yes

2. Are local schools usually open to TEFL teacher�s kids? We would like them to have as much of a local experience as possible. Yes, but not also free tuition

3. Although, we could supplement our income with savings, the hope is to live on what we earn while abroad. Is this realistic? I have read some postings that single parents should not expect to be able to raise a child on the wages they can expect to earn, can 2 parents with 2 kids? Probably not

4. It seems that the Asian market is more open to first time teachers. Although my focus is Spanish speaking countries do you think it may make sense to do a first round in Korea or Thailand and then look for opportunities in Central/South America? Asia

5. I have ordered and am reading a number of books on taking your family abroad, but most of these are geared towards a year or 2 of travel. Any resources more geared to what we are trying to do? not that I know of. Lots of peopel with kids end up either marrying a local or getting transfered abroad.

[Chancellor]