Job Discussion Forums

k_fish88 · Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 3

Hello!

My boyfriend and I are going into the final year of our undergraduate program and we have been planning on spending the following year teaching and travelling in Asia.
After much discussion, I think we have both settled on looking for a more relaxed, casual and short-term teaching environment (which I have heard is likley Thailand/Vietnam as opposed to Japan or Korea).

Ideally we would try to save up around $10,000 (Canadian) each before we depart for our adventure. We would like to travel for a few months, work for a few months and so on. Are short-term teaching/tutoring positions difficult to come by?

Does anyone have any suggestions when it comes to going this route?

Thanks for your help!

Chancellor · Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: Travelling and Teaching

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Yep, there are places, but you'll make little, they'll be places that no serious teacher would consider, you won't be able to save much either. Visas will be an issue. If schools see that you're country hopping, they'll be less likely to hire you. MIght be working illegally too.

Have you considered volunteering instead? Or maybe WHV? If you worked for 6 months and then travelled for a month or two it might work, but less than six months might be hard, unless you're planning on pulling a runner.

parrothead · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 342 Location: Japan

I would suggest that you have enough funds to supplement your entire journey and not expect to make much money working. You might be able to make a little here and there (probably not legally), but make sure you never HAVE TO work in order to survive. If you are looking for an alternative to tourism, try volunteering. The organization may even be able to cover food and lodging, or offer you free language classes.

MrMrLuckyKhan · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 7:31 am Post subject: Re: Travelling and Teaching

[quote="Chancellor"]

Chancellor · Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:26 pm Post subject:

dragon777 · Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 163 Location: Christmas Island

You will have to make a minimum committment of at least 6 or 12 months as some of the other posters have stated. It is getting increasingly difficult to get short term contracts e.g. 3 months teaching English. Most Asian countries require a commitment of least one year. If you try to buck the system and play it short term. It may produce some negative future ramifications of not being able to secure employment in that country especially if you did a 'runner' from a binding contract. If you decide in 5 years time (after ditching the boyfriend) that you would like to work in that country again your past exrecord may go against you. Keep that in mind. You are much better off doing a 6 or 12 month contract and then going on your travels. Just my 2 pence worth.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:17 pm Post subject:

Wow.

I'm no backpacker, and not a big fan of the backpacker market. But let's not flame the newbie, please, people.

KFish came on board to find out. Hasn't said anything about what kind of quals she's got, or would get. $10000 Canadian seems a pretty responsible number.

Some other thoughts- Asia may be getting harder, but I've heard of short term work still going in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Filipines. Pay is low, but that's not what you're into it for, right?

In Latin America, you wouldn't get the good jobs, but there are plenty of places that would give you a few months here and a few months there.

My experience of the world is that EFL is mostly not organised enough for the kind of scenario dragon777 is talking about. Do NOT sign a contract you don't mean to keep. Do NOT get yourself into trouble on visas. But past this, you shouldn't really be storing up trouble for the future.

Best,
Justin

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

More on Latin America, Peru specifically, Most, about 99% of language schools won't get peopel visas, so hire people illegally. And of those, they don't give you a contract. The DO, however, ask how long you want to stay.

A friend of mine has a school, and says that people always ay" Oh, I want to stay in Peru forever, at least a year. " Then only end up staying 3 months or less.

NOt the most honest thing to do, I know, but if you say that you will only stay a bit, no one will hire you. Might want to say that you will stay longer, like 6 months.

Another thing, try looking for summer camps. Those are pretty good, though draining.

Chancellor · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:14 pm Post subject:

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:34 pm Post subject:

I agree that the OP doesn't seem interested in TESOLing as a career, but then, neither was I when I decided to start. (A decade ago. I guess it's a career now!)

Gotta say, though, there are just so many people who want to learn English, and the pay often isn't that great. TEFL doesn't attract enough career people to meet the demand. So I have to say, respectfully, there is room in the field for both serious career professionals, and for brief "stint" stayers, travellers, language learners, and those who have an overseas love they want to move close to.

I don't object to any of the above, provided that, whether they have long term plans in EFL or not, they take it seriously and do a good job while they're doing it.

Is it possible to teach and backpack your way around the world? Depends on which areas in the world you're interested in. And as long as you get some decent entry level training, and do a good job, it sounds to me like a fine thing to do.

But what got me was the way some posters seemed to want to attack the OP. She came here and asked if it was possible to stay places in short stints. Okay, in your opinion, the answer is yes or no. Share your answer, but she didn't "dare to insult" you, alright? She asked if something could be done. If it can't, or if in your opinion it's not a good thing to do, then say so. But no need to get offended.

She asked. How the heck is she, new to the field, supposed to know what's possible or not, what's a good idea or not, if we, the experienced ones, can't take a simple question without getting offended?

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Well said, Justin. No wonder she hasn't reappeared!

d

k_fish88 · Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 3

Thanks to all who replied!
This has been extremely helpful information for me. I was slightly discouraged after reading the first post. I hadn't anticipated such a negative reaction to my question, and I am sorry if I've "offended" anyone. Truth be told, as Justin said I am new to this and I'm learning.

Although I may not be interested in pursuing a TEFL career (at the moment), I'm excited for the opportunity to teach children and learn about other cultures.

If I choose not to teach, I think that volunteering would be just as rewarding.

Thanks again and anymore advice or information would be greatly appreciated Smile

Chancellor · Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:24 pm Post subject:

fetuskarate · Joined: 02 Aug 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Thailand

it's quite possible to travel and teach on short term contracts. they're mostly available in the summer and winter breaks (for korea, japan, and taiwan especially). in korea, you can expect to make $2500-3000 for a month or two of work. it's fun, though the hours can be long. you're canadian i assume, so maybe you can look into getting working visas and finding work at summer camps in europe.

there are also some short-term deals to be had in thailand too. right now, i'm working in the north of thailand on a 4-month contract with my partner. we're at a public school, making pretty decent money by thai standards, and have been very satisfied with our school, co-workers, and the students. though the company we're employed by (mediakids) has gotten a bit of a bad rep across these forums, i feel we've been rather lucky with our situation. so there's an option to check out.

i've been teaching for the past few years myself, ever since i graduated from university. i started off curious to see what it was like and how i'd get along teaching in a classroom, and i've sort of fallen into a career by now. i can sympathize a bit with the sentiments of other ESL teachers in that it's frustrating to see the stereotypical alcoholic gap year kid stumbling into a classroom fumbling his way through teaching as a sole means of earning money since mom and dad cut him off. it's annoying. but at the same time, there's no reason to look down on someone who's new to the scene just because they don't know the ins and outs yet.

point is, the options are out there. get into teaching if you want, but also be aware that it's an actual career for some of us and that your behavior does reflect on foreign teachers as a whole. we get paid much more than the local salary, in many cases, so of course we should at least try to act like we're earning it.

good luck on the search and hope some of that helped!